Our Favorite Games and Activities

Tweens can be a hard group to shop for, so this year we have been focused on pulling together lists of amazing things that Tweens actually want! Here are some amazing games and activities to add under the tree for your tween this year!

Bye, Felicia!

Bye, Felicia is a hilarious party game that tests how much you think like your fellow players. You have 30 seconds to list as many answers as you can to each prompt. When you have an answer that doesn’t match another player, it is Bye, Felicia! We love this party game because up to 8 people can play making it great for a small party! It is hilarious and a fun way to get people talking.

Who’s the G.O.A.T.

Who’s the G.O.A.T. is truly one of our favorites. Our kids BEG to place this one. Who’s the G.O.A.T. combines a prediction game with a challenge game. For each challenge you vote who in the group will be the best and then you put it to the test. My kid’s favorite challenge is who can headbutt their squishy goat the farthest!

Harry Potter Tri-Wizard Maze Tournament

The Harry Potter Tri-Wizard Maze Tournament is one of our absolute favorite games. It is a Harry Potter twist on a familiar favorite but the edition of the cards really makes it a ton of fun. `I love that it is simple enough that even my 4-year-old can play it with us but fun enough that we all stay involved the entire game. It is one we pull out almost every single Sunday! If you have a Harry Potter fan, then this is a must-buy!

Harry Potter Magical Beasts Game

This game is an absolute blast! The awesome swinging game board lets you play the game inside Hogwarts and out on the grounds. Basically the magical beasts have broken out at Hogwarts and you are trying to recapture them all. You collect clues to track down the beasts as either Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger or Ginny Weasley. It isn’t an extremely challenging game, but that was perfect for my kids! We had a ton of fun gathering the clues and the game board is just gorgeous!

You May Also Like: The Best Books to Buy For Tweens

We received a copy of ClubHouse: 51 Worldwide Classics Games to facilitate this review.

Do you ever wish that you could own all of your favorite board games without actually having to store them? Enter Clubhouse Games: 51 WORLDWIDE CLASSICS.

Family game night is back in a big way with this new Switch game. I feel like this is the perfect middle ground between my tween always wanting to be on a device and me always trying to get her off of them and spend time with people. She can really interact with people and play games.

Clubhouse Games gives you all sorts of new ways to connect with friends and family. I love that we can all play as a family together in our living room or my kids can play with their cousins that live three states away. Quarantine has been hard on us all and what better way to help than to play a game of Chess with your cousin. 44 of the included games support online play so you have lots of options.

There is so much nostalgia tied up in many of these games like four in a row, dots and boxes and more. It has been so much fun to teach my kids to play my old favorites and learn new favorites together. Here is a full list of the games.

All 51 games plus a piano keyboard

• Mancala
• Dots and Boxes
• Yacht Dice
• Four-in-a-Row
• Hit and Blow
• Nine Men’s Morris
• Hex
• Checkers
• Hare and Hounds
• Gomoku
• Dominoes
• Chinese Checkers
• Ludo
• Backgammon
• Renegade
• Chess
• Shogi
• Mini Shogi
• Hanafuda
• Riichi Mahjong
• Last Card
• Blackjack
• Texas Hold’em
• President
• Sevens
• Speed
• Matching
• War
• Takoyaki
• Pig’s Tail
• Golf
• Billiards
• Bowling
• Darts
• Carrom
• Toy Tennis
• Toy Soccer
• Toy Curling
• Toy Boxing
• Toy Baseball
• Air Hockey
• Slot Cars
• Fishing
• Battle Tanks
• Team Tanks
• Shooting Gallery
• 6-Ball Puzzle
• Sliding Puzzle
• Mahjong Solitaire
• Klondike Solitaire
• Spider Solitaire
• Piano

Different Modes

One of the really fun things about this game is that you can play it in a lot of modes. You can play in touch screen mode or use the joy -con controllers. You can play on one system, play using multiple systems or play with others around the world.

Overall Opinion

This game was made for the Switch! Some games work better with the touch screen and some work better with the controllers and the Switch lets you do both. It also is perfect for families! Four people can play at once on some games so less whining about whose turn it is!

Value

This game runs around $40 for the download code and $50 for the actual game. That is less than $1 a game. One of the best values on the video game market right now. We received a copy of New Super Lucky’s Tale! in exchange for an honest review. I have been on the hunt for great games for younger kids to play on the Nintendo Switch. My older daughter loves playing Breath of the Wild and Diablo III with my husband, but those games are too difficult and violent for my 5-year-old. When Nintendo sent us New Super Lucky’s Tale, my younger daughter was thrilled. Finally a game for her! What I didn’t expect was Lucky to be such a fun game my older daughter would want to play it too.

