More and more families are turning to “family game night” as a way for parents to be in tune with their children and know what’s going on in their lives. However, as the kids get older and game night becomes an old routine, parents can find their creativity being stretched to find new entertainments that keep their families together and interested. And as the veteran of more than one family fight about what game to play, who was cheating, and who the winner and loser was, I know perfectly well that sometimes family games promote anything but harmony and unity! Here are some suggestions for games that will entertain without resulting in anger and tears; and moreover, will help you get to know your kids a lot better than another game of Parcheesi!

Group Story

Tell a story that everyone is a part of and no one knows the end of. Pick a unit: word, sentence, or paragraph. Each person, in order, gets to add a unit to the story, until once the last person has gone you start over. From the hysterical paragraph version to the unpredictable word version, this game will test your creativity and help you learn more about each other.

Build a House of Peace
Ever build a gingerbread house? This can be lots of fun for all ages, what with the double pleasure of building a toy house and eating the leftover material! Pose an extra challenge for your kids by asking them what additions or changes are needed to make the house a place of peace and harmony.

Statues/Slideshow
A non-competitive version of charades – try to form a still montage with your bodies that expresses a word drawn out of a hat. (Suggestions: Happiness, Calm, Anger, Peace, Fighting, Friends etc), while taking turns being the odd one out trying to guess the word. Once this gets easy, take it an extra step and let the actors prepare three or four montages in a row, which they flash through as if in a slideshow to tell a story. What do the montages tell you about your feelings//thoughts about these words?