We did a Family Game night as a fundraiser on a Friday night. It gave the family something to do other than sitting at home watching TV and the PTA raised a few hundred dollars to help support some of the things it does, like producing a yearbook that was given free to each of the graduating 6th grader.

Flyers were sent home announcing the event and the event was mentioned during the school’s morning announcements. The PTA members brought many of their family board games from home, so the PTA only had to purchase a few games, which means we won’t have that expense next year since we still have those games. The games were set up on the tables. We charged $2 per person for admission and sold refreshments: sodas and bottled water, chips, cookies. We had about 100 people come out and everyone had a good time playing any game they wanted to play. There were games for all ages, the younger kids love Chutes and Ladders and Candyland, husband and wives played games like Scrabble and checkers and Connect Four against each other (the wives won most of the time), the faces of some of our immigrant fathers (who speak very little English) lit up when I mentioned the word “dominoes”, and the students played, socialized and enjoyed themselves. The crowd was manageable, clean up was easy, very few volunteers were needed and no one was stressed out.

Next year we will add some old fashion games like jacks.

WOW! great ideas here.

Just a word on timing this event.

We had the best success in January/February. In fall and spring you have sports activites to compete with.

and finally... Do NOT charge admission.


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We've run a number of Family Game nights for PTO's and here's what we've done to make it work:

We put together a package of games from our store that are designed to encourage play between parents and kids of the appropriate age groups. WE then solicit volunteers from the local High Schools to help teach the games - these kids get community service hours for their time and also enjoy themselves as well.

The PTO or organizers only have to worry about getting the location prepared, advertising and running the event, the gaming store people take care of the games.

The secret is to select games that take 15- 30 minutes to reslove, are easy to teach, and encourage interpersonal communication between the players.

Some of the perennial favorites are Fluxx, Hali Gali, Apples to Apples but we have a long list of what has worked and what hasn't.

As far as how to get the games - we provide them from our store, but teachers and licensed educators can get free or low cost games through the Game Manufacturer's Association's Games in Education program. This is an excellent way to stretch PTO dollars by getting 50% off games for use in the classroom.


If you'd like more details please feel free to contact us.

Pat Fuge
Gnome Games

[ 04-19-2004, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: Pat Fuge ]

I have worked at a few gaming conventions. (Games are my hobby.) If you're interested in some door prizes, call or write to the game companies directly. (Look online or on the back of the boxes.) We always had tons of prizes that way. Also if you offer to try out a new game, they send more prizes (that game and its promos) and may even send a rep to teach everyone how to play.
Something to consider with an older group is that the card games - Yugi-oh! and Pokemon are very math intensive, so is WarHammer. (They are also quite popular. But you have to make a rule that it's just for fun, some people play for cards like the old marbles game played for marbles.)
Strategy games like Civilization and History of the World teach geography and history as well. Steve Jackson Games has some fun games - RoboRalley is a favorite (You "program" a robot to navigate a dangerous factory). Power is a good beginning strategy game, it's very colorful too.
I don't know if those are outside the age level you're working with, but they're great games that disguise learning math, history, logic, even grammar if you have to read rules off the cards.

How we did the gaming room:
We had someone host each game to make sure it went smoothly and to teach newbies the rules. We asked anyone who won the game to host another that night or another time. They were usually so flattered, they didn't realize they were getting recruited to volunteer.
Make sure there's enough space between the games - a noisy group will disprupt the next game. Have decks of cards or something to do for people who are waiting.
Call anyone who can teach a game - game stores, chess clubs, senior centers often have bridge, cribbage and other game groups that can teach you a new trick or two.
Variety will keep people coming back. Many game stores - not Toys r Us, but Card and Game stores have a game "Library" that you can borrow from if you don't have enough variety on your own. The PTO/PTA should not have to buy any. They will probably also have a large variety of learning games.
If you are in Colorado, the best store that has all of this is The Game Castle in Loveland. They have games I've never seen before (impressive ).

I've always wondered why games weren't used more as a teaching tool. It's good to see them being used.

Hello Momski !
Could you send me a copy of your math scheme ? Sounds awesome ! THANKS !!
Judi
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We are working on a Family Game Fun Night - Game Night for our school. We are really looking forward to all the fun. We've been talking about a game night since last year, and as fate would have it, one of our parents opened a game shop in town. (It was a sign)

They are going to bringing in a number of their games for the event. We'll have these games set up at stations, and various people (high school students in need of service hours, and a college gaming club) are going to be helping to staff the tables. These people will learn the rules for each game they are facilitating and help to keep things going. (One idea that they brought to the table was to alter expectations for differing age groups. A young child may have to find a 3 letter word, while older children may have to find 4 letter - or whatever variations for each game.)

While the games are going on, our art teacher is going to be faciltating a chess session. Students and parents can come in and play chess all night against people with varying skill levels. Additionally the crew from the game shop are going to be demonstrating a newer game called "Hero Clix," which may be of interest to our boys - especially our 5-8 grade boys.

We can't wait to see how it all turns out!