We have fun with Apples 2 Apples also.  The four year old is in charge of dealing and selecting cards.  She also contributes hints to the judge.  The two year old is in charge of sitting on someone’s lap and spilling drinks.  Oh well!

We play Apples to Apples too with non-readers working in a pair with an older reading child. I plan on buying the big kid/adult version for Christmas.
All my kids, even the teens, like a good old fashioned game of “telephone” it is our go-to blackout game.
my oldest three love playing poker with my husband and everyone down to the 8 year old enjoys yahtzee too.
I plan on getting ‘Take Off’ again this Christmas. We loved playing it (until a toddler lost the pieces and the map was ripped >-(  )

a great website with all the usual games plus a lot of obscure ones is:  http://www.areyougame.com  I’ve been buying from them for almost 10 years.

Apples 2 Apples is popular around here. Cranium Cadoo always leads to laughter too. We also like some creative (but less well-known) card games, especially some from a company called GameWright, including Sleeping Queens, Hissss, etc. Many of these work for a wide range of ages. I’ve found them in both Target and Walmart by the playing cards.

family game night was a lot more fun for us about 7 years and three children ago.  The little ones insist on playing the same games as the big ones, the big ones are “bored” by games the little ones can play, and they *all* want to play whatever mom and dad are playing… family game night can be a lot more fun after the kids are in bed! 

Our family favorite is cards. The older ones play pinochle, hearts, spades and such but to get all the kids involved, we do sevens, kings in the corner, pass the trash, and easy games like that. For a more formal game, the hands down favorite is Apples to Apples. (If purchasing the game for the first time, you might want to “edit” just a couple of the cards before playing with kids.) Another one my kids like is Catch Phrase. Younger ones might have to pair up with an older one, but it is do-able. Bananagrams is another fun group game, but again, you may have to develop a version of your own to include the younger ones (who can’t spell).

Another trick we have used to include the younger kids is have two rotating games going—one for younger kids (older ones and mom & dad take turns playing with them) while a game for older kids/adults is going on nearby.

We have taught our 5 and 3 year old how to play Uno! and dominoes.  They really enjoy it and even though we have to help them some they are able to match on their own.  We have been doing family game nights off and on for a year now and we really enjoy it.

We play Uno a lot with our ages 4.5 -11 year old kids.  (The younger kids will sometime pair up with an older kid, but usually they just hover We also like Othello, Goblet, Bogle Junior, and Yahtzee.  (If it’s a two person game we have different pairs play different games.) The boys LOVE Dinosaur Extinct (ages 5 & 6) and sometimes Dh & I will play too. LRC (a dice game) is good for the short hall - kinda boring - but if dad replaces the chips with real money it’s a bit more exciting.  Sometimes we’ll have two teams build card houses.  We also do a lot of guessing games. (The person will chose an animal or fruit or vegetable and the rest have to ask yes/no questions to figure out what they are.)  Another fun game is “pick it up from here . . . ”  I will start a story - the crazier the better and then the next person in the circle will have to “pick it up from here . . . ”  advancing the story.  Each person speaks for about 45 seconds.  The stories are hilarious.  One more we play with older kids (cards pre-screened) is “would you rather . . . “

Great post.  Thanks Danielle.

Apples to apples is our classic go-to game. We like making it extra competitive by taking out of the pile the last card played.  When played this way, its fun to see the impulsive reactions. Mix the competition with a little lobbying for your card and you’ve got a great game night on your hands .

Another fun one is Imaginiff. This game can be played with younger ones. A card usually says something like “Imaginiff _____ was ... Which would he/she be [or do]?” and lists six numbered choices. For example: Imaginiff Danielle was a flying object. Which would she be: 1. Blimp 2. Biplane 3. Frizbee 4. Glider 5. Lear Jet 6. Brick.  The fun part is that the “correct answer” is not what Danielle thinks she is but what the majority of players think she is.

Who knew that if I was a vehicle, I’d be a minivan?!

