Front Porch Favorites:
The Gold Standard For Child/Youth Resources

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Directory of Everything for Children and Youth in Detroit
Front Porch Favorites: Resources for Parents 
Front Porch Book: How to Help Children- Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Fairy Tale on the Porch
Chapter 2 - Unmet Needs
Chapter 3 - The Answer
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Games

  • Blue links connect to places you can buy the resource
  • Assume none of these games are the kind with batteries. Batteries  cost a lot, are bad for the environment, kids never turn stuff off, and rarely do they add to a game's fun.
  • For pretend games, don't be surprised if kids play the same game over and over. If you watch carefully, you will notice they are building on the game of the day before, building an ever more complex pretend world making more neural connections in their brains. Let them be. 
  • Any game for individual kids can be adapted to groups of kids by making it a race.  
  • The Front Porch only works with kids in 1st grade and up. Some activities may be suitable for younger, but we are not knowledgeable in that age group. 
  • We generally don't get the "Jr." version of any game. Kids catch on quickly to games and think a Jr. version is too temporary to spend our precious few resources on. 
  • These are ingredients for a happy childhood. These games have stood the test of time. Mix these with people who love them, a good education and basic needs met,  and there is a very good possibility you will have a very happy adult! 
  • We get the kids to play educational games during homework time. When they don't have homework, they can only choose educational games to play. They go over best when an older teen is in charge of the game. Just be sure the teen really knows how to play it well. 
  • Games with an asterisk * cost no money for kids to play. 
  • No one pays us for any of this - to put this website up or to pick these games. If you find it useful, be sure to donate to the Front Porch. 
  • Now, GO PLAY!
Ball Playground Games
Spud 2nd grade and up Kids stand in a circle. One throws up a kickball or a drug store ball (one that will not hurt when it hits) and calls out another's name. All the kids run and scatter. When the kid catches the ball, they yell stop. The other kids have to stop running. The kid who has the ball tries to hit the closest kid with the ball. If the kid they aim at gets hit, the hit kid gets the letter "S" (of S-P-U-D). If the kid they aim at catches the ball or doesn't get hit, the kids who throws the ball gets the letter "S".  Then all the kids go in a circle again and the kid whose name was called the last time throws up the ball and it starts all over. As the kids get the whole word SPUD spelled out, they are out of the game. For a longer game, pick a longer word. 
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Blindfold Games
Dog and the Bone* 2nd grade and up Kids sit in a circle. One blindfolded kid is the dog with a bone (any object) next to them. The other kids have to steal the bone without the dog hearing. If the dog can figure out who it was, they have to be able to point at the right person. 
Fang* 3rd grade and up This is a Native American game. One kid, the snake,  is blindfolded and holds a rolled up newspaper (the fang). The other kids stand far away from the snake. One at a time each has one chance to touch the snake on the head. The snake has one chance to use their fang.
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Brain Games
These are not necessarily only for the "gifted". There are some kids who just love these puzzles. You might just discover that all your kids are "gifted"...
Mensa 75 Riddles and Conundrums 6th grade and up This is a set of cards with problems. Great for a group of kids to solve together. 
 Shape By Shape 3rd grade and up Individual kids have to make a set of shapes match a picture. There are two levels of play - one that shows which pieces go where and one that shows just an outline.
ThinkFun Square By Square 3rd grade and up Individual kids have to make a set of shapes match a picture. There are two levels of play - one that shows which pieces go where and one that shows just an outline. This one just uses squares. 
Tangrams 3rd grade and up Individual kids have to make a set of shapes match a picture. There are two levels of play - one that shows which pieces go where and one that shows just an outline.
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Building
LEGO Ultimate Building Set - 405 Pieces 1st grade and up Classic. Don't get the sets that make something particular. Just get the pieces. This will encourage their creativity, even though they will not thank you at first.
