Organizing Your Favorite Board Games

With four children, ages 3-18 we have amassed a large number of board games. Over the years, our list has grown to over 30 board games. I used to be very vigilant about taping the corners of the boxes. That seemed to help reinforce the consolidate college loans - for a little while! But over time, they always ended up looking terrible. When my children were younger, as soon as they cracked the edge of the box on Christmas morning, there was mama with a Ziplock bag just waiting for all the tiny pieces. That bag was placed into the box and the children were very good about putting all the piece away. But we still had to struggle with that yucky box.

Last year, we went on vacation in the Carolinas and I made the best discovery! The guest house where we were staying had a huge number of board games. However, to my surprise, there were no boxes! They simply stacked the boards together on one shelf and had all the small pieces and instructions in labeled storage bags. This took so little space, that they had about 40 games in less space than 5 or 6 games left in traditional boxes! They looked so neat and orderly too!

When I got home, I immediately set about getting rid of most of the board game boxes and using this same method. I LOVE having all our games fitting on one small shelf, rather than taking up an entire closet!

I shared with my readers awhile back that at Christmas time, we limit the children to three gifts, plus one to share, using the following formula:

Something to Read, Something to Wear, Something to Play, Something to Share, I had lots of folks write and ask about what I meant about "Something to Share."

Well, we try to come up with one gift the entire family can share and enjoy. This may be a "classic" video, an "experience" gift, like zoo passes for the year or museum membership. But in our home, it is generally a board game. Here are our favorite board games that we have found the children (and we!) go back to over and over. Most can be found on Amazon ( tinyurl.com/6qnovvhttp://tinyurl.com/6qnovv) for simple Christmas shopping.

- Monopoly
- Mega Monopoly
- Boggle
- Clue
- Clue Jr.
- Risk
- Scrabble
- Super Scrabble
- Phase 10
- Wizard Card Game
- Uno
- Life
- Chutes and Ladders
- Candyland
- Apples to Apples - Bible Edition
- Guess Who? Board Game
- Sorry!
- Chess
- Memory

Malia Russell is the owner and director of www.homemaking911.comhttp://www.homemaking911.com - The number one word homemakers use to describe themselves is overwhelmed. Women have a yearning to create a home, a place of beauty, order, comfort and peace. However the compulsion to do it right often collides with feelings of guilt, inadequacy and frustration.

www.homemaking911.comhttp://www.homemaking911.com is meant to encourage you. There you will find resources to help in many aspects of home management and home education, being a godly wife and mother, and becoming the type of woman God is calling you to be.