I've been thinking of starting a family fun night. I have a DS9 and DD6. any ideas. What make this work for your family. Sometimes it gets hard becuase my kids are different ages and have different interest and skill levels.

the best luck we've had is with charades, our dd3 can even participate...

We have done lots of things and need to get back to family night.

Some things we have done in the past.

* A family size puzzle. Everyone picks a part to work on and the four year old usually helps someone find their pieces be it the edges, a color etc.

* Game Night. Monopoly, Blockus, Scene it etc.

* Baseball in the backyard. Haven't tried football, that might be fun for fall.

* Movie night of course. With the lights off, all sitting on the couch with popcorn.

*Wii game night. The sport type games work well.

not sure what you are looking for. Mine are only 2 and 5 so we do play a game with DS5 every night before bed. We do this after DD is already in bed though since he pretty much plays adult games like scrabble and stuff anyhow. We have had campfires in the backyard all together and made s'mores. We go out for icecream, we go on a walk to a park that's not too far from our house, we play outside in the backyard together, go swimming together. We also do a game a little earlier with DD2 since she is starting to play little games like cariboo and hi ho cherrio and don't break the ice (she loves that one). Cadoo is a fun cranium game that involves charades and other stuff. There are also active games like twister and hyperdash and things like that if you are up to it.

Apples to Apples: a simple, yet clever word association game.

At first I thought it was a silly game. But DS & DW both enjoyed it and convinced me to give it a go. While it might be better with a couple more people, we make the best of our little nuclear family. In fact, our DD4 acts as the "judge," which in itself leads to humorous results, and gives her an active role.

Monopoly -- the perennial favorite in our family for three generations. DS took to it right away and is able to sit for full-length games.

HOWEVER, there are SOME children in this world who do not appreciate landing on Boardwalk+Hotel -- AT ALL. He stormed off to his room while the banker mortgaged all his property in an effort to pay the rent. He was still short by a bunch. Sadly, and despite his pleas for mercy, he was forced into Bankruptcy @ the tender age of 7.

That extended drama caused the game to be "shelved" for a couple months.

We like Settlers of Catan.
We also like 'apples to apples' but can't make it work with just the three of us. Maybe an online version?

In our extended family we have a Monopoly custom. When one player become bankrupt, another player will offer to 'combine' with them and have them on their 'team.' It is particularly easy for the one who is owed the money. Often the younger one will lose interest and wander off, but without the tantrum. Later I hear the one who was 'bought out' asking, 'Did WE win?'

smiles,
grinity

thankyou, I'll look into these

DS8 & DD6 both like Apples to Apples, Scrabble (and Upwards), and Blurt (although you need clear rules; sometimes we don't allow "blurting" but will allow the person who's turn it is to take a guess first). They also like WhoNu (sp?).