Knex Value Tub 400 pieces 2nd grade and up Never as popular as lego. Its a good idea to sit down and show them how all the pieces fit together.
 Motors 3rd grade and up We've had mixed results with these. Some kids don't build anything and just want to put the motor on anything, and some kids have been brilliant. Its a toss up. And the motors are not remote - they are attached, so its like walking a dog. Lego makes some and K'nex does too. 
Clock Puzzle Clock 5th grade and up This is complicated. Something for kids who have built things before and can follow an exploded view drawing.  Challenging, but good. Make it a race with two.
Mousetrap 4th grade and up This is in the building section because 1/2 the time you spend playing the game is the building, but kids love it - as long as they have help the first time figuring it out.
Sandbox 1st grade and up Lifting the bags of sand is AWFUL! So get a cover that secures on top. Put it somewhere shady. This can entertain for HOURS.  Add some old pots or sifters and toys that stay in the sandbox.
Boxes* 1st grade and up The refrigerator box, the stove box...all golden garbage.  Ask them where they want a window or what other building materials they need.  Boxes are now underestimated by adults and unimagined by kids, which is sad.
Hammer, Wood and Nails 5th grade and up If parents only knew how many kids are desperate to build...a hammer, some easy to nail wood, nails, and a little instruction and they are SO happy
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Dancing/Singing
Couples Dancing* 5th grade and up Hygiene class first! Then this essential form of playing helps young men and women learn to respect each other. Just teaching them to hold hands and work together to make the box step is a life lesson.
Karaoke All Just let them sing. The best is when a teenager will emcee for the younger kids to sing.
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Deduction
Battleship middle School Old favorite. Great for learning to strategize and deduce. This also teaches coordinates on a graph. 
Clue middle school You'd be surprised how many kids cannot understand how to look for the missing fact. Mind opening game for some kids. And still just as fun. 
Spy Alley 4th to 8th grade A new classic. Kids can play this one over and over. Its a lot like clue. Kids have to collect a disguise etc. before the other kids and return to their embassy without anyone guessing which spy they are. We play that kids can guess anyone who is on the part of board that is the alley for a quicker game.
Mastermind middle school and up This is a high level of deduction game for the inspired kid. They have to guess the color and order of the pegs. They have only a few chances to guess it correctly basing  each new guess on the responses of the other person who set the original pattern.
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Following Directions
Mind Your Manners Game kindergarteners can play this if adults read the cards. Never too soon to learn basic manners. Kids have to count and go backwards or forwards like the card says.
Snap Clap and Slap Card Game 3rd grade and up Kids have to clap, snap or slap like the card says.
Chutes and Ladders 2nd grade and up Counting and following the directions of a chute or a ladder.
Trouble Board Game 1st grade and up The best game to learn how to count board game spaces.
Candyland 1st grade and up Learning colors and counting
Twister As soon as they are old enough to be big enough to play and reach the dots Learning colors and right and left
Uno 2nd grade and up Learning colors and numbers
Shanuco 3rd grade and up Learning shapes, colors and numbers. Like Uno with another layer.
Playing Cards Crazy Eights 3rd grade and up This is the ancestor to Uno.
Simon Says* 1st grade and up A leader tells the kids what to do. If the leader says "simon says" the kids should do it. if the leader doesnt say "simon says", the kids should not do it and the kids that did  follow are out.
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General
Yo-yos 4th grade and up Always a hit. Don't get a super-cheap one. 
Metal Jacks & Ball 4th grade and up This is best introduced to bored kids. Some kids love them, some don't. Never get the plastic ones. They are awful!
 Marbles  2nd grade and up (old enough to fit the shooter in their hand) This one surprised us. Kids will still love the simplest marble game. Draw a circle in chalk on the sidewalk. Put all the marbles in the circle. And kids have to knock as many marbles out of the circle line as they can, using proper marble shooting form and staying behind the line. These are always at the dollar store. Be sure they have the shooter in the bag. 