A favorite topic of mine, Danielle!! We played loads of games over the Thanksgiving weekend. Our favorite board games are Scabble, Take a Letter, Probe (very old word game), Clue, Taboo, and Yahtzee. You can get some of the older games on ebay! We are thinking of buying “Qwirkle” for Christmas—you can get it at Hearth Song. We also love parlor games that don’t require a “board”!! Here are a few:

1. Balderdash—You can buy this OR just play it as “The Dictionary Game” where you look up a random word in the dictionary (one that most people would never have heard of) and then everyone makes up a “definition” to the word. The definitions are read aloud (including the real definition), then players have to guess which definition is correct. Great fun! and can be played by kids about 7 and up.

2. One of our very favorite parlor games to play with EVERYONE is what we call the “Family Game.” Each player chooses a character to be (it can be anyone—Donald Duck, Hillary Clinton, Abraham Lincoln, Hannah Montana, Mr. Incredible, etc etc). They write their character down on a little slip of paper, then hand it in to the moderator. The moderator reads all the names aloud twice. The youngest player begins and tries to guess one other person’s character. If they guess correctly, that person becomes part of their “family,” and they can continue guessing others. If they don’t guess correctly, that person then tries to guess another. Players have to form a “family” before they can “steal” members from others’ families. “Heads” of families (the player who has guessed another player correctly) are protected until all the members of their families are correctly guessed by the head of another family. The winner is the one who correctly guesses all the other players characters. It is loads of fun to try to remember all the characters and then to guess who’s who!! I’ve looked online before for official “rules” to this game, but could never find them. If anyone recognizes the game (maybe it is called something else?) let me know!! I’m sure my directions are not so easy to follow!

3. Pitching pennies—pick a spot (like the fireplace hearth). Players try to throw the pennies as close to the spot (or line) as possible without touching the spot. You can also use cards and pitch them into a wastebasket—everyone gets five cards and they score a point for as many as they get into the basket.

I can’t wait to read all the other ideas! We love trying new ones, especially around the holidays.

I am looking forward to hearing other’s suggestions for this. 
Our family loves all of the above games mentioned.  Here are a few other ideas:
SEQUENCE (it says for ages 7 and up, but the younger set can play with a partner), SET , UNGAME (Family edition), MADLIBS (a great way to practice parts of speech), and OPERATION.

Though I’m not sure how many players can play at one time Carcasonne, That’s Life, Niagara and Blokus are all fun strategy/thinking games for older-ish kids.

We love Uno attack ( an interesting twist on classic Uno ) and scategories ( everyone has to be able to read and write but as other’s have said,  younger ones can partner up with older ones). We also have a game called “Don’t say it ” which is a version of “Taboo” that allows young children to play by setting each person’s Don’t say words to one , two, or three, depending on their levels. Operation is a great game as everyone, even toddlers can participate and most can beat me. Yatzee, I know was mentioned before but Bunco is even simpler for young ones.

We have family game night almost every Friday night…we start with pizza and then on to the games. We like all the games previously mentioned. We love Apples to Apples. I wish more people would get back to having a Family game night, especially during Advent.

We had fun playing Tripoly over the Thanksgiving weekend. We didn’t have any really young players but as long as they knew their numbers and suits in a deck of cards they could play or they could play with an older child as a partner.  We have a homemade “board”. I’m sure you could find something on the internet to make your own. Thanks for the great suggestions for Christmas!

We play a story game where one person starts the story with one sentence. The next person repeats the sentence and adds their own so on and so forth. Our family is large so we put a limit on how many sentences. But it is creative and goofy fun and it is nice to see the older kids help out the younger ones.
Card games, Yahtzee, we even have Gnip Gnop tournaments, table top pairs ping pong, Uno, Twister. Since we have a large group some nights we let everyone pick a partner to play the 2-player games like chess or checkers. Then I will play something like ants in the pants with little ones. I know this isn’t a board game but Limbo is still a hit with my older kids!

I agree with many already listed (scrabble, apples, blokus, sequence) but thought I’d add in one more.  It’s for older kids/adults but it’s been a family favorite since I was a kid—Pit.  It’s about the stock market and it’s most exciting with more than 4 players.  Thanks to all for the other suggestions!

Yahtzee Free for All
Uno
Catchphrase

Know Your States
Sequence
The Priest Game
Armor of God
Where in the World

I learned how to play the Phase 10 card game in college from a roommate who played with her younger sibblings, though I’m not sure how much younger the little one was (elementary school, though).  I think it’s a variation of rummy.  I’m really enjoying the suggestions!