New Super Lucky’s Tale! for Nintendo Switch

About the Product: Join Lucky on his thrilling journey through the Book of Ages, a magical artifact that opens doors to amazing worlds. Meet new friends, explore exciting lands, and recover the missing pages from the evil sorcerer Jinx and his villainous family, the dreaded Kitty Litter.  New Super Lucky’s Tale features all-new levels, story, cinematics, and character dialogue, tighter movement and player controls, a fully rotatable 3D camera, and sweet upgrades to nearly every other aspect of the game, including art and lighting, UI, sound, music, and more New Super Lucky’s Tale is a reimagining of an older game. This 3D Platform version has been expanded and the art of the game is bright and fun. The story and the characters are adorable and fun. It is charming and fun for children but also has enough of a challenge and story that adults like playing it as well. It is perfect for people who are used to older Nintendo Platforms to become more familiar with the Switch. I love all of the attention to detail in this game. You can jump around, burrow underground, solve puzzles and complete different stages. There is a variety of different gameplay including a 3D open world, story-based levels, 2D side-scrolling challenges, puzzles, and mini-games. It really does have a little bit of everything. This game is a great value for a Switch game at $39.99, it is significantly cheaper than most Switch Games making me label it a must-buy. My only two criticisms? I wish that the game would read some of the dialogue out loud, instead of needing the child to be able to read to understand it. While this isn’t a problem for older kids, it makes the game a bit harder for my 5-year-old. My only other criticism is the load time between levels seems pretty long, but my daughter enjoys it enough that it is worth the wait. If you are looking for a great game for your younger kids. Grab New Super Lucky’s Tale!

Atlas Crate by KiwiCo

I am absolutely floored by Atlas Crate. We have gotten a Kiwi Crate before and loved it, so this time we tried an Atlas Crate. What an amazing way to explore the world around us! Our first crate came with this awesome globe craft that was bright, colorful and pretty easy to put together. My daughter freaked out about the giant map and instantly put it on her wall to mark where she has visited. This crate sparked so many conversations about the world around us as well has places we have lived and visited. Our second Atlas Crate was featured on a specific part of the world instead of the world in general. My daughter and I got to explore Peru together through crafts, games and recipes. The crate included a map of Peru as well as some fun facts, like their currency and exports. It had beautiful images and amazing information about Machu Picchu and a native recipe so we could taste native food together. We loved creating the little Alpaca friend. Before this crate, I felt like my daughter had heard of Peru before, after it, I felt like she had experienced a small piece of it. Peru is currently number one on her bucket list to visit because of this crate! I can’t recommend Atlas Crate enough. It inspires kids, not only to create but to learn and travel. That is a gift I can get behind. Atlas Crates are perfect for kids ages 6-11. My daughter is 10 and this was the perfect gift for her. Need a gift for a younger child? Try Kiwi Crate.

Rocketbook

The Everlast notebook by Rocketbook provides a classic pen and paper experience that is built for the digital age. Although it feels like a traditional notebook, the Everlast is endlessly reusable and connected to all of your favorite cloud services. And with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) features, the Rocketbook allows you to transcribe and search handwritten notes right in the Rocketbook App. When you write using any pen from the Pilot Frixion line, your writing sticks to Everlast pages like regular paper. Use the Rocketbook app to scan your notes into editable documents and automatically save them to your favorite cloud services including Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote, to name a few. Rocketbook allows everyone to stay organized and efficient without wasting paper.  Rocketbook is the best of both worlds. It feels like a natural note-taking medium but it makes it insanely easy to digitize it so you can easily keep your notes with you where ever you are. I bought this notebook for my daughter and my husband ran off with it, so I guess I will be buying another! My husband says this works really well for my daughter’s homework because they can work through it and then digitize it to send into her teacher.

 Max Traxxx Racers

Your kids will love Max Traxxx Tracer Racer! Racers utilize Light Trail Technology as they blaze streaks of light on Skullduggery patented Glow-in-the-Dark track. Each Tracer Racer beams down purple light rays from its undercarriage onto track specially engineered to emit glow remnants long after the racer has passed. Choose your track, racers and loops, take into a dimly lit room and your kids will be ready to set the darkness ablaze. These racing sets are perfect for both beginning and advanced race fans as variable speed remote control cars and adjustable track heights allow racers to control course difficulty. My kids have absolutely loved played with this race track. Even my husband has had a blast with it. The light trail technology makes it so much fun to race in the dark. Check out the video my husband took of the kids racing their cars. This is the perfect toy for the boys or girls on your list.

