Family Game Night Party- with Monopoly Plus

Our family is a big fan of playing games together. We laugh, we cheer, we tease, we play, and we have fun. Like a lot of fun. We recently amped up our family game night and turned it into a little bit of a party. A little Family Game Night Party with invitations and all.

I mean the invitations was stuck to the door and just for our boys, but they were impressed nonetheless.

I felt invitations and a Family Game Night Party were necessary because we were going to game it up and play Monopoly Plus on the Hasbro Game Channel. The Hasbro Game Channel is the place for family game entertainment on leading game consoles, featuring Hasbro's most popular games Monopoly, Risk, and Trivial Pursuit. Starting this fall, the Hasbro Game Channel will be available to download on Xbox One, video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system. All games will also be available for download individually on the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.

We have previously played Hasbro's Family Game Night on our XBox 360, and we LOVE all of the games. Since we have a family game night addiction, we were pretty obsessed with Hasbro's Family Game Night. So we were really excited to play Monopoly Plus on the Hasbro Game Channel. Family games are in the genes. Both The Hubs and I both come from families who play games. We are gamers, you could say. Ha. Some of my favorite memories of my family include playing games. Now we are making memories with our own kids.

If a Family Game Night Party and some Monopoly Plus don't make memories, I don't know what will.

So before we got our Monopoly on, we needed to have a little party.

This little game night party was so easy to throw together. I gathered some snacks I had in the pantry.

I used some party stuff that I had hanging out in the closet, and I rounded up a few other party supplies from the store.

I used the monopoly property cards from our traditional game. I hung them up on the wall with some washi tape.

I found these cute mustache plates, reminiscent of Mr. Monopoly, at Target in the party section. I paired them up with a fun patterned napkin.

I even made it a special occasion and whipped up some red Kool-Aid. Man did that make the boys happy.

To get ready for our Monopoly Plus marathon we needed to load up on the snacks.

Fuel up dude. Fuel up.

I am pretty sure this face says I am ready Mom!

This one says Don't bother me I am eating.

Snacks and napkins in hand, we were ready to play.

To say that we enjoyed the game is an understatement. Monopoly plus brings all the traditional aspects of traditional Monopoly to life with a  pretty awesome 2D board and colorful 3D graphics. Another cool thing is that Monopoly Plus let us choose our favorite House Rules to customize gameplay.We could all play since the game plays up to six players.

My boys love board games. They love video games. Basically that means that Monopoly Plus was a big winner.

Most family game nights are pretty casual and impromptu. We love it that way. However, it was fun to make a special occasion out of a family game night. My boys felt pretty special getting a Family Game Night Party. The party took hardly any effort on my part. The excitement and enjoyment they had was completely worth a little extra planning.

Party Supplies Details:

Chalkboard Banner-Target

Red Striped Banner-Target

Black polka dot wrapping paper (table runner)-Target

Napkins-Target

Plates-Target

Washi Tape-Michaels

Blue Popcorn Container-Zurchers Party Store

Go go and get your Family Game Night on and make some memories of your own.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Family Game Night Basket: Making Time For Family Togetherness

We love family game nights. We love playing games as a family any time day or night. Playing games as a family is one of our favorite ways to spend time together.

Recently we just took our family togetherness outside to play some board games on a blanket. We picked out a few of our favorite board games and put them in our newly made Family Game Night Basket. Made by simply spray painting an old picnic basket.

Then we grabbed some snacks, got cozy, and set up the games.

 

Family togetherness is so lovely when it is around a board game and without electronics. That is one of the reasons I love playing board games with my little family: just family and no distractions.

Well, there are no bad distractions.

Just cute ones.

And some, "Oh Mom, why are you making that embarrassing face?" distractions.

It has been fun to be on the mom side of playing games as a family. I have so many awesome memories of playing board games as a family when I was a kid. Back then it was loud and rowdy. However, everything was less complicated. When I was growing up we would play games in our pajamas on Sunday morning before church. We would play games on all big family holidays. We played games on the weekend.

There were no cell phones. Heck, we didn't even have a home computer or Internet for the longest time. There were so little distractions. It was glorious.

Nowadays there are so many distractions. There are so many things that get in the way of family togetherness. I want my kids to unplug from all the distractions, i.e. the electronics, and for us to spend time together. I want them to have the same loud and rowdy time I did when I was growing up playing games with my family.

I want them to remember the obnoxious victory dance of a sibling. I want them to remember laughter around the game table. I want them to remember the plastic cars in the game Life and the silver top hat from Monopoly. I want them to know the joy of a Yahtzee and the joy of a victory over everyone else in the family. I want them to know the sweetness of helping a younger sibling "win" by some selfless cheating.


I want to pass on family togetherness through playing games.

Some of the games I played back then might be different from what we play now. Some are the same. Same games or different games, the purpose is all the same. The purpose is to spend time as a family, growing closer, and creating memories.

Turn off the electronics. Shut off the television. Grab some board games, or a card game or two. Gather your family around the table or pack up the games in your Family Game Night Basket, lay out a blanket and take the games outside.

Just enjoy some time together as a family.
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Family Game Night Favorites

Have you all noticed that it has been particularly chilly as of late? Those of you in warm climates, feel free to not rub it in too much. Also, have you noticed that it isn't just chilly, it is at times impossible to leave the house. My brother and his fam were actually housebound.

So what should you do when you are housebound, everything is cancelled, and the mom your kids are stir crazy?

You should throw a Family Game Night. Or a Family Game Afternoon. Or a Family Game Just-Finished-Breakfast-And-Already-Stir-Crazy.

In light of all this chilly weather and the eminent case of the stir crazies, I thought I would share a few of our family's favorite games.

They are games for all age groups, because we are at that stage in our family.

The games can all be played by the whole family. The older kids can still enjoy the easier games, especially if they know they will get to play one of their games next. The younger kids can play the harder games if rules are adapted or good old mom and dad assist.

So without any more delay, here are a few of our family's current favorite family games.

1. Zingo: a fun spin on bingo, that uses cute pictures.

2. Clue: a classic, but always fun.

3. Guess What I Am: a guessing game. It includes caricatures cards in which 

you insert your face. This is pretty much hilarious.

4. Monopoly Empire: a much easier and kid friendly version of the original.

Plus, it is WAY shorter.

5. Memory: another classic. There are so many versions, you are sure to 

find one that fits any child's interest. 

6. Apples to Apples Junior: a really fun word game that will be sure

to get giggles trying to match words and/or people with a definition.

 

We really do love these games. Like I said, we play them often. Sometimes our three older boys will just go in a room and play one together.

Pop a bag of popcorn, whip out a family game, and you should be able to bond and solve the stir-crazies for at least a little while!

We are always looking for more game suggestions. I would love for you to share with me some of your family's favorite games.