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em ROBOTS Game 1st grade and up With all the  fighting video games on earth, you'd think these antiques would be out of style. Nope. They LOVE these.
SKIP BO Card Game  5th grade and up This is like a complicated Uno for kids who like it, but have played it a million times. Nice for camping, long hot summer days, and rainy days. 
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Geography Games
Atlas Adventure Ten and up In this game kids each build their own puzzle by winning pieces to a map of the world. The questions are hard, but they can guess. The trick is for the same kids to play this several times so they remember the answers.  Kids who think they are supposed to know the answers will be frustrated. Kids who can let go and just guess do better. 
Wooden US Puzzle/World Puzzles K-5th or 6th grade We don't know why they love the big wooden puzzles but they do, well into  5th or 6th grade. 
Scrambled States 3rd grade and up No better way to learn states and capitals. Kids race to find  capitals, mottoes, and  to find the states relative to each other. Brilliant. Any age of person who wants to learn their states and capitals.  The winner of our Golden Porch Award
Latitude and Longitude 4th grade and up Make up a list of places, note their latitude and longitude. Give teams atlases and the list of latitude and longitude with blanks next to them. Explain latitude and longitude and that they are racing around the world, first team to identify all the places is the winner.
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Grammar Games
There is no way to disguise grammar. Kids always know. We use the word "game" here loosely.
Mad Libs  Middle School They have to know what the parts of speech are in order to fill in the blanks to make funny sentences. Make sure they see the sheet in there that explains parts of speech and give it to the kid who is coming up with the words.
 Go to Press Middle to High School This is a Clue-esque game. It is not super hard so it is fairly enjoyable for kids, but they are still happy when educational game time is over.
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Group Games
Family Feud  Middle School and Up Super Fun. Team Building
Pictionary  Only for kids who have a similar drawing ability and who like to draw.  We think that with some group of kids out there, this well designed game could be fun. But we've only ever seen it turn into fights. :(
Spoons (regular playing cards and spoons from the kitchen) As soon as a kid can understand  they have to match everything in their hand. If they cannot, DO NOT let them play - they will hold onto cards other kids need and then the other kids will hate them (temporarily). This game is the musical chairs of card games.  Have one less spoon than there are kids. Deal four cards to each kid. The dealer passes the cards around one at a time , kids look and see if it will help them get 4 of a kind. If they don't, they pass it on. When someone gets 4 of a kind they grab a spoon. Whoever didn't get a spoon is out. Play continues, taking one spoon away, until there is just one spoon and one winner. 
Pit Card Game As soon as a kid can understand  they have to match everything in their hand. If they cannot, DO NOT let them play - they will hold onto cards other kids need and then the other kids will hate them (temporarily).  This fast paced, yelling, insane, old card game teaches about the commodities market to kids. Great with 8 or 9 kids. One of the best games ever invented.  
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Jump Rope
The Jump Rope Invest in a good one. Ones from the dollar store or that seem too cheap often stick to the cement when they are twirled. A waste of money and the earth's resources. Make a rule that it is not to be used for tug of war. You can also get that rope they sell at the hardware store that looks just like jumprope, but it comes in a big bundle.  Kids like the ones with the beads on them but those also hurt when they hit - get those for experienced jumpers. 
Double Dutch Find someone to teach this jump rope method for twirling two jump ropes at once. It is a great challenge for kids who are already experts at one rope. 
Jump the Rope Jingles Many kids do not know jump rope jingles anymore. Get this book or another. Ask older kids in your neighborhood if they know any. Don't let this fine tradition die off. Find ones that are boy friendly because they like to jump too. If they are reluctant, see if they will try tricks.
Chinese Jumprope Kids still love this game. The instructions are on the back of the packet - don't lose it!
