Best games for a wide age range?

[phathui5]

Our kids are 3, 5, 7, and 10. We're stuck inside a lot living in snowy Syracuse. I'd like to find games that 2-3 of them can play at a time. The three year old does tend to wander off or start licking people when they're playing a game, unless they're playing Wii.

I'd like suggestions for board games, card games, Wii games, even just ideas for games I could suggest to them to give them something to do inside.

[Just1More]

licking people?  that's hilarious! (and what had MY three year old ds giggling and giggling last night....)

My kids, who are 6, 3, 2, and new are really enjoying Rough Science.  You can find episodes on pbs.com or netflix.  They kind of have an idea of how it works, and I have started setting them up with their own challeneges.  My 3yo proudly announced to dh, "And I'm the guy who delivers the food!" one night.

So, I have, for the time, confiscated most of the kid stuff that sits around, not their special things, but all the other stuff.  I fill up a toy box with selected items, remind them they can use stuff they find around the house, and then issue their challenges.  The last one, which is on hold because we are traveling, is to make a restaurant.  In their box they found all the toy dishes and food, a mailman bag and hat, a wooden truck with a trailer, and I put their little kitchen in their room.

So, dd (age6) is to make a menu.  Ds (3) is to deliver the food (like a pizza guy), and dd (2) cooks it.  Obviously, with older kids I could get more interesting.  But, they are so excited, and LOVE it. 

When this one gets old and I don't have anything else to suggest to them, I will give them a new collection of toys and a new challenge. 

Other games could be Uno, or memory, cat in the corner, string tricks, where's the thimble, hide and seek, sardines, tents, scavenger hunts, cooking things, craft projects, about a hundred balloons all piled up in a room (my kids LOVE this one), obstacle courses, marbles, jacks, phase 10, I Spy...

You could look on family fun...they have lots of ideas...

[pianojazzgirl]

My kids are 3 and 6 and we often watch their 8yo friend as well.  Games that all 3 of them have been enjoying recently (we played a lot of games over March break and we were babysitting the 8yo every day) are Sleeping Queens (probably the biggest hit with all 3 of them), The Kids of Carcassonne, regular Carcassonne (with slightly modified rules - the kids play without "farms" for anyone who's interested, lol), Pitchcar, Uno and Crazy 8s.  Games that my 3yo loves and the older ones are sometimes interested in are Hungry Hungry Hippos, and Trouble.

[One_Girl]

Monopoly Junior may work for three of them and the regular Monopoly when it is just the two, though that would require some support from the oldest child and some involvement on your part until they get the hang of it.

These are some that may also hold their attention without involvement from you:

Guess Who

Memory

Pick Up Sticks

Janga

Checkers

[LynnS6]

Cranium Cariboo will work for your younger two.

Cranium Hulabaloo would be good for the younger 2-3.

Hyperdash would work for the older 3, and the younger one with a little help.

Uno might work with all of them.

Slap Jack & War -- they're eternal games with very simple rules.

Sorry for the older 3.

My kids ride down the stairs on air mattresses -- that'd work great for all of them!

[AnnieA]

Slamwich is a great card game that everyone except maybe your youngest could play together. I second the suggestion for Monopoly Jr. and Guess Who. Those would be great.

When my younger three were a bit younger, I could just plop a large container of Playmobil down in the middle of the living room and they would play for hours. I've also been known to give them a bag of unfilled balloons (leftover from a party) and tell them to have fun. They made alien babies out of the balloons and spent most of the day caring for them! Of course the youngest was 8 at the time so I wasn't concerned about choking hazards.

[asraidevin]

For more obscure games: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/childrensgames (there is a list on the far left side)

For cooperative games (ie no "winner"): http://www.ecotoytown.com/games/7toAdult.html

(you can just search cooperative board games There are lots of places to buy). I like co-op games for varied ages because the big kids can't pick on the little ones.

[LaughingHyena]

Cranium hulabaloo and uno are both popular with my kids (4 and 6).

On the wii they like the wii fit games, we also like the Super mario galaxy, especially the second one. Player 1 controls mario and player 2 collects the starbits, coins etc. It means they play the early levels themselves (though with some arguments over who gets to be which player) but can play the later levels along with an adult playing mario. A lot of the other platform type games they find too frustrating.

[loraxc]

5, 7 and 10 should be able to play a card game we like called Rat a Tat Cat. It's quite tolerable for adults while being fun for the kids. There is also a very simple game called Shut the Box that will work for any kids old enough to add to 10.

[Daffodil]

Labyrinth is simple enough for at least some 4 year olds, maybe even a 3 year old, and enjoyable for older kids and even adults.  The youngest kids might not really be able to figure out a good strategy, but it's fun even if you just play randomly.  And there's a luck component, so the best strategist doesn't necessarily have to win (though they probably will.)

[ASusan]

dominoes. Our 3-yr-old can do pattern/color matching, so you might have better luck with a colored set, instead of black-and-white.