Ideas for eliminating the January blues and banishing ‘Blue Monday’

Themed Film Nights

We always watch a lot of Christmas films in December, but after Boxing Day that’s it! To fill the void in January, pick a theme for each weekend, such as 1980s classics (I’m really enjoying re-visiting these with my kids) or comedies, and watch a series of films together. Don’t forget the popcorn and cozy blankets!

Plan a Future Trip

Research and plan a big day out, weekend away or even a family holiday. It’s something to look forward to and the anticipation and excitement of planning gives everyone a boost. We had a wonderful time plotting our route and stop offs for a European road trip. Not quite as far afield, but we’re excited about going on the City of London Mystery Adventure, which I got as a family present at Christmas. My mother-in-law coincidentally got me a voucher for another Mystery Guide so we’re thinking that we may head to Oxford for our next adventure and make a weekend of it.

January bakeoff

Get the cookbooks out and try out new recipes as a family. Bake some biscuits, make homemade pizzas or sausage rolls, be adventurous with an unfamiliar country’s cuisine or create a delicious dessert. Cooking together is a great activity plus you get to enjoy the results. I cherished our bake-alongs on Zoom with friends during lockdown.

Arts and Crafts

Gather some art supplies and bits and pieces from around the house – think spare buttons, bits of wrapping paper, ribbon, old cards – and get creative. You can paint, make crafts or even create a family scrapbook with photos and memories.

Games, Cards and Puzzles

Break out the games and cards and have a family games night. It’s something we do regularly. We have lots of favourite board games and play a variety of card games – including poker – but also like more active games.

The surprise hit of 2023/2024 is Chicken vs Hotdog. It’s a silly game, but so much fun, and kids and adults love it equally; it went down a storm at the New Year’s Eve party!

We’re also fans of jigsaws. It’s a great collaborative experience and actually very relaxing.

Home Spa Day

Relax together with a home spa day. Chill out, put your feet up, put on face masks and have some calming music in the background. You could add in some yoga, give massages and have an all round pamper. It’s also a good opportunity to pay attention to those winter chapped hands and lips.

Walks in January

There’s nothing nicer when it’s cold and crisp (and sunny if you’re lucky) than to rug up and head out for a nature walk. Exploring the winter landscape can be really refreshing. There’s still plenty to see even if it seems a barren time of year on the surface; if there’s snow so much the better. Our National Trust membership comes into its own.

Learn Something New in January Hobby Month

My eldest daughter started learning a bit of Italian with Duolingo last year. I want to get the rest of the family doing this too. Knitting is seeing a huge resurgence, and a lot of this could be down to its dopamine-releasing effect. Similarly crochet has become very popular. You could keep it even simpler and learn a new card game together.

Indoor Gardening

Start a windowsill garden with herbs or small vegetables. We did well with our Eden Greens Microgreen Grow Kit. It’s a great way to bring some green inside and maybe sprout an interest in gardening. You could get even more creative and make a miniature terrarium.

Become a Twitcher

The birds really need a helping hand at this time of year. Leaving food out will attract lots of feathered friends, which are fascinating to watch. The Big Garden Birdwatch, which is taking place the 26th to the 28th of January, is a great activity to take part in. As well as helping collect vital data about the UK’s bird population, it’s the perfect opportunity to take an hour out and get closer to nature.

Would love to hear your ideas; please share below!

The post 10 Ways to Beat the January Blues appeared first on The Parent Social.

What is Roblox?

Roblox is an online game platform, which is host to not just one game but a multiverse of different tween/teen-appealing games; 40 million-plus in fact. It can be played on desktop/laptop (PC and Macs), consoles, tablets and Smartphones. It provides a very immersive 3D gaming experience enabling players to follow, friend and play each other. In-game chat with friends and the whole shared adventure is a very compelling feature. User-generated content is also a big aspect, and anyone can create a game or virtual room.

What are Robux?

Whilst the games are free to play, many in-game purchases are available to buy with Robux, Roblox’s virtual currency, which can be bought, earned or donated. Players can speed up their progress in games by spending Robux and can also use the currency to buy accessories for their avatar.

Roblox gift card

Whilst I can’t find a definitive answer on the exact value of Robux, a £10 digital gift card will buy you 800 Robux. To put this into context, below is a small snapshot of some of the items and characters you can purchase. These range from fluffy ear muffs costing 55 Robux to the ‘Knight of the Splintered Skies’ character, which comes in at 1000 Robux. The most expensive I’ve found is the ‘Korblox Deathspeaker’ character that costs an astounding 17,000 Robux!  

Creating a Roblox account and parental controls

There are no age restrictions when creating an account online. If downloading the app on mobile, the age is stated as 12+ but if you don’t have any parental controls on your child’s phone, in theory they can download this at any age. In both cases I was able to sign up posing as a six-year-old. You are required to create a username and password, which might be beyond most of that age.

To make the account as secure as possible do the usual stuff: create a password that combines alphanumeric and special characters, set up 2-step verification and make sure your child knows not to share their password even with their BFF. Roblox also warns against using personal information in the username.

The above is what is presented on signing up and on subsequent log ins.

According to Roblox, all chat on the platform (both public and private) is filtered to prevent inappropriate content and personally identifiable information from being visible on the site. For example, if someone swears on chat it appears as hashtags. This filtering is more stringent for players 12 and under. Players over 13 years of age can say more words and phrases than younger players and can also customise their account privacy settings.
Additionally, under 12s can only send a direct message to those that they’ve accepted as friends on Roblox.