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Languages/Cultures
Lingo 1st grade and up This is bingo in a bunch of different languages with the bingo cards being pictures of food. The down side is that the caller needs to speak the languages they are calling in. The up side is that if young kids play this game about 3 times in the same language in a row, they know those words in a different language. We are unable to locate the great UNICEF Lingo listed on the left, but found an ok substitute - it is only in a single language. :(  French, Spanish Bingo
See It and Sign It Game-Intro to ASL 1st grade and up This is a bingo game using sign language.  It has two levels: beginners and  advanced. Kids need to use the DVD or the cards to learn the signs basically before starting, but it doesn't take long. 
Passport To Culture 8th grade and up This is your basic, pick up a card and ask a question. No one knows these answers about cultures all over the earth, so it can frustrate some kids. Curious kids enjoy the guessing.
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Life Choices
Game of Life 4th grade and up We have yet to find a better game to make kids think about if they want to have kids, what insurance is, what happens when you gamble, if you want to go to college etc.
Careers 5th grade and up This game still interests kids. They follow career paths. 
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Math Games
Double 6 Dominoes As soon as they can count up to 6 Get the ones that are not in color so kids will have to count the dots, not identify by color. 
Bingo As soon as they are learning double digit numbers Yes, just regular bingo helps them learn to identify numbers.
Make 7 As soon as they learn to add This is like connect 4, only the pieces are numbers that have to add up to 7.
Math War Addition & Subtraction As soon as they learn addition and subtraction A card game kids play like war but the  cards pictures to count on them
Subtraction 0-12 Math Card Game As soon as they learn subtraction Kids can count the objects on the cards to learn what subtraction is.
Multiplication Bingo As soon as they start to learn their multiplication tables Play it and give them a cheat sheet. 
Snap It Up Math Card Game, Multiplication Middle School Play this game once they know most of their multiplication tables to review and cement them in their heads.
Fractions Bingo First grade (yes, they can count up the pieces) The easiest way to learn fractions. Explain how a whole is cut into pieces then give them plenty of time to count the pieces up on the bingo sheets. 
Maya Madness Game As soon as they are introduced to negative numbers in school. A great way to practice  using negative numbers. It takes a little while to go through the directions, but it's not a complicated game and its fun. 
Uno 1st grade Help children learn to recognize and match numbers-especially when they are with older kids, trying to keep up.
Odd or Even* 1st grade and up Each child gets an envelope with 20 beans in it. Kids can hold as many in their closed hand as they want. The other kids guess if there are an odd or even number of beans there. If they are right, they get them. If they are wrong, the kid holding the beans keeps them. Put a time limit on this game. Kids just roam around the room asking each other. Whoever has the most beans at the end is the winner. To help kids who don't know their odds from evens, post a list showing which numbers are even and which are odd.
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Memory/Observation/Matching
Stare! Junior  Inspired 4th graders and up Kids stare at a picture then stop looking at it and answer questions. The Jr. version is hard enough for adults. 
Scan Card Game  4th grade and up This challenging visual game has four different matches on each card. Kids have to match one of the four to the other cards laying out.
Old Bachelor 1st grade and up This game is a take off on Old Maid. Kids pick cards from each other's hands and make matches. Whoever is left with the old bachelor is the loser. It's good for the kids to play this and Old Maid - gender balance.  
Hocus Focus Card Game 3rd grade and up This is a matching game that's harder than just memory because just a part of the picture changes.
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Money Games
Pit Card Game As soon as a kid can understand  they have to match everything in their hand. If they cannot, DO NOT let them play - they will hold onto cards other kids need and then the other kids will hate them (temporarily). This fast paced, yelling, insane, old card game teaches about the commodities market to kids. Great with 8 or 9 kids. One of the best games ever invented.
Monopoly 3rd grade and up The classic game to learn about real estate and counting money.  Never buy the one where they don't count the money. The essential value of monopoly is to learn to count - the numbers on the dice, the money you have etc. If you want dumb kids who won't ever be able to manage their own money, get the credit card one. 
