Games for mixed ages (boys)?

Does anyone have any suggestions of games that work well with a wide
range of ages (at once)? My 4yo just came in crying that his brother
was cheating at "Sorry" after the 9yo got a Sorry card and bumped the
4yos piece back to start.

My boys are 4.25, 9.0 and 11.75 yo and they all love to play games, but
it is obviously hard to find games that the 4yo can play that the older
boys don't find totally boring. fwiw, the 4yo is a good reader, so we
don't have that limitation to worry about. He is good with turn-taking
and understanding rules, but not very good about dealing with very
disappointing things happening, as the "Sorry" incident illustrates.
Co-operative game suggestions are welcome too.

In case anyone else has the same issue, two games we have found that do
work well with all these guys are Apples to Apples Junior and Rivers,
Roads and Rails. But we could sure use some more suggestions to get
us through summer

Thanks,
--Robyn

..

My older sister and I are a little over 4 years apart and we played Go to
the Head of the Class quite a lot when I was 4. Mousetrap is also good for
several age groups.

Workerbee wrote:
My older sister and I are a little over 4 years apart and we played Go to
the Head of the Class quite a lot when I was 4. Mousetrap is also good for
several age groups.

I recall day-long games of Parcheesi and Life when I
was young. Parcheesi is a good multi-age game, I think.

Scott DD 12 and DS 9

In article ,
Scott wrote:

I recall day-long games of Parcheesi and Life when I
was young. Parcheesi is a good multi-age game, I think.

Isn't Parcheesi very similar to Sorry? Life sort of works, but the 4yo
doesn't quite get it yet. And we have to modify the rule about the
computer consultant getting paid every time the spinner falls off the
base when the 4yo is playing! (We never had life when I was a kid,
so I don't know if there was an equivalent rule then.)

My older boys want to add rules to Life to make it more realistic, like
if you don't own a house, you have to pay rent (otherwise, buying and
insuring a house almost never pays off).

--Robyn

..

In article ,
Workerbee wrote:


Mousetrap is also good for several age groups.

The 4yo *loves* mousetrap, but the older boys are bored of it.

I'll have to look up the "Head of the Class" one -- it sounds vaguely
familiar but I don't really remember it.

Thanks,
--Robyn
..

(Robyn Kozierok) wrote:

In article ,
Workerbee wrote:


Mousetrap is also good for several age groups.

The 4yo *loves* mousetrap, but the older boys are bored of it.

I'll have to look up the "Head of the Class" one -- it sounds vaguely
familiar but I don't really remember it.

Would Uno work? I don't remember it well enough to know. What about
crazy 8s or Old Maids?

My little ones used to like to play a game called "Spotta" which
worked REALLY well but I don't think it is around any more. It was
kind of hokey because the words on the spots/cards ranged from 'hot'
spot (with a cartoon), to 'whatta' spot. My dd#3 could beat everyone
at this game when she was 4 or 5 including her grandmother. Perhaps
you could modify one of the concentration games.

This game had an outline of a leopard, and about 50 black spots about
the size of a quarter. Each one had a word on the bottom. There was
a card matching each one of the words. You put the 'spots' out face
down (black side up), and the cards face down in a pile. The first
person drew a card from the top of the pile, showed it to everyone,
read the word out loud, and turned over one of the spots and read the
word underneath it. If the card and the spot matched, the spot was
left word side up, and you could keep the card (face down in your
pile). If not, you put the card in front of you face up, turned the
black spot back over in exactly the same position and turn passes to
the next person. If on your turn you think you know where one of the
spots that matches someone else's card is, you say the name of the
card/spot out loud, and then turn over the spot that you think it is.
If you are right, you get to take their card and continue your turn as
long as you can make a correct match. If not, you lose your turn.
The person with the most cards at the end won.




grandma Rosalie

Robyn Kozierok wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions of games that work well with a wide
range of ages (at once)? My 4yo just came in crying that his brother
was cheating at "Sorry" after the 9yo got a Sorry card and bumped the
4yos piece back to start.

My boys are 4.25, 9.0 and 11.75 yo and they all love to play games, but

I'd recommend Hare and Tortoise by Ravensburger (actually it seems to have
had several different manufacturors). You eat lettuces to move round the
board, which you acquire on route: short moves use few lettuces, long moves
use lots of lettuces. You can win just using luck, but you can also win
by using strategy.

Different web-sites have given different age ranges, but our 6yo has been
playing for at least a year, maybe longer.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

Rosalie B. wrote:

(Robyn Kozierok) wrote:


In article ,
Workerbee wrote:


Mousetrap is also good for several age groups.

The 4yo *loves* mousetrap, but the older boys are bored of it.

I'll have to look up the "Head of the Class" one -- it sounds vaguely
familiar but I don't really remember it.


Would Uno work? I don't remember it well enough to know. What about
crazy 8s or Old Maids?

My 4 year old loves card games, Uno is a favorite. We play face
up (rules are in the instructions) and have been playing with
her for probably a year or more. We also bought those plastic
card holder thingies, since she isn't quite coordinated enough
to hold her cards in her hand.

She got the game Mancala for her birthday (its a two person
game, you can find it at target). She loves this game! We've
been playing it nearly every night.

Mary W.

"Robyn Kozierok" wrote in message
...

Does anyone have any suggestions of games that work well with a wide
range of ages (at once)?

How about a cooperative board game like Snowstorm?

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

In article ,
Claire Petersky wrote:



"Robyn Kozierok" wrote in message
...

Does anyone have any suggestions of games that work well with a wide
range of ages (at once)?

How about a cooperative board game like Snowstorm?

Yeah, cooperative is great as long as they have a wide age-range for
keeping kids' interest. We do Rivers, Roads and Rails cooperatively.
I'll look up Snowstorm. Thanks!

--Robyn
..