Spiderman Flying UFO Ball

This Marvel Licensed Spider-man Flying UFO Ball has been one of the most requested toys in our house this fall. My kids have loved learning to control this helicopter. My kids love this toy SO much that I have been using it as a reward. Practice the piano and you can play with the Spider-man ball. It works every time! This toy is so much fun that I find my husband playing with it just as much as I find the kids playing with it. Introducing the Marvel Licensed Spider-Man Homecoming IR UFO Heli Ball! Featuring a coaxial rotor system for precise movement and increased stability when hovering. The UFO Heli Ball’s body is also constructed with a durable material making it strong yet lightweight so you don’t have to worry about breaking anything when it lands a bit too rough. Using infrared motion sensitive technology, the UFO heli ball will detect nearby objects and is programmed to move away from them. Simply turn on and launch to get started, holding your hand underneath it will keep it hovering up in the air. When done flying you can try and grab it but you can also use any IR remote control to shut down and recover safely, it’s that easy! 

Handcrafted Lip Balms 

This is the perfect kit for the tween that wants to combine DIY and a little bit of science to make their own lip balms! The kit includes the pods, beeswax, and mold to make your own all-natural lip balms, with instructions to make 12 different types, each with its own flavor and benefits. From peppermint to hazelnut, your tween can pick the perfect flavor for them. Includes the following materials:

• 5 round, colorful, and stylish lip balm pods
• beeswax
• an easy-release silicone mold
• 48-page instruction booklet.

My tween has had SUCH much fun with this kit. She love it so much she is saving the rest of them to make with her favorite cousin at Christmas. That is pretty high praise! It retails for $19.99 but usually hovers under $15 on Amazon making it something I would for sure buy in the future!

Charminis

We have been so thrilled with these Charminis. They are easy to make and don’t require any chemicals to get them to stick, which this mama loves. My daughter has had so much fun creating these charms!

Through the magic of water-activated fusing materials, CharMinis Deluxe Jewelry Studio lets girls create their own adorable mini charms to wear and share with friends. With themes like “sweet treats” (cakes, pies and ice cream cones) and “fashion icons” (hearts, stars and bows), each kit comes with hundreds of options to make colorful, sparkly tiny charms. Kids select the charm pieces they want to combine, fuse them together with water, then stack and watch as they magically stick together. A fun Glitterizer globe allows girls to add sparkle and gloss.

This set was one of the things my daughter got for Christmas last year and it was a complete hit. She made every single charm into bracelets, earrings and necklaces. She loved them so much that I have bought her 4-5 expansion sets for this Christmas. I can’t wait for her to get them. If you have a crafty kid, you need this kit!

Magic Mermaid Positivity Bracelets

If your kids love the mermaid pillows, then they NEED these Magic Mermaid bracelet. They have the same magical sequins that let kids draw on the sequins by sliding them up or down. These particular bracelets also have an exclusive “Positivity Patch”, which contains an inspirational word that offers a daily positive reminder. They are available in four different colors, so you can find the right bracelet for the kids in your life. As the Mama of a child with anxiety, these bracelets are life changing. They give my child something to do with her hands while she is anxious that still allows her to function in the situation.

Utter Nonsense

Utter Nonsense – The Hilarious Accent Game, which was originally funded on Kickstarter and has become a successful adult party game, has gone PG. Utter Nonsense is run by sibling entrepreneurs, Tim Swindle and Shannon Swindle. The Family Edition was created based on fan feedback from parents who loved the adult party game, but wanted a version to play with their kids. Utter Nonsense: Family Edition is a hilarious, family-friendly card game where players combine silly voices with even sillier phrases to create sayings that are just plain ridiculous. The game contains 50 Accent Cards and 450 Phrase Cards which players combine and act out. You don’t have to be good at accents and the combinations don’t need to make sense. Players are encouraged to improvise and make the phrases their own because the best performance wins the round. Age 8 is the suggested starting point so that kids can read the cards, but the humor is appropriate for all ages. Both kids and adults will have fun playing the game! We have had a lot of fun with this silly game. It really is a family friendly version of a popular game.