My six year old recently wrapped up our school year. As homeschoolers, often a key decision comes on if you should school year round or follow a traditional school schedule. We enjoy following the traditional school year schedule for our book work, and enjoy summer for additional "fun" reading time, life skills and learning through games to help retain some of our knowledge. Here are some of our favorite 2 to 4 player games we are enjoying:

Clumsy Thief Junior - The game is a new take on matching, but finding the "match" entails an addition problems that equal 10. The goal of the game is to make the most matches. Each player has a hand of  five cards with several discard/grab piles available to help find a match. I find this game to have varying levels of difficulty- to start we began with two players so the focus was more on gaining proficiency in adding to 10. Once that goal is reached, we start to add in additional players and increase the tempo of the game. 

Money Bags - This game focuses on gaining proficiency with counting coins. Each player earns money with each turn. When the bank runs out of any type of coin, players must turn in all of the coins of that type they have for bigger coins or dollar bills. The goal of the game is to have the most money when any one player reaches the finish space. This game is a fun and realistic way to practice counting coins.   

Dino Math Tracks - This game comes with three different variations of the game from the single set of game pieces. In its most basic form, it focuses on mastering place value with the popular dino-centric theming. This game provides ultimate flexibility based upon where your child is at for place value (Tens, hundreds, thousands). With the addition of the "Action Cards" the game adds complexity of larger digit addition, and subtraction problems, multiplication and division. This game gives a lot of mileage for is money!

Minecraft Uno, Uno Splash, Uno Jr. (Basically anything Uno) -  Our main focus on Uno is around strategy, and turn taking. We usually start with Uno Junior, where you can pull out all of the specialty cards (Reverse, Skip, Draw 2) to focus more on color and number matching. We've started as early as age 4. From there we add in the specialty cards, which gets you up to a standard Uno game. We love to keep a game of Uno in our diaper bag, or in the car. Its a great thing to pull out while waiting at a restaurant. There are so many fun variations now that are available based upon kids interests and lifestyle factors. Our family favorites this year have been Uno Splash and Minecraft Uno. Uno Splash uses waterproof cards and has holes that fit onto a loop. This has been great for playing camping, by the pool or beach! Minecraft Uno is great for any Minecraft lover. The Creeper exploding Wild Cards know how to mix things up and build a little resiliency in all of us.

 

Here is a link to our favorite storage bags for our board games!

 

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