Method 1 of 3: Planning Ahead
-
1Figure out the best day and time to have your game night. Before you start planning your family game night, decide on a day and time frame that works for everyone. Family game night should be attended by your whole family, so check with everyone in your household to find out when would work best for everyone.[2]
- Make sure that your family members know that their presence is important to you and that family game night wouldn’t be the same if someone was missing.
Ad -
2Poll family members on what games they want to play. Once you have nailed down a day and time that will work for everyone, figure out what games everyone wants to play. If everyone agrees on a game, that’s great! But if not, you may need to take a vote or select a game at random. Keep in mind that some games take less than an hour to play, so you may be able to play few different games and make everyone happy. Some popular choices for family game night include:[3]
- Monopoly
- Pictionary
- Apples to Apples
- Scrabble
- Sorry
- Candyland
- Clue
- Cranium
- Jenga
-
3Decide on snacks. It’s a great idea to have some things to munch on during family game night. Ask your family members what snacks they would like to have around to munch on. Or, you might even want to eat dinner during your family game night. Choose something easy to eat while playing a game such as pizza or sandwiches.[4]
- Try having everyone help prepare dinner or snacks to kick off the family game night.
- 4Choose a place to play. Make sure that you choose a good location to play your games on family game night. There should be enough room for everyone to sit and the location should work with the board game. For example, if you plan to play Monopoly, then sitting at the kitchen table might be the best way to go. But if you plan to play Pictionary, the living room might be a better setting.[5]
- 5Consider other aspects of the game night that will require planning. Do you plan to invite any family members who are no longer living in your house? Do you need to purchase a game? Think about nay other things that you need to do to get ready for the game night.[6]Ad
Method 2 of 3: Setting Rules
- 1Determine if you need to make rule adjustments for young children. While some games are well-suited to young players, other games give adults an unfair advantage. For example, a young child may not stand a chance in a game of Scrabble against an adult because of the vast differences in their vocabularies. One thing that you can do to ensure that all players have a chance at winning is to make rule adjustments to suit the needs of younger players.[7]
- Try teaming up younger players with an adult or older child player to help even the playing field. Or decide on an exception or rule adjustment for younger players, such as giving younger players a flat 20 points for each word played in Scrabble, regardless of size or complexity.
- 2Be clear about the consequences of cheating. Cheating can be a problem for some children because they really want to win the game. Make sure that you have some clear consequences for anyone caught cheating to help make it clear that it is not okay. For example, you might specify that anyone caught cheating has to do the dishes at the end of the night.[8]
- 3Ban cell phones and other electronics. Since the goal of a family game night is to spend quality time with your family and enjoy their company, it is a good idea to ban all electronic devices during game night. That means cell phones, TVs, tablets, or anything else that might distract players from the game should be shut off and out of sight.[9]
- If you have trouble getting your family members to observe this rule, try setting a consequence. For example, you might say that anyone caught using a device during family game night has to wear a silly hat for the rest of the evening. If that doesn’t work, try a more serious consequence like losing a turn or getting a points deducted. Just make sure that you make the consequence clear before you start the game night.
Ad
Method 3 of 3: Keeping it Going
- 1Be a good sport. Model good sportsmanship for younger players by accepting defeat with grace, applauding your fellow players for clever moves, and offering to help other players if they are stumped. Showing that you value your time spent with your family members more than you value winning the game will set a good example for the rest of your family and take the focus away from winning the games.[10]
- 2Enjoy the conversations. Family game night is a great time to engage in casual conversations with your family members. Playing a game helps to relax people and you may find your family opening up to you about things that they might not usually talk about. Make sure that you listen well and enjoy these little conversations throughout the evening.[11]
-
3Make game nights a regular activity. To get the most out of a family game night, it should be a repeat affair. Keeping game night on your schedule and encouraging your family members to do the same will demonstrate that you value this time with them. Over time, it may continue to be something that your whole family looks forward to as a time to bond and have fun![12]
- Try to hold your game night on the same day and time each week and prioritize it in your schedule.
Ad
Tips
- Invite a friend or friends to join your family game night now and then. One way to get to know friends better and help your family get to know them as well is to invite them to join your family game night now and then. Just make sure that you still have some nights where it is just you and your family.
- Have an electronics box where everyone can place their electronics before entering the room so that they won't get distracted.
Warnings
- Avoid argument discussion topics. Try not to talk about politics, sports, or other sensitive topics. Instead, reflect on each other's day, personal experiences, or simply what is currently occurring in the game.
Things You'll Need
- Board game or video game
