It is pretty difficult to play board games at our house. We either lose the pieces, have our 1 1/2 year old (B) running off with pieces or sitting on the board, or having me leave to nurse the baby. BUT, we have been dedicated to finding some games that work for us.
So far, we have tested Checkers, Kerplunk, Tip It, and Pictureka card games. All games were bought from Walmart on the Black Friday sale. All games cost less than $10, with the Kerplunk and Tip It coming in a bundle for $9.oo. Keep in mind, my kids' ages are from 4 months to 9 years, so finding a game for all of us to enjoy is difficult.
Checkers was a good one on one game that we can play with the older kids. My husband and I played (he beat me and, of course, had to gloat), followed by G and my husband. I like the special time that you can have with each child, but it is very time consuming when you have multiple children that you are trying to have participate....NEXT!
Kerplunk is for up to 4 players. It takes a few minutes to set up (what game doesn't?), but it was well worth it! Even my 3 year old can play it. We had fun taking turns pulling out the sticks, and the kids were so excited when the marbles dropped. It was a fun game that all of us enjoyed! It's a KEEPER!
Tip It seemed like it took awhile to set up, and it was very unsteady. My 3 year old was a little young for it, and he kept grabbing the game to keep it steady. We made the mistake of playing the game when Little B was awake, and it was too time consuming to keep him from knocking over the unsteady game. I think that my 4 year old on up would play the game, but P (7 years old) said that she did not like it at all. This will be put aside for the older kids on a rainy day.
When the littlest ones went to bed early one night, I let the 4 oldest stay awake to play the Pictureka card game. It was great because we all could play, but we did have to throw away 2 of the cards (one being a pile of b.m. and the other of someone using the facilities). My 5 year old could not get over laughing with those car
ds, so they were better in the trash (rather than hear bathroom talk all night). We only played one of the many types of games you can play with the single deck, and all the kids enjoyed it (ages 5-9). It was more like an I spy/Memory game. When my 5 year old saw B go down for a nap, he asked for this game above the others.
I will try to edit my post tomorrow, with a brief description of each game. For now, I will have to say that Pictureka cards and Kerplunk are our family favorite, and the other two will be stand-bys for the older kids.
We need to find a place to keep the games and a place where the kids can play without B getting into the game, and we will be all set for game night.
met Joe there (he was lucky enough to make the last flight home!). So, we were home by 2 am, and we put the kids down to bed. The first time they went to bed, they were warned that no presents would be open unless rooms 
were cleaned. I noticed when I woke them up for Mass that no one took that warning seriously. I stuck by my guns, and they had to wait until rooms were cleaned this morning. It also gave me some extra time to sleep! We took turns opening gifts one at a time (youngest to oldest), and that went really well. Everyone was excited to see what their siblings received. We did the stockings at the end 2 at a time. I think this is definitely the way t
o go for us next year too!