Shopping Spree 1st grade and up This game they go around the board collecting one thing from each store and the winner is whoever finishes shopping first. Fabulous for teaching about money and making change. 
Stock Market Tycoon Middle School and up This is an excellent game to  learn about the stock market. It takes a little while to explain the game, but once they get it, the game isn't so complicated. Kids buy stock and then the stocks go up or down as the game goes on.  
The Price is Right Game - New 2nd Edition About 8 years old and up.  This game is hard to set up, but kids learn the relative prices of everything. This is a good life skill to have.  An adult needs to give a lot of help for this one. 
Store* K-5th grade A cash register (if you have one), play money, a bunch of old stuff, and tape/marker to price it all. Hours and hours of fun.
Restaurant* k - 5th grade Menu (ones they make on paper or on a posterboard), old plates, food (invisible, made from play doh, from nature, or plastic), cash register and play money.
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Nature
Tree Climbing* All Find one to start with that has a split down low so kids can get an idea of how to hold on and pull themselves up. There was actually a kid who almost lived in the tree in front of the Porch. Some kids NEED to climb. Let them.
Bug Hunting* All Get a jar with a metal lid. Put holes in the top with hammer and nails. Keep one by each door in the house. Teach the kids to let them go.
Digging All Just give them boundaries of where they can dig and let them. Kids with ADD seem to gravitate toward this.
Jump in the Leaves* All Rake the leaves into a pile and jump in them. Be sure they are dressed to play.
Sledding All Let the kids build their own snow hill. Then bring out a pitcher of water pour it on the hill on a very cold day. Fast, good stuff.
Follow the Leader in the Snow* All When the snow is deep, play follow the leader in the steps you make in the snow.
Building with snow* All Keep some stronger buckets and recycled tubs for snow building. If you are with them, let them boss you. You will be surprised what they build.
Sandcastles* All The summer version of snow building. Keep some stronger buckets and recycled tubs for building. See if you need to show them the correct consistency of sand/water mixture so they don't get frustrated. 
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Pretend Games
Dress Up
Just put these out. Kids usually just go to it. If they don't, put some on yourself as an example. Play runway, make a movie, do a play, make a music video. Adults can be the monster in the movie, the emcee for the fashion show. So fun!
Costumes 1st and up  Older kids will get in them if you can get some of the cool older kids to wear them. Get them on sale after Halloween.
Fabric 1st and up From the discount bin or a place that resells industrial materials (in the Detroit area Arts and Scraps) Be sure to have some belts in there, safety pins for older kids, and other belt/attaching type accessories.
Old clothes* 1st and up From a thrift store - a little washing and voila, hours of fun.
Pretend Places
Bike Freeway As soon as they can ride a bike Some chalk and bikes. Draw a line down the middle of a sidewalk and you have a road. A more elaborate game could be with a pad of paper and a pencil for one kid to give out tickets. Kids will take it from there.
Restaurant* 1st grade and up A cash register, play money, a bunch of old stuff, and tape/marker to price it all. Hours and hours of fun.
Store* 1st grade and up Menu (ones they make on paper or on a posterboard), old plates, food (invisible, made from play doh, from nature, or plastic), cash register and play money.
Tea Party* 1st  and up Some old cups and a piece of fabric to sit on. You can make it more elaborate with some real beverage and snacks, but for kids to be able to recreate it without adult help, less is more. Kids value the time adults spend sitting with them and the chance to direct the tea party. Grown ups should do what they tell you to do. It's their time.
Pretending while entertaining
Puppet Shows 1st and up Socks and a table flipped on its side will do. Or add puppets made from paper bags. Older kids who are hams are a surprising addition to puppet show. Invite them.
Movie Making 1st and up Video cameras are magic for kids, especially ones who are reluctant to imagine. They will be hooked the first time they see the playback. The monster movie is the easiest way to start movie making. Only let responsible kids hold the camera (our limit is 13 and up).
