Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Count Down To Christmas Without Spending Money!

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I wanted to share a fun way we are counting down to Christmas without spending money this year. It’s also giving us some great family fun time too!

Every year I buy new games for Christmas. But this year? I’m not letting myself. Why? Because we have SO MANY GAMES. And many of them we’ve hardly had a chance to play.

So this year? I’m determined that we’ll spend some extra fun time playing games and reading books in the evenings leading to Christmas.

Count Down To Christmas Without Spending Money!

One day when all of the little kids were at school or napping, I dug out a pile of our favorite games, plus some that our elementary-age kids haven’t played before. I grabbed some of our Christmas books too. I wrapped them all and piled them on top of the mantle.

I ended up with 16 packages total, so beginning December 9, we’ll begin taking turns unwrapping one package each evening. We’ll get all ready for bed, then play a game together before our family singing and prayer time.

My hope is that this will become a new family tradition – and not just at Christmastime! During the long winter nights, I’m hoping we get into a habit of pulling out games to play together or books to read together.

Hopefully, I’ve picked out games that our younger kids can play and our older kids will still enjoy! Our game-gift pile includes:

  1. Spot It!
  2. Memory
  3. Uno Attack
  4. Connect Four
  5. Blink
  6. Headbandz
  7. Yahtzee
  8. Farkle
  9. Pass the Pigs
  10. Huskerdu
  11. Racko
  12. Pictionary
  13. Plus several Christmas books from the library!

Need more great family game ideas?

Find a huge list here. 

What about books?

If you don’t have many Christmas books, and you don’t want to spend the money to buy some, head to the library. They are free, you can wrap and enjoy them, then take them back to the library by their due date!

More Count Down to Christmas Ideas

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Family Game Night: Favorite Games!

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I love sharing our favorite games!

It’s much trickier now to find time to play games as a family – mostly because we have a lot of little ones who like to put game pieces into their mouths. But whenever we can, we like to pull out a game to play with our 6 and 7-year-olds. And once all six little ones are put down for the night, we can get out some of the more detailed games for the grown-ups!

In case you’re looking at games to enjoy during the holidays with your family, we wanted to share these lists again. We’ve added new ones too!

Favorite Games List

Family Games Little Ones Enjoy

  • Hoot Owl Hoot (my favorite to play with the kids!)
  • Pop the Pig
  • Spot It!
  • Candyland
  • Memory
  • Hungry Hippos
  • Trouble
  • Don’t Break the Ice
  • HiHo Cherry-O
  • Uno Attack
  • Farkle
  • Pass the Pigs
  • Huskerdu (great for younger kids – still fun for adults)

Family Games for Bigger Kids and Adults

  • 5-Second Rule
  • Connect Four
  • The Game of Things (Great fun for a group!)
  • Rummikub
  • Settlers of Catan (With extentions, which you’ll need if you have more than 4 players.)
  • Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights (This is an expansion of Settlers of Catan. This is our favorite add-on to regular Setters.)
  • Seafarers of Catan (Also an expansion of Settlers.)
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Carcossonne
  • Bohnanza (This one is unique. Great for older kids and adults. We love this one!)
  • Life
  • Risk
  • Manhattan
  • Guestures
  • Taboo
  • Blink (A great stocking stuffer!)
  • Headbandz
  • Acquire
  • Sequence
  • Clue
  • Apples to Apple Junior (This is probably our favorite group game. We don’t recommend the regular version of this game because the cards are less familiar to the kids.)
  • Scattergories
  • Pictionary
  • Cranium
  • Boggle (This game totally counts as school work, but no one knows they’re learning.)
  • Monopoly
  • Sorry
  • Quelf (I’ve actually decided that I very much dislike this one. The kids like it though.)
  • Racko
  • Balderdash
  • Yahtzee
  • Mastermind
  • Skipbo (We’ve played hours of this game through the years!)
  • Wits and Wagers
  • Anomia (One of my new favorites!)
  • Pandemic
  • Castle Panic
  • Mars Attack
  • Codenames
  • Tsuro
  • Avalon

Your turn to weigh in! What are your favorite family games?

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The Best Games to Get Your Family for Christmas

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

The best games to get your family for Christmas? You knew this was coming. After all, it’s a holiday tradition. I share all the games our family loves. You share all the games your family loves. We all get new ideas for games we might want to get our families for Christmas!


