Playing Games

One of the great things about being a SAHM (and having Unplugged Children) is that I get to do crafts and play games to my hearts content with my munchkins. Em is huge into patterns right now... among other things... and he likes to play Blokus and Connect 4 almost daily!

Now, some of you may be saying.... "uuumm, Em is only three! How is he playing these games designed for 5 and 7 year olds..."

We don't really "play" them. Em focuses mainly on patterns and learning to take turns. Here's a pic of a recent adult version of the Blokus game. For those of you who have never played, the object is to get as many of your plastic color pieces on the board as you can with only the corners touching. There are, I think, 21 different shapes from 1 square up to 5 squares. Your color can touch other colors... like here:

The way Em plays is more like the way the old fashioned game of Tetris is played... stacking the pieces and trying not to leave any spaces. It's a lot of fun to watch him think and twist the pieces around to see how they can better fit together. At first, he would just get mad and say "I can't do it! You do it mom!" But I was persistent in telling him to try again or hinting maybe to turn the piece (but not doing it for him) and he would be all smiles by the end of the game and wanting more. Here's what his game board looks like...

His other current favorite is Connect 4, only again not the original way the game is intended. For us parents, it was about learning to take turns, but now it has turned into a fun pattern game. Em and my hubby, make checkerboard patterns, arrows, letters, etc... He often second guesses himself and asks us what we think, to which we reply "what do you think?" and then he tells us.

Other current games are Barrel of Monkeys and Memory... but I don't have pics of those.

What board games do you play?