At the last minute...after chicken had been marinated for grilling, sheets had been changed for sleeping and the house had been cleaned for, well, you know...visiting, they called to cancel.
We are planning a make-up visit soon....but since we had a clean house and lots of marinated chicken, we called our friends to see if they were up for a last minute cook out/game night! Lucky for us...they were!
After dinner, we played a friendly, well, sort of, game of backyard football. It was extremely hot....so we decided to take the game playing inside!
That led us to The Game Closet!
The choice for the evening was Scattergories! We have had this game for years and years...before we had kids, I'm sure! It had been a really long time since we had played it as a family.
It is easy to play while just hanging around on the living room floor. You do not need a table for a board or cards...etc. So it was the perfect choice for us at the moment. Also, you can play by yourself or with a partner...or even mix it up a bit.
It is easy enough to understand...but hard enough to really make you think. Basically you are given a list of categories and a beginning letter....and you have to write down words that begin with the given letter that belong in that category. You are racing against a timer and the only way to get a point is to write down a unique answer (one that no one else writes down.) It becomes hilarious when people have to defend their answers ...is a lawn mower really an appliance? Do soap suds count for toiletries? It is equally hilarious when players forget their own names...when the category is Girl's Name and the letter is B (Beth.) And then there are those players that make up answers and say them with such confidence ( Haley) that everyone else assumes they are legit!
If you have never played Scattergories...or haven't played it in years...I highly recommend it. Even your young readers can play it with a partner.
What games are you enjoying with your family these days? I need to add to the game closet!
Enjoy your weekend.
Oh my, I love your game closet, and Scattegories is one of my favorites! Great idea to have an impromtu get together with friends.
ReplyDeleteHey there, jen ... love this post b/c we're a big game family - we shoot for every sunday night after dinner to be 'game night' ... clue, life, and apples to apples are always big favorites - wii games like wii-ski and mario kart are tons of fun too b/c all 4 can play at once. But our latest hit on game night has been a small card game called "spot it" ... circular cards that come in a round tin. It's a speed game where you deal the cards and put one card face up in the center. You quickly try to get rid of your cards by finding the one matching object from your card to the one on the table. Harder than you think when speed is involved - and tons of fun for about ages 5 and up (plus easy to travel with b/c it's so small!) ... after reading your post I am really thinking that scattergories would be a great addition to our own game closet - great suggestion ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe love scattegories too! We haven't played it in awhile...we kind of go in spurts w/ games. Right now it's checkers and dominoes...and for some reason Brady keeps getting chutes and ladders out to play. (I thought we were done with that game when he was 5...apparently not!)
ReplyDeleteI forgot all about that one. Now I am hankering a turn! I am looking forward to the day my kids are a little older and we can play Taboo, I always loved that one too.
ReplyDeletehi again, jen ... it might be at target, ours came from a local mom-n-pop toy shop in town ... but here's a link to "spot it" so you know what you're looking for ...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Blue-Orange-5511265-Spot-It/dp/B0039S7NO6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311621486&sr=8-1
Enjoy!!
LOVE scattergories! Haven't played that one in years. Wonder if we still have it? I'll have to check. Playing board games w/other families is always so much fun. :)
ReplyDeleteway to take an almost disappointing evening and turn it around! How great your neighbors could run right over!
ReplyDeleteI haven't played Scattergories in a while but it's a favorite! My daughter is obsessed with UNO lately. I think we are all a little sick of it and wouldn't mind never seeing that little box ever again!
And you say I've inspired you, well I'll help with your pantry if you can tackle our games!
Megan
Megan
I love board games!!!! There is one game where you make up a definition for a word and then everyone tries to gues what the correct definition is. We played one night with a great group and I laughed until I was sore. Wish I could remember the name...
ReplyDelete