The foundation of board games:  children’s board games.  I’m talking heart of childhood, elementary school, make a game out of everything age group.  They make their own board games.  They play board games at school when the weather is bad.  They play board games all summer long in the floor, usually in the doorway to the kitchen.  They just play.  So what do they play?

Old stand-bys are still loved.  Checkers and Chess are easily obtained and only take two people.  Monopoly can take an entire afternoon and even then may not end with a clear winner.  There’s a Monopoly Jr. now that is perfect for beginning readers and only takes about thirty minutes to play.

Sorry and Trouble, with it’s great Pop-O-Matic dice tumbler, remain crowd favorites.  The Game of Life has become pretty convoluted, but kids still like to play it.  Mouse Trap is fun to build and has the added value of a half hour of trapping mice once the game is done.  Upper grade levels have a great time with Clue and Colonel Mustard and the Library — with the candlestick.  Then there are cartoon-based games (think Spongebob) and Junior versions of Trivial Pursuit and Cranium.  And Chinese Checkers and Parcheesi and Operation and Tri-Bond and Mancala and Aggravation and Backgammon and Scrabble and — oh, you get the idea.  The list of children’s board games is as long as your imagination.