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Science Games
 Skeletons in the Closet Game middle school and up Kids spin a spinner and answer questions about the bones in the body. Not the most fun game (kids never picked this for free time), but the least painful way to learn the bones of the body. They really do learn them after playing it a couple times.
Bird Bingo  3rd grade and up Maximum learning happens when the caller reads the back of the card explaining about the birds and asking what the kids know about the birds.
Bingo Bug 3rd grade and up Maximum learning happens when the caller reads the back of the card explaining about the bugs and what the kids know about the bugs. 
Gemstones Playing Cards 5th grade and up This takes some prep work, but we take these to the local natural history museum, break up into teams and treasure hunt for the gems on the cards. A riot and the kids read every display card this way. Sneaky!
Fingerprint Kit

5th grade and up This shows kids how to take fingerprints and observe them. A great kit. Turn it into a game by having them figure out whose fingerprint is on something.
Mummy Rummy middle school and up This is a hard game for some kids to get. It is a card game where kids have to match three pieces of ancient objects. This is a hate or love game for kids.
Scientific Explorer's Mystery Detective CSI for Kids Science Kit 4th grade and up This game is GREAT. It includes science experiments to do to find out who did it. Kids learn about DNA matching, fingerprints, acids/bases.
The Way Things Work Game middle school and up This game is your basic - pull a card and answer a question. It has a few gizmos with it, but overall the kids weren't fond of it. However they were more fond of this than a science worksheet.
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Strategy Games
Some kids really HATE strategy games. You may notice that they will hate these games and you can see the pattern. We aren't sure why they hate them, but you may want to try games from another category for those kids.
Coloraddo 4th grade and up A great game where kids put down cards that have squares of color on them. They have to figure out how to place each square down to connect to other squares of the same colors in a row. An undiscovered classic.
Blokus  4th grade and up For four kids - no less. It is no fun unless all 4 kids play.  Kids put down plastic pieces touching corners only. It is challenging enough to keep their interest. 
Travel Blokus 4th grade and up For two kids. Same game as above. 
Ceega 5th grade and up This game is from ancient Egypt. You put two marbles on either side of the other person's to flip them. It looks like a dumb game...until you play it. Its hard to win. We cannot find this game for sale, but you can find instructions to play it online. 
Chess 3rd grade and up Once you explain what each piece does and they play it twice, most kids can beat the average adult.
Chess Puzzles Book 5th grade and up For kids who love chess, this book challenges them.
Chinese Checkers & Checkerboard ( Hardboard ) 3rd grade and up Teach kids the strategy of setting up jumps and help them learn to jump following the lines on the board. This is a great game because when you jump the other guys, you don't take them, so its less competitive than most games. Never get the one that is cardboard with the pegs. They always come loose.
Battleship 4th grade and up Old favorite. Great for learning to strategize and deduce. This also teaches coordinates on a graph. 
Ravensburger Labyrinth 4th grade and up Kids slide a card onto the board to push a card at the other end off and rearrange this maze in order to get the treasure they seek. This game takes a long time and is a solid challenge. Great for a rainy day for kids with patience. 
Othello 4th grade and up This is like Ceega, but a little simpler. Kids put down pieces, trying to get one of their guys on each side of the other guy's pieces to flip it to their color.
Quoridor classic 5th grade and up. This magnificently simple game has offense and defense. It looks stupid when you pull it out of the box - expect some eye rolls.  Kids can choose to move their guy forward toward the last line on the board on the other side, or put up a piece of a wall to block the other guy. Great to make them think.
Dominoes 4th grade and up Regular dominoes and Mexican train can fill up many summer days.
 Tri-Ominos  5th grade and up This is for the more inspired strategy-minded kid. Its dominoes, but you have to match more than one side of the domino.
Deluxe Backgammon Case none We have never met a child who liked this game. We aren't sure why because they love its ancient ancestor....mancala
Two-Person Mancala  3rd grade and up Kids race around the board to get their pieces home. They love it, but beware - its a game where cheater kids take liberty.
