fun and games gift basket
Easter Fun and Games Gift Basket

Enjoy the following list of Easter Basket board games! I love adding games to Easter Baskets or to give as gifts.  Although my kids are older now, I still create an Easter Basket and slide in a game for year round fun!  Below are some games that would fit nicely inside an Easter Basket and can be enjoyed on a family game night or any time.  Don’t ever limit the time for fun!

1)Big Fish Lil Fish

Kids will get caught up into the wave of excitement while playing Big Fish Lil Fish!  It’s an all-out fish eating and gobbling up card game.  Quick to play.  The object of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all cards dealt to him.  The cards in the deck consists of 60 colorful fish of various points and sizes.  Big Fish can eat Lil fish (Fish of higher points can be placed on Fish of lower points).

But watch out for the Spiny Puffer fish of the deck!  This card gives you more than what you were fishing for!  Kids love it when they trick other players with that Spiny Puffer! Nothing can eat a Puffer!  Of course! Ages 6 and up.  2-6 players. Approx. 15 minutes or less to play.

2)There’s a Moose in the House

My parents actually got this game for my kids, and we all love it.  The winner of the game is the player who has the least amount of Moose in their house at the end of the game!  But can you keep them out of there?  This is a major problem!  Other players are always putting their Mooses or Meeses in your house!  You do have a Moose Trap that might help though.  But even that isn’t always enough.

Kids love playing, especially when they get to put a Moose in someone else’s Kitchen and ask, ‘Do you have any Moostard?’  or if they get to put a Moose in another player’s bedroom and say, ‘I could use a Moosage.’   Giggling fun!  Ages 8 and up.  2-5 players.  30 minutes or less.

3)Banagrams, Appletters, or Pairs in Pears

Lots of parents add ‘fruit’ in their Children’s Easter Baskets these days, and some kids might wonder what the fun is that!  However, when you add one of the ‘Fruit assortment’ of Banagrams, Appletters, or Pairs in Pears they will know where the fun is.  These simple games fit perfectly inside an Easter Basket and provide a healthy addition to any game time!  Kids will enjoy peeling letters in Banagrams. They can have fun connecting letters in Appletters or forming winning Pairs in Pears.  It’s a fruitful day of play.  Ages 6 and up.  2-8 players.  30 minutes or less.

4)Lost Cities

Becoming an adventurer and exploring Lost Cities of the Himalayan Mountains, Rainforests, Deserts, Volcanos, and Sea is sure to be exciting in this card game.  Players compete to score the most points for completing successful expeditions.  This is a strategic and captivating game for two players.  Players must learn to balance Risk with Reward in order to win.  Challenging Fun!  Ages 10 and up.  2 players.  20-40 minutes. (other review of Lost Cities here)

5)Saboteur

Saboteur is a great party game. Players (aka Dwarves) are on a mission to mine, discover, and keep the most gold. Cave ins and trouble with broken tools are not your only obstacles for doing so though.  Some of the other miners might be saboteurs who are always trying to steal found gold.  The game keeps players guessing all the time.

Ages 8 and up.  3-10 players.  30 minutes.

6)Spot it!

How fast can you Spot it? Each of the cards in this small pack of circular cards display 8 differing symbols.  Play begins by turning two of the cards over for all players to see, and then it is a race to SPOT the common item found on both of the cards turned over!  Will you SPOT them first?  Fast paced and packed with thrills.  Ages 7 and up.  2-8 players.  Quick.

7)Calaboose

Who can rustle up the most bad guys and put them in a Calaboose (Jail)? Players of this game strive to be the best dang bounty hunter around. Will players wrangle up Bandits, Card Sharks, Hucksters, Cattle Rustlers, Gunslingers, or Bad Lawmen?  Depending on who and how many they catch and put in a jail cell, while defending against any unwanted prisoners being placed in their cells by other bounty hunters, determines the winner. Fun game for all.

You could decide to use the inside of a cowboy hat as an Easter Basket to place this western themed game in!  Add a John Wayne movie, popcorn, and a bit of some Easter candy and you’ve got a regular bounty of Fun as a gift!   Ages 12 and up. 2-5 players.

8)Loot

Loot is a card game of plundering fun!  Players turned Pirates try to collect as many gold coins as they can by looting and capturing other player’s loot and merchant ships.  Pirates must always be on the watch for other sneaky and clever pirates while at sea. The winner and best looting Pirate of this game is the Player with the most treasure at the end of game!  Recommended for ages 10 and up. 2 to 8 players. Approx. 20 minutes to play.  Ahoy! (Winner of Mensa award 2005)

9)Bears!

Bears! is fast grabbing game of dice.  It fits nicely inside an Easter Basket, but yet is great to take and play on camping trips (or anywhere).  The game provides lots of quick action fun.  Special Dice with images are rolled in the center of the table in front of players all at once.  Players then decide to run, shoot, or hide in tents from the Bears!   Object of the game is to score the most points by grabbing and pairing dice.  Ages 7 and up.  2-4 players (one box-additional box for additional players).  20 minutes.

10)Snipe Hunt

I had to include this game.  Who doesn’t want to hide a Snipe?  After Easter egg hunting has passed, kids can still play hide and seek with a Snipe.  Any amount of children and adults can play by forming two teams.  Each team/player hides one Snipe in a designated area from their opponents.  The object is to be the first player/team to find his Snipe and return it back safely to its nest.

If the Snipe isn’t found right away though, it begins to Chirp and eyes start to blink.  Any age can play and any number.  Indoor or outdoor.  Time to play is up to the seekers.  How fast can you find a Snipe?

Choose a game, any game, and play today!

Read more about the Game in basket of top image:Forbidden Island

11 Comments

  3. “Giggling fun”, ahh those were the days. My daughter and I were talking on the phone the other day and reminiscing when the kids were little and all the funny stuff.
    My kids were a couple of fun loving little munchkins and it still brings a smile to my face.

    I’m not going to tell the whole story, but hiding peaches in bluejeans pockets can be a giggle worthy enterprise too.

    Buckeye Bob

      1. Well, we were having dinner at the table with my wife’s mom.
        (We saved the table for holidays and grandma visits.)
        My wife loved peaches, but the kids thought they were too slimy.
        So we’re talking, us adults, and the kids kept giggling.
        Now I knew this was always a bad sign, so I kept watching them between the talking and all. And they kept breaking out into bouts of giggling and trying to not do it.
        I knew something was up but didn’t know until years later that they were hiding their slimy peaches in their pockets, but when my daughter told me I knew right away what she was talking about.

        Buckeye Bob

        1. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Buckeye Bob. My oldest daughter use to put Rollie Pollies in her pockets and tell me they were her friends.

          pdenver

            1. Yes, they do. By the end of the end, sadly, I had to explain that her friends would need to be let go so that they could go home to be with their family.

              pdenver

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