I don’t know about you guys, but we love reading books around here. Furthermore, it’s a real treat to play family board games in our home. But to combine the two activities? Well, to suggest such is to secure the enthusiasm of a certain little 3 1/2 year old.
Whether your kids are in preschool or have hit the teen years, playing board games together is a wonderful way to bond. When those games are based on books, it’s even better. If your kids are really into Harry Potter or other books, they’ll really get excited about playing a game with those characters.
You can get all of these fun board games based on books, movies or TV shows on Amazon…
- Dog Man Board Game Attack of The Fleas
- Pete The Cat The Missing Cupcakes Game
- Monopoly IT Board Game
- Wizarding World Harry Potter Edition Mystery Board
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid 10 Second Challenge
- Avalon Hill Scooby Doo in Betrayal at Mystery Mansion
- Pandemic Board Game
One of my son’s favorite book-ish characters is Horton and when I showed him the “Horton Hears a Who – You to the Rescue! Game” he went bonkers.
It comes with a Horton “hat” that you wear on your head. You are given six clover, all different in color, to hide in your house. The goal of the game is to recollect all six clover. You accomplish this task with the help of a spinner which you hope will lead you to a “clover card.” If and when you land on the clover card, you are to don the Horton head and following the intructions to a specific clover (and you have to remember where it is hidden!) The game is absolutely perfect for active toddlers as it directs them to flap, crawl and hop their way to the hidden clover. Then they get to attach the clover to their elephant trunk and bring it back to the board. Horton Hears a Who – You to the Rescue! Game is simplistic and straight forward in nature. Wear hat. Collect clover. Yet it is also imaginative and fun, giving children permission to be Horton and actively participate in saving the Whos! We were bit fans of this game.
Another book-ish game that we were recently afforded the opportunity to play is the Richard Scarry Busy Town game. This game, along with the Horton game, I might add, has won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Award. It also bears the National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval. For that matter, it also bears my son’s seal of approval which, quite frankly, I think counts more than the National Parenting Center’s opinion! (At least, that’s my opinion.) This game combines elements of I Spy (“Eye found it!”) into a group game wherein all of the players are working together to make it to the picnic grounds before Scarry pigs eat up all the food! All of the players win together and, likewise, they all bear the possibility of losing together.
You use a spinner in this game as well to advance along the board which, by the way, is over six feet in length! You definitely need space to play this game, and you should expect to crawl around the board trying to “spy” the hidden items illustrated in a Richard Scarry scene. This is a game that mommy and daddy both played with the toddler and it made for a fun way to spend some time in play as a family. The directions are easy to comprehend and hunting for specific items helps keeps the adults engaged in the game as well!
I personally enjoyed playing these games with my son as a way to draw him into these books and stories which I enjoyed so much growing up and which he is now identifying with in his own way. It’s fun to play with kids as well as read to them and so I’m happy to have had the chance to introduce them to you!
Book blogger Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books, and how she tries to draw her children into them, regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library and is a staff reviewer at 5 Minutes for Books.
I have also played Busy Town with my kids last month. This game is so entertaining!
I loved Richard Scarry when I was a kid and would love for my daughter to do the same.
I enjoy visiting my granddaughters who live out of state, and while I’m there, we like to have fun by playing games. The girls are big Dr. Seus and Richard Scarry fans (they love the books,) and would really enjoy these games. And as you know, grandmothers never arrive “empty handed!”
I would be so excited to win one of these games. We have a Curious George “I Can Do” game and my son absolutely loves it!
Would love these for my grandkids. Thanks
my son would love this!
I love games and books, what a perfect combo for kids!
Seems like a really nice game!
Educational games are the best.
This would be great for mygranddaughter.
I would very much like to give this to my niece. Thank you for the chance.
Sounds like a lot of fun
Please enter me into the contest. Thanks!
Please enter me 🙂
Thanks for the chance, my nephews would love these~
Thank you for the Great giveaway please count me in 🙂
I would love these games for my grandkids!
I’d love to win this for my three kiddos. THANK YOU!!!
This is a great giveaway-looks like a fun game!
These would be fun games for my son to play.
Thanks for the giveaway. I’d love to win!
Looks fun! Thanks for the giveaway!
I would like to add these game to our collection.
My granddaughter would love to have this. Great blog! Thank You
I would love to win this for my son!
My niece would love playing these!
If I win Horton will hear a “HOORAY!!!”.
Neat, I love the idea of turning a book into a game.
My daughter is just now getting old enough to understand games. This would be a great head-start for her!
We’d love to win this – my kids are Horton fans! 🙂
My grandsons love everything ‘Dr. Seuss’. And the are just getting to the board game age so i know they’d love these.
My kids are just starting to like to play board games and I would love to have some new ones to introduce to them.
What a great prize. I would love to win this.
My kids would love these.
My son loves Richard Scarry and Busytown! He would be thrilled with these games.
Any kid who loves to read would love these games, including mine. Great giveaway – thanks!
Thanks so much for the chance!
Looks like fun games.
I would love to win! Thanks for the chance!
These games look so smart and so much fun! We’d love to win!
the horton game looks like fun!
Would love to win these games for my preschoolers!
We love board games, and the kids loved Horton Hears a Who
jason(at)allworldautomotive(dot)com
These games look so fun! I’d love a chance to share these with my grandchildren. Thanks!
