I love these thoughts about holidays and kids' expectations. I just watched my 6 year old open all her Valentine cards while commenting on how exciting or simple they were, and...I had a lot of feelings about it all. Thanks for your newsletter.
Also, Libro.fm for mp3 audiobooks! Very easy to make your own yoto cards through this. I wasn't sure about entering the yoto ecosystem but we have used it every night for three years at this point. Big love for yoto.
I also loud quit on Valentine’s Day. I am all for making holidays special for kids but I feel like Valentine’s Day has become another expectation on mothers to buy, and plan and organize. No thanks.
We buy books from Libro.fm for our younger kid's Yoto player. Also he really likes to listen to us record ourselves reading books that HE likes. Not as great for the older set but a great 5 minute way to get a book that he likes onto the player.
We had our Yoto player for a year before we did this and it's great - but definitely only works for picture book territory (chapter books.... not so much). I have found that it's almost always cheaper to do libro.fm and add to a record your own card than to buy the cards from Yoto directly.
Uno, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, and Exploding Kittens are our favorite card games. Zombie Teenz Evolution is a great board game that is a cooperative game that we love. My daughter who was 5 at the time we got the game wasn’t very into the zombie aspect of the game so just a warning.
+1 to so much of this. I completely bailed on Vday this year. It was pretty freeing
Also love a game of family Sorry - though it can start to feel endless (??) Someone recently gifted us Charades for kids: Pressman Charades for Kids - The 'No Reading Required' Family Game -
Such a blast and sweet to see a 4 year old acting out the pictures (words / expressions for older kids / grownups)
Yoto big for us too - my son is a daily listener. We recently stepped off app to Apple Books for audio version of Island of the Blue Dolphins for a long car ride. One of my faves as a kid and went over well w 7 year old.
+1 on many of these game recs. Want to add Monopoly Deal - a card game using Monopoly elements that is as quick and fun as Monopoly is long and (sometimes) miserable. Bigger time commitments (45-90 min) we love: Wingspan, Dominion and Small World. For just two players Jaipur and Battle Line are faves.
Our family loves board games! For 6 and 8 year olds, I'd suggest Catan Junior, Ticket to Ride, Monopoly Junior, and King of Tokyo (the kids loved that one). Also the classics like Uno, Blackjack/21, Connect 4 (my 11-year-old still enjoys that!). Recently our family and friends are enjoying One Night a Werewolf, but maybe better for 8+?
Good to know that Yoto is good for older kids! Mine download books from Libby to listen to while they fall asleep but that means they either need an iPad in their room to play it from or if it’s on a Bluetooth speaker they wake us up to ask to put it back on.
I love these thoughts about holidays and kids' expectations. I just watched my 6 year old open all her Valentine cards while commenting on how exciting or simple they were, and...I had a lot of feelings about it all. Thanks for your newsletter.
Also, Libro.fm for mp3 audiobooks! Very easy to make your own yoto cards through this. I wasn't sure about entering the yoto ecosystem but we have used it every night for three years at this point. Big love for yoto.
Have been looking for a site for audiobooks that are yoto compatible. Thanks for this!
I love this! Favorite games in that age range were Sequence, Sleeping Queens, Sushi Go, and Sorry!
I also loud quit on Valentine’s Day. I am all for making holidays special for kids but I feel like Valentine’s Day has become another expectation on mothers to buy, and plan and organize. No thanks.
rat a tat cat is a fun card game. genius squares has been a huge hit also! (two person game, but we purchased two so that four people can play).
We buy books from Libro.fm for our younger kid's Yoto player. Also he really likes to listen to us record ourselves reading books that HE likes. Not as great for the older set but a great 5 minute way to get a book that he likes onto the player.
That’s such a cute idea! We haven’t tried making recordings of ourself yet but think my kids would love that.
We had our Yoto player for a year before we did this and it's great - but definitely only works for picture book territory (chapter books.... not so much). I have found that it's almost always cheaper to do libro.fm and add to a record your own card than to buy the cards from Yoto directly.
Uno, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, and Exploding Kittens are our favorite card games. Zombie Teenz Evolution is a great board game that is a cooperative game that we love. My daughter who was 5 at the time we got the game wasn’t very into the zombie aspect of the game so just a warning.
Loved this post. My dream is for someone to invent something like Yoto that plays Libby audiobooks!
Me too!!!
Taco Goat Cheese Pizza! My kids love and giggle so hard. And Uno was our huge summer hit that is fun for everyone in the fam.
+1 to so much of this. I completely bailed on Vday this year. It was pretty freeing
Also love a game of family Sorry - though it can start to feel endless (??) Someone recently gifted us Charades for kids: Pressman Charades for Kids - The 'No Reading Required' Family Game -
Such a blast and sweet to see a 4 year old acting out the pictures (words / expressions for older kids / grownups)
Yoto big for us too - my son is a daily listener. We recently stepped off app to Apple Books for audio version of Island of the Blue Dolphins for a long car ride. One of my faves as a kid and went over well w 7 year old.
+1 on many of these game recs. Want to add Monopoly Deal - a card game using Monopoly elements that is as quick and fun as Monopoly is long and (sometimes) miserable. Bigger time commitments (45-90 min) we love: Wingspan, Dominion and Small World. For just two players Jaipur and Battle Line are faves.
Racko & Skyjo & Tenzi are the biggest game hits in our house -everyone enjoys playing.
Sleeping queens, taco cat goat cheese pizza and Uno for card games. I also love quiddler and Mille Bornes, but not sure the right age for those.
Our family loves board games! For 6 and 8 year olds, I'd suggest Catan Junior, Ticket to Ride, Monopoly Junior, and King of Tokyo (the kids loved that one). Also the classics like Uno, Blackjack/21, Connect 4 (my 11-year-old still enjoys that!). Recently our family and friends are enjoying One Night a Werewolf, but maybe better for 8+?
I use downpour.com for mp3 audiobooks (you can do it without a membership, unlike Libro.fm). Great for making your own Yoto cards.
Love Libro.fm for mp3 audiobooks for Yoto!! Seriously can’t rave about Yoto enough.
Good to know that Yoto is good for older kids! Mine download books from Libby to listen to while they fall asleep but that means they either need an iPad in their room to play it from or if it’s on a Bluetooth speaker they wake us up to ask to put it back on.