Living Catholicism: Family Fun Night!

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January 26, 2007

Family Fun Night!

One tradition that my family has mantained for two generations now is what we like to call "family fun night". It's simply a time to be together. Usually we will gather for a meal and then play a game.

Usually, we take turns preparing the meal as well as doing dishes. Then we pick a game for the evening.

Games require interaction, which is a wonderful way to develop in our relationships with one another. Games can also be a means for learning cooperation and teamwork. As children, my siblings and I would play card games and various board games, most of them secular in nature. Recently we found several popular board games that incorporate the Catholic Faith (I've included links to the various games below). This is an added bonus! We have fun with one another - laughing, strategizing, fellowshipping - and we involve our beloved Catholic Faith.

Last night we had a "family fun night" and played Apples to Apples. It was simple to learn and loads of fun. Each player gets 7 red cards, all of which have main words or phrases on them. Examples would be like "Heaven", "Lost Sheep", "Angel", "John the Baptist", etc. Below the word or phrase is a passage from Scripture about the word or phrase that is read by the judge along with the word. Each round has a different judge (you can determine who will be the judge each round by simply going around the room, or by age, or whatever). The judge picks 1 green card and reads that word aloud. Each person then selects a red card from their hand that they believe best fits the word on the green card. All selected red cards are given to the judge who shuffles them and then reads them aloud. During this period, players make comments about the different words or phrases, attempting to pursued the judge into picking their word. Remember, the judge doesn't know who submitted what word or phrase. The goal is to have your word or phrase picked in 4 different rounds. So if the word on the green card is "Light", players might submit red cards with words like "angel", "Star of Bethlehem", "feather", "truth", etc. The judge would then select the word or phrase that they believe best fits the word on the green card. This game was a lot of fun!

If that doesn't sound like your type of game, other popular games are available in either Catholic or Bible editions including Scattergories, Outburst, and Guesstures. For strategy game lovers maybe check out the Journeys of Paul. For others visit Catholic Games.

Enjoy and remember what's most important is that your family is spending quality time together.