Board Games For Christmas

Forget those electronic toys you were going to give that nephew or niece on your Christmas gift list. What's old sometimes becomes new again, and what is becoming a popular Christmas gift today might surprise you. There's been a steady resurgence in vintage board game popularity for the last several years. The children of the generations like mine who played board games so obsessively in their youth now have children of their own, and they want them to feel the same joy and excitement they originally felt when playing these games. So, next to the ipod under the Christmas tree at many homes this year might be is a vintage board game like Aggravation, Monopoly, or Careers.

I used to love playing board games as a kid, but strangely, I abhor the computer games of today. There is something different about seeing a board on the floor and manipulating the parts that go with it. Electronics are too sterile for me to embrace, and that includes board games that have been translated into electronic forms. Give me the board format or don't give me the game. I think Monopoly, Scrabble, Clue, even classic Checkers....would endure if parents more often offered them to their kids. And who can forget family board game events and how much they help to tie family members together? There is a magic in playing a game that one can see and feel. That magic doesn't often exist in electronic versions.

Here in Portland I see quite a few board game clubs available that consist of adult who remember, love and still try to play (if they can find anyone willing) board games. Most members claim the board games allow them to relax, get away from electronics and relive memories of youth, when board games ruled in a non electronic society. The fact that the best board games are simple to play is also probably an appeal to them.
One of the joys of playing board games is they are communal events.

When playing a board game one does it with others, not alone with a keyboard and the alienated glare electronic devices emit, the "I love my technology above all" look that electronic addicts give us. Too, whether one wins or loses the board game matters very little. It's a low pressure "fun" activity that encourages conversation and interactions among the participants.

Jane took some of the board games with us when we moved to Oregon, and many teens still love the classic "Twister" game. But without a big push advocating them, parents would have little success interesting kids today in playing them. Kids need to rediscover what they are missing. Hmmmm I wonder if there is a board game that encourages kids to play board games.