Family Game Night

Everyone in the family is home for the night and yet no one is talking to each other. Your kids are alone in their rooms on their tablets, dad is watching TV in the family room and mom is scrolling through Instagram on her phone. These days there is no shortage of things to keep us entertained and occupied on the screens we carry with us everywhere. It is not uncommon to feel lonely in a group of people because no one is making eye contact or talking with each other. As a family, your time together is limited by work, school, chores and outside activities. How can you make the most of the precious time you have together and have fun? I suggest you bring back the old idea of family game night.

According to PBSKids.org there are many reasons to play games with the family.

#1. Games are good for motor skills.

#2 Games can lead to better grades.

#3 Games can help kids learn problem solving skills.

#4 Games lead to family bonding!

UNO™ is one game that everyone can play. Colors, numbers, reverse, skip, draw 2 and WILD cards add up to loads of fun. Here is a slightly different take on UNO™ that will help your kids access their emotions and work on building a vocabulary to express themselves. Follow the regular rules of UNO™ however each time a player plays a card; they need to describe something that goes along with an emotion.

Red cards = something that makes me angry

Green cards = something that makes me jealous

Yellow cards = something that makes me happy

Blue cards = something that makes me sad

Try this new twist on the classic UNO™ game. I think it will help you get to know your child better and they will also get to know you better. Expressing our emotions can be a difficult thing but everyone gets better with practice.

Have fun!

Written By: Christine B., Masters Level Intern