Fun games

The last post was actually going to be this post but turned into a rant about education. The point was (going to be) that with our new schedule, Ben catches the bus at 8:30 and gets home at 4:00. I swear that we finished school at 2:00 when I was in elementary school. It's been a hard adjustment since Ben was still napping until school started. He is tired and usually a little cranky when he gets home. Anna still needs a nap since she's only 3 1/2, but if she naps, then she'll be up until 10:00 and Ben needs to go to bed at 8:00. Ben needs to get to bed this early because he wakes at 6:30 come hell or high water. The new plan was that we get the kids into bed at 8:00. For the first month or so, that happened one time. It was hard to get dinner ready by 6:00 and then finish by 7:00. That leaves no time for fun since if they need a bath and we start reading at 7:30. There was a lot of fussing and whining and gnashing of teeth while we made the adjustment. But at this point, the kids are almost always in bed by 8:00, which is nice, because then my wife and I can spend some time together.

OK, I'm getting to the point. What can we do for fun in 30 minutes? We have found some new games, and the kids love them. The current favorite is Sleeping Queens (by Gamewright). The kids are crazy about this game and we've played it every night since we got it (2 weeks ago?). Anna can handle this game even though she's only 3 1/2.

We also like Castle Keep, where you build a 3x3 castle. This game is just a little too hard for Anna, although she will play and we help her.

Ben likes Clue Jr. and Anna will tolerate it. Both kids like Cranium Hullabaloo which involved a lot of movement.

I've enjoyed playing games with the kids so much that I've ordered a mess of new games for Christmas:

• Rat-a-Tat Cat
  
• Hisss
  
• Thing-a-ma-Bots
  
• Wig Out
  
• Chomp!
  
• Slamwich
  
• There's a Moose in the House
  
• Rush Hour, Jr. Brain Teaser
  
• Enchanted Forest
  
• The a-MAZE-ing Labyrinth Game
  

The first seven should be easy enough for Anna. Rush Hour, Jr. Brain Teaser is a cool puzzle where you have to slide a car out of a traffic jam. Enchanted Forest and the a-MAZE-ing Labyrinth Game are board games that I think Ben will really like.

I'll report on all of these games after Christmas.

- schneid