These are great. Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful suggestions and keep them coming—I’ll post a follow up list with links ...

We played chicken-foot dominoes every night over Thanksgiving. We mostly played with adults, but my sister said she taught her five year old to play and they had a great time. The game is easily adapted for the number of people and length. (We often just stopped when we got tired.) You can get tiles with colored dots so kids don’t even have to be able to count to match them up easily. If you’re worried about adding everything up, you can play without keeping score - first one out wins.

We love Wii Resorts, especially swordplay and archery, table tennis & ping pong.  I wish I was better with board games, but with all the pieces one has to keep track of, and the junky boxes that they come in, I could never manage to keep them nicely organized.  It always seemed like there were pieces missing.  So I love the Wii for the lack of mess.

In our house we love to play Scrabble.  WIth younger kids, mom usually pairs off with the youngest, although mom is aslo known to help older children with a tough rack.    We also play pitch and cribbage once in a while.  Pictionary can be fun, especially with a large group.  There was a game called Song Burst that my friends and I used to have a great time playing, and Taboo(It only sounds naughty.  It is a little like password) can be fun. There is a Bible of version of Apples to Apples.  I have not played that version, only the regular one.  Chess and checkers are always a good standby, as well.

http://www.pagat.com/alpha.html
Check out this website for card games. We found the rules to our current favorite game.
Also Bunko is a good game for a big family or a small one.

Apples to Apples Jr, Cranium Cadoo, Sequence rank up there as our go to games.  We have had lots of fun too though with the game where you write a name of say an animal on a post it note and stick it on someone’s forehead.  Everyone has one and doesn’t know what their’s is.  then you basically play 20 questions with everyone taking turns asking yes/no questions about their animal.  First to guess wins. 
We actually call our game night “Forced Family Fun” which can vary between board games, out door games, etc.  We haven’t done it much lately though and they younger kids are asking for it.  but the 17yo and 14yo are NOT.  They feel the ‘forced’ more than the ‘fun’.  sigh.

We play Apples to Apples (regular and Bible Edition), Uno, Guess What I Am, and Go Fish with ages 3-9 regularly. With the Older set, we get into more advanced card games (Bridge, Rummy, Poker).
Have a Blast!

I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but there is a new version of Monopoly that has has no paper money. Each person has a debit card and there is a little machine to keep track of everyone’s money. The first time I played Monopoly was a couple years ago with the old version and I thought people were CRAZY for enjoying this game! I was soooo bored! But last year my friend suggested we play and after she convinced me I would have fun with this new version I gave in and had a blast. Just a thought!

A few years ago I bought my husband a poker chip set from Bass Pro Shop.  It has lots of chips in it and a camoflauge case.  Anyway, all the kids, from age 6 on up, love playing poker.  And we help the 3 year old do it too.  It’s fun- my husband knows a lot of games like 7 card no-peekum, 5 card draw, and some of the usual ones- Blackjack, etc.  The kids always love it.

I like Clue Jr.- it is pretty fast and everyone, even the 3 year old can play.

Pictionary Jr. is fun for everyone.

Upwords is fun for older kids who can read/spell.

A good oldie that I love is Rack-O, a math/number order game.  Love it!!

I second the Apples 2 Apples.  We also love Pictionary but do not own it…we make up phrases and draw on a white board.  Our latest game is “Quelf” which is hysterically fun.  It would be hard for the toddler set, but they will still think it is very funny!  Also there is Scene-It (Disney, Sports, etc). As you can tell…family game night is our main entertainment.

We have weekly family game night where each kid (boys aged 10, 7, 5) picks a game to play.  Our hands-down favorite is Mille Borne, which my 5-year-old frequently wins.  Other favorites are Labyrinth (Ravensburger), Monza (Haba), Blokus (Mattel), Rumis (Educational Insights), Slamwich (Gamewright), and Zingo (Thinkfun).  My youngest holds his own in each of those while my oldest remains engaged.