 Four-Player Mancala  3rd grade and up This is the same as mancala for two, only it takes a very long time. Another rainy day game. Not for the impatient kids.
Connect Four 2nd grade and up Vertical checkers where kids need to get four in a row and block the other kids. 
Checkers 1st grade and up Be sure kids have their own rules straightened out before playing. Some kids play that kings can jump across a whole row etc.
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Strategy Games: Meaner
Sorry 2nd grade The classic mean game, where kids can send each other back to start as they race around the board. They love this game, but we aren't so sure its good for their spirits.
Parcheesi Royal Edition 2nd grade This is the ancient Indian ancestor to Sorry. Kids can block each other from continuing around the board AND send them back.
Stay Alive 2nd grade In this game, kids hope that their marble is the last one left on the board as they pull levers sinking the other kids. The game lasts 5 minutes and they will play it one million times. 
Trouble Board Game 1st grade This is like a baby Sorry. Kids race around the board and can send each other home.
Aggravation 2nd grade This is a lot like Sorry, only with marbles and a brilliant way to jump across the board in a few spots.
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Tag
Sardines* 2nd grade and up This is hide and go seek, but opposite. One person hides and everyone else seeks them. The last person to find the hider is it.  
Ghost in the Graveyard* 2nd grade and up This is hide and go seek, but only one person is the hider. When a seeker finds the hider, they yell ghost in the graveyard and everyone has to run to the safe place before the hider catches one of them.
Blob* 2nd grade and up This is tag, but when a kid is tagged, they are then it also. The game continues until everyone is tagged except one person, the winner.
Frozen Tag* 2nd grade and up This is tag, only when a kid is tagged, they have to stay where they were when they were tagged and in the same position. They can only move when another kid tags them.
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Walking/Chase Games
Mr. Fox* 2nd grade and up One kid (the fox) stands with their back to the other kids who are about 20 feet back from them. They yell, "What time is it Mr. Fox." The Fox yells back, for example, "2 o'clock". And they all take 2 steps toward Mr. Fox. They take turns asking and moving until they fox thinks they are close enough to catch. When the fox thinks so, s/he responds "midnight!" when asked for the time.  The fox turns and chases everyone back to the line they started at. Whoever then fox catches is then the next fox.
Cats in the Corner* 2nd grade and up Four kids stand in each corner of a large sidewalk square. One kid stands in the middle. Kids in the corners switch places while the kid in the middle tries to tag them. This is one of the oldest tag games and most fun.
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Word Games
$10,000 Pyramid Home Game  Middle to high school Expands their vocabulary. Make them stick with one card until they have used all the words up. Provide dictionaries. 
Library Race* 4th grade and up This game forces children to learn where different kinds of books are located. Its like a tour of the library. Ask the librarian if you can play this game first because it makes a giant stack of books to put away. The adult goes around ahead of time and makes up questions they have to find the name of the book they found the answer to and the place they found it. An example of a question is "Peru is a county in South America. Name one animal that lives there."
Password  Middle to  high school Expands their vocabulary. Make them stick with one card until they have used all the words up. Provide dictionaries.
 Wheel of Fortune 5th grade and up, but younger kids like to pretend play it Kids can't stop playing this game. Sometimes the words are too hard for them to guess so try to help them pick which words they put up. 
Wordfinds All Most kids like these.
 Mad Libs  4th grade and up Great to get them to read and be creative.
Scrabble Crossword Game 5th grade and up Some kids HATE this game and some LOVE it. Its always a gamble. Be sure kids of equal vocabulary are playing together.
Boggle 5th grade and up Be sure kids understand how to connect the letters.
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Last updated 12/20/09
The Front Porch P.O. Box 24744 Detroit, Michigan 48224 USA  frontporchdetroit@yahoo.com
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