Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 1943, translated from French
Board Games
Almost every family home has one form of board game or another. Whether it be your standard board game such as Monopoly, Sorry, Trouble, etc., or a DVD type trivia game, these can provide hours of fun.
While DVD style games are fun, the classic board games are better as you will never have the same outcome. Meaning, even though you are playing the exact same game, the winner is unknown until you have finished the game.
Try spicing up the game by playing for different types of prizes, but be sure that everyone will win something. The prizes could be dividing up chores that are to be done, having the 1st place winner getting the easiest household chore and the last place winner receiving the more difficult, or the chore that is least preferred by all family members.
You could also try having the prizes consist of allowing the 1st place winner pick tomorrow’s activity, 2nd place winner picking the following day’s activity, and so on.
If you don’t have a board game lying around, why not invent your own games? Activities such as “treasure hunts” can be fun and educational at the same time. You can create your own maps or clue lists and let the first place winner(s) have first pick at the treasures. And, of course, the treasures can be anything you can think of that would have significant value within your particular family unit.
Also, a good game of hide and seek can also be hours of fun for all ages. And, hide and seek can be played both indoors or outdoors depending on the weather.