These look like such fun!
We posted about this giveaway at Winning Readings: http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2010/04/bookish-board-games.html
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
These look like really cute games. Thanks for the giveaway!
My son would love this!!! Thank you.
I would love to win these for my kids.
My son would enjoy these games.
My daughter would love these games!
I’d love to win these games. We love games.
I’d love to win! I think my son would love these.
We have friday night game night. I would love to break these games out!!
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill@comcast.net
We love books and games at our house. Please enter me.
We love these books, bet the games would be a big hit around here.
The Horton Hears a Who looks like a fun game. This is one of our favorite movies.
Thanks for the chance.
My daughter and I would love these games
The boys love to play board games and these both sound like fun!
These sound like so much fun. Thanks for the possibility.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
Horton Hears a Who is one of my favorite stories-so original and charming!
smchester at gmail dot com
These would be perfect games for them to play when the weather isn’t great for playing outside!
We luv games…thanks!
I would love this for my son.
My kids would love all these games!! My fingers are crossed!!
I would love to win! My daughter (we) would love these games.
Alyzabeth’s Mommy
count me in too
this would be great for family night
I would love a chance to win. Thank you.
my daughter would love this! boutique1976 at yahoo dot com
Happy Easter!
My son loves Horton. and would love and I spy game.
My girls love playing games! Thanks for the chance to win!
I would love to have these games to play with my son.
I would play these in a boat. I would play these on a goat. I would play these on a chair. I would play these anywhere!
dolniaks[at]consolidated[dot]net
These would be great for our little one.
We would love to add these to our collection of board games!! Thank you!
My daughter absolutely loves playing games. This would be a wonderful treat.
Great game and book-thank you
my son loves busytown, thanks for the chance
nannypanpan@sbcglobal.net
What can I say?I hope I win.
I think these would be a lot of fun.
We’re always looking for new game to play for our family game night. Please enter me in the giveaway.
I’d love to win, my boys would love either one of these!
Who can resist a Dr. Seuss game?
I love playing these kind of games. It is a great family time form of entertainment.
debp
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
Richard Scarry’s Busytown Eye Found It! game looks like one my kids would love to play. I think all the games from this company are really great, very creative and engaging.
What great games! I love the idea of bookish games. One of my favorite is HP & the Sorcerer’s Stone Trivia Game. I also like the Authors card game (mentioned in Little Women). You can turn most books into memory/matching/bingo games with a little work and a lot of creativity. Thanks for offering the giveaway.
My kiddos LOVE playing games! These look like they would be a ton of fun! 🙂
we love board games
my kids love games and we try to play them with the kids all the time. So much fun
These games look like so much fun! My son is little young for them yet, but I can see him loving them in no time!
🙂 Thank you for the entries!
—
Erin
ejsmomej{at}gmail{dot}com
We love books and games in our family. Thanks for the chance to win.
Great games to keep the kids busy and they look like fun too. Thank you for the giveaway.
looks like fun games!
Those games are sooo cute! LOVE Richard Scarry here!
I’d love to be entered. We love games!
These are the cutest games! Thanks for the chance!
I’d love to win. My two little ones would have such fun.
I love Dr Seuss. This games would be great for when my niece and nephews visit.
We love to play games at our house!
We luv games, these look cool. Thanks for the giveaway.
These look like so much fun! Please enter me for the enjoyment of my 6 and 3 year-old!
we’d had a blast with either of these games. Thanks for the chance.
Since you love to read, here is another great resource of books for your children. These books are guaranteed to give you a lifelong return on your investments. The series is named “Finance for Kidz” and it is available at http://www.finance4kidz.com
These books are actually children’s stories with financial lessons embedded in them. So anyone can read these and learn about important financial concepts. Try them. Like I said, these books will give you a lifelong return. Not many books can do that 🙂
Prakash Dheeriya, PhD
Father, Author & Professor of Finance
Finance for Kidz series
finance4kidz dot com
my kids would love one of these
Lil. Bit would love these! Throw my name in!
rss subscriber
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
These games are perfect for the ages of our grandsons! Thanks!
My maiden name is Horton so I love everything Horton the elephant
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
My daughter is just starting to get into board games (although following the rules is a tad elusive right now)…but she loves any book related game. Thanks!
What fun games for kids! 🙂
These games would be good for use in the church I attend.
would love to win games!
these look like great fun for my 3 and 6 year olds… and maybe my 10 and 11 year olds wouldn’t mind playing along either.
Thanks for the giveaway.
These look so fun!
I would love to win either one of these games. My daughter is such a gamer! We had to start a game night or we would have to play games everyday (all day 😉
My son and I have learned that books, puzzles and board games can be just as much fun as television. I am thankful for this time together.
Would love to win these for the kids I work with in the preschool dept at my church. Thanks for the contest!
A great way to motivate kids to read tthe books as well!
would love to win! I love richard scarry’s books! This seems fun!
xoxo
Oh, I love games for kids. I hope I win!
my kids love books and one of these games would be a hit
My kids would love playing these games, especially the Busytown one. These book board games sound like they belong in our house.
Our family would LOVE to win these board games!
We would love to play these games!
Our little girl is just getting into board games and wants to play them whenever she can. I think she would love these!
I love Dr. Seuss! A game would be wonderful.
We can’t get enough of games at our house. Sure would love to try these.