family games Archives - Page 2 of 2

May 21, 2019 by Elena Epstein

Summer is a great time to connect with kids and playing games is one of the best ways to come together as a family to have fun and make memories. Check out our latest NAPPA Award-winning games.

Honeycombs Game

The object of Honeycombs is to connect your tiles together by matching their symbols. The more matches you make the more points you earn. The Honeybee is wild and can be connected with any symbol. Features three unique ways to play, each varying in speed and competitiveness. Choose the one that suits your mood! $19.99, ages 6+

Our Family’s Race Across the U.S.A. Personalized Board Game

Announcing a brand-new way to engage the family with your own personalized board game, “Our Family’s Race Across the U.S.A.”! In a race across America’s coasts, move your piece along the colored tiles and cross the finish line first to win! Personalize up to six game pieces with the names and photos of your family members. Your family’s names will also be incorporated into the game board artwork. Create lasting family memories during family game night with this uniquely personalized keepsake. $29.99

3UP 3DOWN

3UP 3DOWN is a fast-paced, family-friendly discard game with a surprising finish! THE GOAL: Get rid of your cards before your family and friends can. THE SURPRISE: Three of your cards are not revealed until the very end – so you will need both strategy and luck! Takes just 3 minutes to learn and 10 minutes to play. It’s so fast and fun, you’ll all say, “Let’s Play Another Round!” $9.99, ages 7+

BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE

BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE is a dynamic matching game with an explosive twist! THE MISSION: Ignite as many matches as you can by using special action cards, strategy, your memory, and a little bit of luck. THE TWIST: The matchbox is always changing, and sometimes everything explodes! TO WIN: Race against the timer, use some mental math to ignite matches, and hope that you’re the one that gets to say “BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE.” $14.99, ages 8+

For more product reviews, visit nappaawards.com. #playlearnconnect

April 30, 2019 by Elena Epstein

NAPPA Awards Q & A with Justin and Monique Honaman, creators of KIC-Start, 2019 NAPPA Award winner

Justin and Monique Honaman with their kids Kendall and Harrison

Justin and Monique Honaman are based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are parents of two kids, ages 18 and 20 and launched Contender Brands in 2016 “after talking about various ideas for about 7 years!” We are thrilled to get to know them better.

Tell us a little about how KIC-Start was born and where your inspiration came from?

We love “BIG” talk. We love when we have engaging dialogue with others, as opposed to that small-talk banter that doesn’t accomplish anything. That idea led us to the creation of our first get-to-know-you conversation-starter game called, “Cocktail Farty” where FART stands for “Friends Admitting Real Truths.” We received such a tremendous response to that first game that we launched three more conversation-starter sets (Whine Barrel, BrewaHa, and KegO’Cards). Each of these games while more adult-focused, are not obscene or crude in any way, however we realized we had an opportunity to share the joy of great conversation with younger people as well. We recognize that kids are spending more time on technology, and less time engaging in eye-to-eye dialogue, and that led us to create KIC-Start. KIC stands for Kids in Conversation, and the whole idea is to teach kids the art of conversational curiosity (ask a question, listen with empathy, thoughtfully prepare an answer, respond and share). Our inspiration comes from recognizing the truly wonderful relationships that are made when people take the time to really talk, listen and connect to one another.

Tell us a little about your daily life as working parents.

Like so many other working parents, our daily lives are spent aligning the priorities of the day, juggling the various balls, and ensuring that the glass ones don’t drop. Our “day” jobs are very corporate. Justin works in digital technology and transformation, and Monique works in executive development. Contender Brands is our side-hustle where we are able to exercise our creative energies. We love coming up with new ideas and taking them from concept to creation.

What do you enjoy doing when not working?

Both of our children are in the process of launching out of our nest, and that is exciting as we see what the new change in routine brings to us all. We are both active in our communities and both serve on various boards and volunteer with various non-profits primarily those that serve to build children of courage, confidence and character. In our “free” time, we love to take our 3 rescue dogs on walks, love spending time at the lake, and enjoy hiking, kayaking, and all sorts of other outdoor adventures.

Favorite place to be with your family?

Family time with all 4 of us becomes more scarce as everyone gets involved in their own activities. Time together becomes more sacred! We’re not ashamed to admit that we use awesome adventure vacations (that we fully fund!) as opportunities for all four of us to connect, have fun, and spend quality time together!

Best life advice?

Monique’s life mantra is “What’s the worst that can happen?” People are frequently too slow to make change or take a risk for fear of what might happen. Asking, “what’s the worst that can happen?” helps you put things into perspective.

