Hey there, everyone.  Remember me?  Sorry it’s been such a long break between posts.  The last few weeks have been a little crazy here.  In addition to being a bit sleep deprived (thanks to my chubby little 3-month old), I’ve also moved to a new house and embarked on a cross-country road trip with my family since my last post.  It’s been a whirlwind; but thankfully life is finally settling back down and I should be back on track with my posts.  Thanks for sticking with me.

I thought I’d kick things off with a few of my favorite family games.  There are tons of great games out there, but my favorites are the games that are easy to set up, easy to adapt for different age levels, and completely devoid of tiny, get-sucked-up-in-my-vacuum-type pieces.  Here are two that fit that the bill:

Bucket Blast
Of all the kid games in my house (and I have a lot) this one is probably my favorite.  Unlike a traditional game, Bucket Blast is more like a game kit.  It comes with belted buckets, bean bags, blind folds, cones, as well as a handy book of game ideas.  It’s kind of like having tons of games in one – I love it.  I’ve used mine for family home evening, classroom parties, sharing time – you name it.  It can be used inside for bean bag races or outside for water balloon relays.  Best of all, it’s comes with a big, blue drawstring sack to easily contain all the pieces.  The $35 price is a bit higher than I would pay for most games, but if you consider how much use you’ll get out of it it’s well worth it.  You can usually find it at Target or click this link to find it at Amazon.com.

Hyper Dash
I just added this game to our collection a few months ago and my kids have loved it.  It’s not quite as adaptable as Bucket Blast, but it’s packed with fast-paced fun for any age.  Essentially the game is played by spreading out the colored targets (around the room, around the yard, or around the park - there is no limit on distance) and following the directions of the hand-held, talking tagger.  The tagger calls out a number or color and the kids have to go find it, tag it, and then listen for the next direction.  The kids go one at a time and the tagger keeps track of each player’s time and declares a winner.  They can also play it in teams or solo (similar to the game Simon we played when I was a kid).  I love this one because it gets my kids up and moving! In fact, they’re generally panting and a bit sweaty by the end of the game.  It’s easy for the kids to set up and has only 6 pieces so it’s easy to put away too – a huge plus in my book.  I picked mine up at Toys ‘R Us for $20.  They also had a double-dash version (two sets of targets and two taggers) for $30.  Here’s the link on Amazon.comif you’re interested.

If you’ve found a fun family game that your kids can’t resist, I hope you’ll share it with the rest of us in the comments area – I’m always looking to expand my family fun collection.  By the way, I’ve got several fabulous family card games that I’ll be posting those later this week so don’t forget to check back.  Just thought I’d pass it on.