Our Favourite Family Games for a 4 and 8 year old

Every Friday night, it’s games night and when Baby K has gone to bed, Matt and I spend some time with the older too and play our favourite family games.  This is by no way being mean to K, but as he has just turned 2 years old, he is not quite ready for board games or computer games yet – sorry mate!

I wanted to share with you our favourite games at the moment to inspire you when you play with the kiddos at home!

Flying Kites

Such as simple game, but one the older two kids love.  You can have up to four players to get all three ‘kites’ into the holes.  Each kite that lands in a hole will be of value, which you add up at the end and the highest value player wins.  You can either take it in turns or race to see who the fastest is to get all three kites landed.  We really enjoy this one and was cheap as chips from TK Max.

Flying Kites is a great board game for 4-8 year olds

Kids Cludo

This is my 8 year old sons favourite.  I am sure most people will know how to play Cludo, but this kids version has been a big hit in our house and isn’t too long winded either.  Be the first to guess who ate the cake, with what drink, at what time.  Most of the time B wins!  But overall, this is a good all rounder that pleases the kids and is fun for us adults too.  It is a little trickier for W who is 4, but with a little help she enjoys the game and normally ends in no tears or tantrums!

Junior Cluedo

How to Train your Dragon, Dawn of the New Riders PS4

This is a brand new game and one we have been enjoying since it launched in February 2019.  I have to say, I am a gamer and always have been.  As a kid I would love my NES, Game Boy and Sega.  And whilst I do encourage none screen time, I really don’t think we can shield the kids away from such up and coming technology.  So if you can’t beat them, join them!

How to Train your Dragon, Dawn of New Riders PS4

How to Train you Dragon, Dawn of the New Riders is the brand new game from the series and is one we can all enjoy playing together.  Mr B has a PS4, but the game is also available on various other consoles.   Playing as a brand new character, Scribbler, the aim is to retrieve the stolen dragon egg and meet his new side kick, Patch.  Each level is pretty straight forward with a few battles and tricky decision making as to which way to navigate Scribble and Patch (you can play as both switching between the two characters).  We’ve encountered dragons along our travels, battled some bosses come across some traps we weren’t expecting.  Fighting the baddies is pretty standard combat, however it pleased Mr B and Miss W to no end.

Piggy in The Middle Orchard Games

This is one of Miss W’s firm favourites (I think its due to money being involved – of the pretend kind!)  Be the first player to save £5 and arrive at the finish.  This is a board game where you follow the path around a board and encounter instructions a long the way.  A great game for the little ones to learn about counting money and learning to save!  I think this was particularly a favourite for Miss W who enjoyed the piggy bank!

Piggy in the Middle – Orchard Games

Greedy Granny!

Brought for them at Christmas, we all love this one and it still makes me jump even thought we’ve played a thousand times.  The aim of the game is to collect four biscuits from Granny’s lap whilst she sleeps, following instructions from a spin wheel.  But just be careful to not wake Granny.  Doing so, will mean you have to replace all your collected biscuits back onto the tray on Granny’s lap!  This is a fun (and jumpy!) game that is simple enough for the younger kids to play.

Greedy Granny

So there you have it  – our top games we are enjoying at the moment!  Do you have any to add to the list?

Thanks for reading xxx

*We were kindly gifted a PS4 game of How to Train your Dragon, Dawn of the New Riders to review *