momstown Oakville Moms & Kids Had A Blast With These Popular Board Games For Ages 3 And Up

The colder weather is upon us and more inside playtime becomes a reality.  This week momstown Oakville held a Mommy & Me games event sponsored by Mattel to try out some great board games for kids 3 and up.  These games are perfect for a holiday wish list or to purchase now and add to the playroom for those cold, blustery days. Since we held the event a few days ago, my kids have wanted to play Uno Moo over and over and over again!

Top: Chipmunk Chompers, Bottom:  Go Piggy Go!

This event really brought back some childhood memories as I think we all remembered playing games as a kid.  I was also pleasantly surprised by how into the games my kids were.  We don't really have a ton of board games for kids in the house yet and this event made me realize its definitely time!

Here are the five games we tried and my thoughts on each:

UNO MOO!™ (Ages 3+, 2-4 Players)
This game was all about practising matching using the animals or colours and getting all of the animals safely back into the barn.  Even kids about 2.5 years old were into this game and could follow along.  The pieces are perfect for little hands.  I love the carrying case that all the animals and game pieces can fit into, perfect for packing up to take to the cottage, a grandparent's house or to a playdate.

Parrot Pile-Up™ (Ages 5+, 2-4 Players)

Balance and a steady hand are required in this tropical-themed game of skill. Players carefully stack fruit and crates on the clumsy parrot's raft using a steady hand and give it a patient push to the next player.  We had kids as young as 4 enjoying this game and I loved watching their brains think strategy when determining where they could fit a piece and what piece would be the best fit.  

Chipmunk Chompers Game™ (Ages 3+, 2 Players)

Each player gets a hungry Chipmunk Chomper and has to spell words or complete a pattern by grabbing the correct acorns from the tree.  You can either have the letters on the acorns facing out for an easier game or facing in to make things a bit trickier.  Kids about 2.5 years old and up loved this game at our event.  In fact, once the picnic pot luck dinner was over at the event, this game grabbed the kids attention and they started to play again.

Go Piggy Go!™ (Ages 5+, 2-4 Players)

Hands down, the hit with this game was being able to blast hay bails out of the tractor and knock your opponent off the board!  Each player gets piggies that they need to move from the mud pit to the food trough with some obstacles along the way.  This is a great game to get kids counting as they need to move their playing pieces across the board after rolling the dice.

Angry Birds™ Knock on Wood Game (Ages 5+, 2-4 Players)

Knock On Wood features three Angry Birds™, green pigs, one slingshot-style launcher, structure pieces and mission cards. Players draw a card and build the structure shown before their opponents launch an Angry Bird in an attempt to knock it - and the pigs - down to win points.  Launching the sling shot is really fun! Adults would have a blast with this game too.  The kids got very creative with the structures and were learning a lot about distance and force as they had to figure out how much energy to use to knock down the structure.

Left to Right:  Angry Birds Knock on Wood, Uno Moo, Parrot Pile Up

Speaking as a parent, getting to try out five different games was awesome!  Playing board games with kids is a really fun way to pass an afternoon and it doesn't hurt that board games teach important social skills like taking turns, having patience and how to be a good winner (or loser).  The Mattel games we tried out also had great educational components to them such as letter and number recognition, learning colours and patterning and improving reasoning and strategy skills.  If you couldn't join us, enter here to win your own Mattel Mommy & Me Game Pack (contest closes October 31)!

Combining Focus And Feelings For Business Success

It's been one week since the entire momstown team gathered together for our 7th National conference.  We were lucky enough to be hosted again by Fern Resort, an amazing family resort in Orillia.  After settling in on Friday night, the work really began on Saturday as we talked about finding focus in our businesses and about how feelings can contribute to the success or failure of your business.  Do you think feelings play a major role in your career choices and overall successes?

Starting with focus, the momstown team headed out to Fern Resort's archery area to take aim at our targets! This was a great interactive and hands on activity and had me thinking about what I was going to picture on the target as I lined up my bow and arrow and took aim.  One of the most challenging things about being an entrepreneur, in my opinion, is trying to keep focus.  Entrepreneurs have to be a 'jack of all trades' and while that is sometimes part of the excitement, it can derail businesses who lack focus.

Next up we had the pleasure of working with Jen Bodenham, owner of career & life Coaching business Gleaming and Dreaming.  Jen took us through lots of thought provoking work and at the end of our session, each momstown team member had compiled a list of core desired feelings (based on Danielle Laporte's Desire Map).

I'll be honest, this was the third National momstown conference I have attended and this one was by far the hardest!  We really drilled down into some tough topics and forced ourselves to focus and admit what we were feeling.  The result?  A renewed sense of commitment, motivation to stay focused and execute our plans and work towards the brave goal to 'stand in your own truth'.

Among the hard work though, were the things I like very best at our National conferences.  Tons of idea sharing (we had best practices presentations which were incredibly helpful), creation of more programs for momstown members and time to leverage the amazing resources we have - our team members and our momstown leadership team.  And of course some fun and goodies thrown in there too!  Many thanks not only to Fern Resort, but to our other awesome conference sponsors as well.

Mattel Game On
Quaker Canada 
Twistos 
Goody Canada 
Mabels Labels
Barilla Pasta
Post Cereal 
Walmart Canada
Adult Essentials

Have you tried the new Quaker quinoa bars?

We all got one of these awesome jam packed loot bags!

The process to honour my core desired feelings has been a bit slow, but things are starting to move full steam ahead and I couldn't be more ready or more excited.  As always, the momstown National conference was full of key learnings and time well spent focusing on my business and its success.  I am so grateful to have a team of inspiring business owners who are on this journey with me.  Whatever you are working towards in your life and in your career, keep pushing and don't stop before the miracle happens!