Musings on games?! On a blog about working parenthood?! Most definitely!
‘Tis the season for car trips, plane rides, and visits to see family. And I know all too well how entertainment that works well for our kiddos does not always entertain the grownups in the group with equal amounts of joy.
By nature, I’m often focused and serious, which of course has both its benefits and its shadow side. Today, however, I’m here to remind you of one very important part of our working-parent well-being: PLAY! I’m also here to encourage you to think about games that can work well across generations. Games that are simple enough – but also engaging enough – to span that age spectrum. And games that you actually won’t mind playing! (At least the first 50 times…)
When we get together with family, my older son has a tradition of playing chess with one grandfather. Magic the Gathering with the other grandfather. And Mahjong with one of his grandmothers. (He and his other grandmother bond over a shared love of red velvet cake.) My youngest just recently got into the Magic the Gathering scene, too. And he can cream any relative – young, old, and in-between – at a game of Connect 4.
5 Games That Have Been Summer Hits for Us This Year
We recently took a car trip to New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, to see a whole bunch of different family members. Here are four of the games that were cross-generational hits:
(1) The Card Game called “31”: No one in my immediate family had played this game until this summer. But a testament to its success is that as soon as we got back home, both of my boys immediately ran out and taught it to friends and camp counselors alike.
The basic idea is that each person has 3 cards. Each round you pick one up and have to discard one. You’re trying to get as close to 31 with your 3 cards as possible. More details on the rules are here. And if you’re a visual learner, here’s a YouTube video showing you how to play 31. What I love most about this game is that it’s simple enough both for pretty young children to learn and also for adults to play while partaking in a beverage and carrying on other conversations. It’s probably 90% luck, and 10% strategy, so anyone can win. You can play in tournaments, too, making it perfect for large groups.
(2) 20 Questions: Okay, so probably not a new one for anyone reading this. But still an oldie and goodie. This one (along with “Two Truths and a Lie” or “Two Lies and a Truth”) is a favorite of ours on long car rides. For those not familiar, one person thinks of something. And the others have to try to guess what that thing is, by asking questions that can be answered only with “yes” or “no”. In the real game, you have only 20 questions to try to figure out the answer. But the way we play, we don’t bother counting the total number of questions. We just guess until someone figures it out or the group gives up.
(3) Salad Bowl: OH my kids had an amazing time with this one, late one night when they should have been in bed. Two of their aunts and one of their uncles taught it to all of us, and it’s a combination guessing game and charades that takes place in 3 rounds. To play, all you need some paper, pens, and a bowl. You also do need to be old enough to read and write. Here’s a good description of the rules. Finally, I’d encourage setting a rule that the items that go into the “salad bowl” have to be things everyone in the group would know.
(4) Apples to Apples: This is the only game on my list of 5 today that you’d need to purchase. It’s an ongoing hit with both my boys, and they bring it on pretty much every trip where we might be able to corral a group of people together to play
The regular version of the game is for the 12+ crowd. While the “Apples to Apples Junior” version says it’s for ages 9+, my kids played the junior version much younger than that. (You do need to be able to read a bit.) They outgrew the junior version about two years ago, when they were 8 and 10. Now they’ll only agree to play the regular version. The words in the regular version are indeed sometimes over the kids’ heads, but we just allow them to discard any words they don’t understand.
(5) “Hi, My Name is Sew…” (a Chanting Game): I saved this one for last, because if you try it, your kids will thank me…but you’ll probably hate me for getting it stuck in your head! I learned it myself in elementary school but *completely* forgot about it until my uncle reminded me about it this summer. (Apparently, for the past 3 decades, it pops into his head anytime someone says the word “So…”).
It wasn’t until I googled this game that I learned it’s often (or perhaps originally?) called “Hi, My Name is Joe.” Use whatever name you want, and watch how it’s played on this video. It’s perfectly hilarious, even for the little littles in your household. And it can help you, as a grown-up, get your own sillies out by “performing it” in a ridiculous manner along with your littles.
How has your own summer been going? What games have you enjoyed playing across generations? Please leave ideas in comments below!
Want more practical tips on working parenthood? Check out my book, Back to Work After Baby: How to Plan and Navigate a Mindful Return from Maternity Leave
