Family Games You’ve Never Played Before but Should – Holiday Gift Ideas

My kids have a closet full of games that you would expect a kid to have, but the games that get played with the most are the off the wall ones that you may have never heard of before. Here is our list of holiday gift ideas for the family that loves a good game night. I cover outdoor games, educational games, and even games that would be good to play at the dinner table.

I was provided some of the games on this list in exchange for my honest opinion. This post contains affiliate links that I will make a commission on only if you purchase. 

Games Great for Little Ones

GoGo Gelato ages 6+ – Become a gelato mixing master in GoGo Gelato! Players fill their customer’s orders armed with four cones, three scoops, two hands, and one challenge card in this delicious game of rearrangement. Happy customers are the ones whose orders are filled quickly and efficiently, so speed and thinking ahead are a must. This logic race has the perfect recipe for a good time!

Cars 3 Piston Cup Showdown ages 5+ – This game is lots of fun for little ones. We have been taking turns racing to the finish line as Lightning McQueen and Jackson Storm. It’s like red light great light but with toy cars. Check out our full review here. 

Gather Round the Dinner Table Games

Not Parent Approved ages 8+ – You want a room full of giggles? Then this is the game for your kids. It’s almost like filling out a Mad Lib but everyone shares the best response. The Burp Boss (designated at the start of the game by whoever has the loudest burp) reads all of the cards that were secretly passed to him/her and chose which one that is the funniest. Here is an example below. A Star Wars backpack with matching lunchbox and undies…would really make the world a better place.

Inspired by Cards Against Humanity but for kids. This game has won a bunch of awards, including the Winner of Scholastic’s Gold Star Toy Award.

Utter Nonsense Family ages 8+ –  Need another reason to giggle? Utter Nonsense is a card game where players combine silly accents with even sillier phrases to create sayings that are just plain ridiculous. I love that when you open the box, it looks like the guys have no pants on. This is a great one to do at the dinner table to make lasting family memories. 

Educational Games

Q’s Race to the Top ages 3 + – Q Wunder is a fantastic company that was created by Mompreneur, Sofia Dickens. QWunder has an app, original entertainment, books, and games that help teach children valuable lessons about emotion and social skills.

Meet Q, the genius monkey with A LOT to learn about life. In the board game “Q’s Race to the Top,” children can help Q race to the top of his treehouse by answering questions and performing fun actions. The questions are designed to promote feeling identification and verbalization, manners, social skills, creative thinking, balance, and coordination.

STEAM Learning! 

Dr. Beaker ages 8+ – Stir up excitement in the third installment of the Dr. Collection! In this logic race, players move molecules around the compartments of their beaker to try and match solutions on flipped challenge cards. Players must think quickly and work fast as they rearrange the molecules with their stirring rods. The first to finish wins the card as a point! A special rotating platform at the bottom of the beaker makes this race, unlike one you’ve ever tried!

Dr. Microbe ages 8+ – Dr. Microbe has important research to do, and she needs help! Using a pair of tweezers, players race to grab the correct colorful microbes and place them into their petri dish to solve an incomplete challenge card. Make sure to follow the research rules and finish first to impress Dr. Microbe and win the card as a point. The unique concept and components will make this your new go-to!

Outdoor Family Games

HOOT! – I love outdoor games because it gets the whole family outside to enjoy some fresh air and vitamin D. HOOT!’s inspiration is a traditional team game called Egg Toss and a classic outdoor game, Scoop Ball. They took the best of both and added a new twist. Sea Turtle Sports make a few really great outdoor games that we love. One of the highlights of all their games is the fact that they come with travel cases so that you can bring the game to any outing. HOOT! is small enough to fit into a backpack.

NightZone ages 6+ – Night zone’s capture the flag is a classic game with a nightgown twist. Join in the action as the red team, and the blue team tries to steal one another’s light-up flag from the light-up base. Watch the bases light up and try not to get tagged. This set includes both red and blue light-up flags and bases. Who doesn’t love capture the flag!? If your kids are having a sleepover, this would be a massive hit. 

Reindeer Ring Toss – I want to play this one solely to take pictures of everyone wearing the antlers.  You place the inflatable antlers on top of your head and toss inflatable rings at the other person’s head. I love it! 

Those are my top holiday picks for a family game night! Which ones do you think your kids would love?

I was provided some of the games on this list in exchange for my honest opinion. This post contains affiliate links that I will make a commission on only if you purchase.