We have found a unique dice game called LCR that the entire family can play (our youngest is 4) and have fun!  LCR stands for Left, Center, Right.  The game includes three special dice with the letters L, C, R or a dot on each dice.  Each player is given three chips and rolls the three dice.  If they roll an L they give one of their chips to the player on the left.  If they roll an R they give one of their chips to the player on their right.  If they roll a C they place one chip in the center.  If they roll a dot the player gets to keep that chip.  A player can run out of chips but not be out of the game because the player on their left or right may eventually give them one of their chips.  You don’t know who is going to win - it’s all luck.  The game is nice and small - I keep it in my purse and take it on trips.  You can find it at http://www.dicegames.com  I also “googled” it and you can find it at Target.  It is very inexpensive - $10 total with shipping if you buy it online.  Have fun!

I didn’t have a chance to read through all these great comments, so I apologize if any of these are repeats. I had so much fun writing the family fun night article, and we’re already starting the tradition of having regular game nights even though my oldest is only 5. My husband is a game nut and spends a lot of time researching them. Here are a few of our faves:

*You can check out reviews of all of these games and find more great info on board games at: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/

Ticket to Ride: This is train-based game. Although it’s geared toward kids 8 and older, we’ve found that our 5-year-old is catching on pretty quickly.
Go!: This game originated in ancient China and is very popular over in Asia. It’s a strategic game, but young children are great at it. The downside is it’s a two-person game, so you’ll have to have Go tournaments.
Blokus: I saw someone else mention this game. Only 4 people can play at a time, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s another strategic game.
Pitch Car: This is a pricey car, but it’s well worth the investment. Players (up to 8 at a time) flick “cars” along a large track created with wooden, puzzle-like pieces. This is a dexterity game. My kids love it!
Carcassonne: This is a tile-based game that even young ones can figure out. From Board Game Geek: “The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters, and in the fields. The skill of the players to develop the area will determine who is victorious.”

Let the games begin! 

I have to add the card games:  Quiddler, Five Crowns, and Set.  My older boys (7-15) LOVE them!

Blokus, sequence, mancala, pass the pigs, and lots of card games are favorites here.  The kids started playing chess at 5-6.  There is sequence for Juniors also.  We will have to try Apples to Apples.  That looks like a favorite.

We love Phase 10 (and also the Master edition), Solitaire Frenzy - it’s like double solitaire for up to 6 but it has a limiter in the rules so that the games are over relatively quickly - very fast moving and fun, CatchPhrase, Whonu - where participants guess which of four items the selected player likes most and receive points based on how accurate they were. Also Color Sodoku - a wooden game board with colored marbles that you set up in the opening board of Sodoku like puzzles and then fill in to win.
We are looking forward to trying telephone pictionary which someone here recommended last week.

Our favorite group game is what we call “The Name Game.”  It is sort of like verbal charades.  Divide up into two teams.  Each person writes down 5-10 (depending on the number of people playing) names on little slips of paper and puts them in their team’s basket.  The names can be real people (current or historical) or fictional characters (from books, movies, etc.).  Baskets are then switched between teams, so each team is playing with the names written by the opposing team.  Teams are given one minute (a timer is necessary) to have players take a slip of paper and verbally describe the person on the paper while the rest of the team yells out guesses.  And example for the character Mickey Mouse would be:  “This is a rodent character created by Walt Disney.”  When someone gets it right, the basket is passed to the next person, and so on until the timer rings.  We just have a designated person on each team keep the correct slips of paper to count the score of each team at the end of the game.  We played this over Thanksgiving with three families and 18 people ranging in age from 6 - adult.  We just stopped the timer temporarily for one adult to help the youngest players read the paper and think of a way to describe the person.  This was a favorite choice for youth group game nights back when I was a parish youth minister.  Everyone we’ve introduced this game to loves it!

Boggle, Othello, Pictionary, Imaginiff, Egyptian War (card game also known as Egyptian Rat Screw), Speed (another card game), Scattergories, Charades, Taboo, Mancala, Apples to Apples, Racko, and Scrabble are some of my favorites. My family has a semi-tradition of doing giant puzzles over Christmas break every year.

We love Apples to Apples and Settlers of Catan.  Also, for those of you with older kids, Quiddler is a fun game!!  Think of rummy except with a letter on each card and you make words.  A bunch of my cousins played at a family wedding and we especially had fun debating weather a word really existed!