Justin’s life mantra is “All-in!” His approach is to give 100% energy and enthusiasm to every endeavor to which he commits.

Best advice for parents on trying to balance it all?

Don’t try to balance it all! Balance gives the perception of a teeter-totter where both ends need to be equally weighted in order to be in balance. Think of what happens when the bigger kid gets off the teeter-totter and the smaller kid would come crashing down. Frankly, on any given day, one priority or another in your life will require more attention than another. Instead of balancing it all, we prefer to think of it as being focused and present on whatever priority needs your attention at that point in time (instead of being at the school or sporting event worrying about the next day’s business meeting).

For more award-winning products, visit nappaawards.com

April 23, 2019 by Elena Epstein

We love family games and we have some great new ones for you. All recent NAPPA Award winners! Gather the family for some fun!

Heads Talk Tails Walk

Can you hop like a frog while clucking like a chicken?

Have a blast trying with Heads Talk Tails Walk, delightfully silly card game. Players try to match hidden head tiles to the correct body tiles. If the head and body don’t match, the real fun begins! Players walk and talk like the mismatched tiles—with hilarious results. $14.99, ages 3+

Orangutwang

How much can you hang before he goes twaaang?! Orangutwang is a fun, suspenseful and wild game! Take turns hanging fruit and jungle friends on the orangutan, but watch out! At some point, he’ll be holding too much and he’ll spring up and send the fruit and friends flying! Easy to set up and requires no batteries. For 2 or more players. $22.99, ages 4+

KIC-Start – Kids in Conversation

KIC-Start, standing for “Kids In Conversation” is a get-to-know-you card game designed to teach kids the art of conversational curiosity. Family-friendly and ideal for kids and grownups to do together. Each game contains 150 conversation-starter questions. Players take turns drawing cards, asking questions and responding with their answers. The whole idea is to learn how to practice curiosity, ask great questions, actively listen, formulate responses, articulate answers and genuinely engage with others. $19.95, for the entire family.

For more game reviews, visit nappaawards.com! #playlearnconnect

November 27, 2018 by

Pigs, rabbits, and rockets – oh my! Check out these hands-on games and activities that are fun for the whole family. Plus a stylish way to store it all!

mimish Pouf with Storage

Functional and stylish, the mimish Pouf with Storage serves as both seating and storage — great for the family room, game room or reading nook. The upper cushion connects to an open storage compartment by a durable zipper. Sit on the storage pouf while your belongings are inside, or detach the stand-alone cushion and use the storage space while seated. The Cotton Storage Pouf can adapt to any room, whether it be the nursery, dorm, apartment, playroom or living room. Customize your storage pouf by mixing and matching the top and bottom pieces. Perfect for storing hard and soft items, such as bedding, dolls, books, clothes, legos, tech and more. $69, for all ages

Rabbit Pirates

Rabbit Pirates are in search of buried treasure. Help them shoot for the loot in this simple card game that suits all ages, from kids, teens, college students, parents and grandparents. If you have ever played the card game of war, Rabbit Pirates will be your new family game night favorite. The object of the game is to play high valued cards to win bronze, silver and gold treasure tokens.

Mighty Pig Tug

Mighty Pig Tug is the wild game of pig tug-of-war. Each player must build the best three-pig team, but watch out, pigs can be quickly pulled into the mud. It’s a simple strategy card game that is teacher-created and builds logic skills. Mighty Pig Tug accommodates up to 6 players and is a great option for family game night.

Jungle Runners

Jungle Runners, is a fun family board game, where players have a team of animals that they have to navigate through the jungle themed board of obstacles and challenges to finish the journey. Jungle Runners begins on a sports day in the jungle. Players each have a team of animals that they need to navigate through the jungle. The first team to get all of their animals to the finish line wins.

Trink-A-Links Pets

Trink-A-Links are an adorable arts and crafts for kids with a passion for on-trend accessories. Hand-paint the dog, cat and bunny pieces, then choose how you’ll pair them up. Create a purrfect necklace that’s kitten from head-to-toe or design crazy critter pairings like a ring that’s half bunny and half bark. Encourages creativity, self-expression, imagination and fine motor skills.

Rocket Lander

Rocket Lander is a dice component game with an out of this world, explosive theme. Rocket Lander challenges players to strategically plot a graph on a 3 dimensional axis. The game topic travels through space and around the globe as players escort their ships, search and overtake opponents, and defend a home turf. Of course, the best strategy and a dash of luck help to decide who can land their ship efficiently.