This year will bring back some old favorites for our family now that we have a 4-year old living with us. Candyland anyone? You betcha!

The best games to get your family for Christmas:

Family Games for Little Ones and Adults

  • Spot It!
  • Candyland
  • Memory
  • Hungry Hippos
  • Trouble
  • Don’t Break the Ice
  • HiHo Cherry-O
  • Uno Attack

Family Games for Bigger Kids and Adults

  • 5-Second Rule
  • Connect Four
  • The Game of Things (Great fun for a group!)
  • Rummikub
  • Settlers of Catan (With extentions, which you’ll need if you have more than 4 players.)
  • Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights (This is an expansion of Settlers of Catan. This is our favorite add-on to regular Setters.)
  • Seafarers of Catan (Also an expansion of Settlers.)
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Carcossonne
  • Bohnanza (This one is unique. Great for older kids and adults. We love this one!)
  • Life
  • Risk
  • Manhattan
  • Guestures
  • Taboo
  • Blink (A great stocking stuffer!)
  • Headbandz
  • Acquire
  • Sequence
  • Clue
  • Apples to Apple Junior (This is probably our favorite group game. We don’t recommend the regular version of this game because the cards are less familiar to the kids.)
  • Scattergories
  • Pictionary
  • Cranium
  • Boggle (This game totally counts as school work, but no one knows they’re learning.)
  • Monopoly
  • Sorry
  • Quelf (I’ve actually decided that I very much dislike this one. The kids like it though.)
  • Racko
  • Balderdash
  • Yahtzee
  • Farkle
  • Pass the Pigs
  • Huskerdu (great for younger kids – still fun for adults)
  • Mastermind
  • Skipbo (We’ve played hours of this game through the years!)
  • Wits and Wagers
  • Anomia (One of my new favorites!)
  • Pandemic
  • Castle Panic
  • Mars Attack
  • Codenames
  • Tsuro
  • Avalon

Your turn to weigh in! What are your favorite family games?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Favorite Family Games List 2017

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

It’s become tradition around here. For several years, I have shared a list of our family’s favorite games, adding to the list each year as our shelf fills more and more. Welcome to this year’s Favorite Family Games List!

What Are Your Favorite Family Games

I LOVE that each year, you share your family’s favorite games in the comments. This has helped us decide which new games to get for our kids each Christmas. So keep the comments coming! Read through this list, then add your favorites in the comments section to give us all more idea!

Favorite Family Games List 2017

  • 5-Second Rule
  • Spot It!
  • The Game of Things (Great fun for a group!)
  • Rummikub
  • Settlers of Catan (With extentions, which you’ll need if you have more than 4 players.)
  • Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights (This is an expansion of Settlers of Catan. This is our favorite add on to regular Setters.)
  • Seafarers of Catan (Also an expansion of Settlers.)
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Carcossonne
  • Bohnanza (This one is unique. Great for older kids and adults. We love this one!)
  • Life
  • Risk
  • Manhattan
  • Guestures
  • Taboo
  • Blink (A great stocking stuffer!)
  • Headbandz
  • Acquire
  • Sequence
  • Clue
  • Apples to Apple Junior (This is probably our favorite group game. We don’t recommend the regular version of this game because the cards are less familiar to the kids.)
  • Scattergories
  • Pictionary
  • Cranium
  • Boggle (This game totally counts as school work, but no one knows they’re learning.)
  • Monopoly
  • Sorry
  • Quelf (I’ve actually decided that I very much dislike this one. The kids like it though.)
  • Racko
  • Balderdash
  • Yahtzee
  • Farkle
  • Pass the Pigs
  • Huskerdu (great for younger kids – still fun for adults)
  • Mastermind
  • Skipbo (We’ve played hours of this game through the years!)
  • Wits and Wagers
  • Anomia (One of my new favorites!)
  • Pandemic
  • Castle Panic
  • Mars Attack
  • Codenames

I love that many of these are small enough to put into stockings. I love that these are gifts the entire family can enjoy together. And I love that there is really no end to all the great games out there!

Ok, your turn! Tell us what your favorite family games are!

Many of these links are my affiliate links.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!