My two oldest kids have been interested in games since they were each just about 2 years old. Rhys, now 20 months, is also starting to show a general interest in just what is going on when we all gather around the big colorful board on the floor. And some days she doesn’t even try to eat all the game pieces!

When Sage first showed an interest in games at a playmate’s house I of course had to get the first game that I remembered loving as a child- Candyland! She was barely 22 months when she first began to ‘play’ this with us. It was more an exercise in parental patience than anything, but still it was fun. Then the reality hit when she turned three and really grasped the concepts of playing a game. She was in love! But, I was both bored to tears and unispired by the games we could find on our regular toy store shelves.

Don’t get me wrong, theris nothing wrong with a game from my own childhood… Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Cooties. All are fine, but they just didn’t get me excited to get down on the floor and play with her.

So I started looking for alternatives and soon found a world of games that I had before only dreamed of. The first big hit was Harvest Time by Family Pastimes. This is a great co-operative game with a concept simple enough that when Sage’s brother hit three she taught it to him herself. The relatively low cost was also a great asset. The object of the game is to harvest your garden before winter is upon you. There is also a variation where you try to plant your garden before summer is here. Almost four years later this game is still a staple to our game nights.

Family Pastimes puts out more than just this game and soon we were exploring the whole line. I am offering our favorites for sale in The Sage Mama Shop. Each is perfect for family game time, or for adding to an eclectic homeschooling curriculum. Below I review more Family Pastimes Co-operative Games, and I’ll be adding to this section as I have time to write.

Round Up by Family Pastimes is a game that almost any 5-10 year old will love, but this particular game is constantly off the shelf at our house! We have a bit of the horse bug here, and it seems that almost every one of Sage’s girl friends aged 4 and up have it also. This games objective is to find and round up as many horses as possible to bring them down the trail. This is just one of several horse related games that have found their way onto our shelves, and it gets plenty of playtime.

Max by Family Pastimes is a game which I bought because it had a cute fuzzy cat on the box and the kids like cats. Simple, right? Well, when we opened the box and I read the directions I had some misgivings. You see, Max, like all felines is determined to go catch some critters! I was worried that Sage at age 4 would be upset by this natural yet slightly brutal idea. So we started playing and I said in a playful way that Max wants to catch the critters, do you think we can help them get back to their homes? She looked at me and looked at the board and jumped right in with a “Sure Mama, I hope they all don’t get eated!” Now we all love the game, feeding Max treats to lure him back to the porch so the chipmunk can scurry up the tree. More than once I’ve overheard friends during a turn with this game “Oh well, that’s just the circle of life!” Pretty cute stuff out of the three year olds. Definetly a keeper.

Walk in the Woods by Family Pastimes is a fantastic game for the younger set with both matching and problem solving skills being used at a very appropriate level. There is a woodland game board covered with cards, some problems and some solutions, and everyone is trying to get through their walk together by finding solutions. Get a sunburn? Better find a t-shirt or healing cream card. My kids really relate to this game as we like to walk in the woods often, but it is also a favorite because they really work exceptionally well together while playing it.

I’ll review more games in this section later, keep checking! Other companies to come soon as well.

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