Avatars and bio

From the home page you can click into the profile and provide a bio and customise your avatar. Some basic avatar changes are free (you can’t adjust the colour of the freebie clothing items) but ‘cooler’ clothing costs varying amounts of Robux; even changing the avatar’s pose usually comes at a price – the Elton John Heart Skip will set you back 100 Robux. .

Friending

Random people can request to friend you, but you have the option to decline. We’ve discussed not friending strangers and also to get confirmation on a different channel if someone claims to be an in-real-life friend.

There are also the options to block someone or report them. Friends can invite you to join games.

Gameplay and the most popular Roblox games

There are millions of games to choose from, which have different types of gameplay. My daughters mostly play games that friends have suggested; you can see what friends are playing and join in live. They also try out ones that the platform recommends.

Adopt Me! is one of the most popular games on the platform. It’s a souped up, sociable version of the 90s handheld Tamagotchi. This has fallen out of favour however with the girls.

Here are their current favourite Roblox games:

Brookhaven and Berry Avenue – these are two of the most popular role play games. Players can choose their character, create a family with their friends, get a job and go about daily life. I’m told there is no real aim to the games, they’re just fun to play with friends.

Fashion Famous – for anyone with an interest in fashion, this game sees you competing against other players to get the most stars (votes) on the outfit you’ve put together. You have two minutes to create an outfit for a chosen category/theme. There’s a vast number and it can be anything from cute animals to board meeting or yacht club party. The ultimate aim is to get on the world wide leader board.

Colour or Die – The aim of the game is to find all the paint colours ending on the white paint. Easy enough maybe if you weren’t being chased through a labyrinth by an evil monster. Players open ‘paint doors’ and find items to help them progress further in the game. This could be paintbrushes, different coloured pots of paint or things like keys, hammers, planks of wood and saws. Doesn’t sound too thrilling to me but apparently it requires players to memorise where items/doors are in order to complete successfully.

Two-player Obby – There are 100s of Obbies (plural?). These are simple obstacle courses that you need to get around with a friend. There are various checkpoints to hit and you’ll return to these if you die (which can happen if you fall). These are long-running games that require many hours to complete.

Favourite features of Roblox

Most games can be played as an individual, but being able to play with friends is the real draw be that two player games or group games. Having access to a huge variety of different games and having lots of varied experiences is also key to Roblox’s appeal.

The post Roblox: What I’ve Learned So Far appeared first on The Parent Social.

Card games are great for wet weather days, during the holidays, down on the beach or for playing with extended family. Here are some of our favourites…

Knock

Aim: To be the first player to use all their cards.

Number of players: 2-6 Age: 5+

Preparation: Remove jokers and deal each player five cards. Place remaining cards face down on the table turning over the top one.

Gameplay: The youngest person goes first, looks at their cards, and tries to match either the number/picture of the revealed card or its suit. If they can match, they play that card and the next player does the same. Anyone who can’t match either suit or number/face must pick up a card from the table pile. If this matches they can play it and it’s the next player’s go, if it doesn’t they must pick up another card. If, after picking up three cards, they still can’t go, play moves on.

Some cards have special features. An eight makes the next person miss their go, Aces change direction of play and twos mean the next person picks up two cards unless they have a two. In this case the following person has to pick up four cards and so on.

Once a player has one card left they must shout KNOCK. Failing to do this during their turn results in the penalty of having to pick up three cards. Play continues until one person finishes all their cards. Remaining players tally up the score of the cards in their hands; Ace is one, all other cards are face value; picture cards are 10.

We play a number of hands and people remain in the game until they hit 101 points (we also have a dog’s life). The winner’s the last person left in the game.

You’ll probably use up the table cards in the course of the game. Simply shuffle all discarded cards and place back in a pile face down.

Beat your Neighbour (aka Beggar my Neighbour)

Aim: To be the last player standing holding all the cards.

Number of players: 2-6 Age: 6+

Preparation: Deal out all the cards (minus jokers) evenly between players.

Gameplay: Everyone holds their cards in a pile, facedown and doesn’t look at them for the duration of the game. The youngest person goes first and plays the top card from their pile discarding it into the middle of the table.

Cards two through to 10 have no significance, so if any of these are played the game moves to the next player and they play their top card. If an Ace is played then the subsequent player has four attempts to play a picture card or another Ace. If a King’s played, the next player has three attempts to play another picture card or Ace; a Queen played means the following player has two attempts to play a picture card or Ace, and if a Jack is played the next player has just one attempt (ie Jack’s are the best card to have).

If that player fails – that is they can’t play a picture card or Ace – the previous player wins all the cards on the table, which they put at the bottom of their pile. They then lay down their top card and play resumes. If they succeed, play moves to the next person who has four, three, two or one attempt/s to play a picture card or Ace dependent on what was played.

If you use up all your cards, you’re out. The person that ends up with all the cards is the winner.

Pig

There are many variations on this card game, here’s ours…

Aim: To get four cards that are the same denomination (eg four Queens).

Number of players: 3-13 (4-7 is optimum) Age: 5-13 years

Preparation: From a deck of cards, separate out as many quartets/sets of denominations as there are players. For example, if three people are playing sort out three quartets as shown below. After separating these out, shuffle and deal four cards to each player.

Gameplay: Everyone looks at their cards and then simultaneously passes a card they don’t need to the player on their left. Play continues until someone completes their set of four matching cards. At this point, the player puts their finger on their nose. All other players must copy this action. The last person to do this is the loser. We continue until someone has three strikes, at which point the person with the least strikes is the winner.

Poker – Texas Hold’em

It might not sound too child-friendly but this version is a fairly easy game to pick up (harder to get very good at though). It’s really great for getting children to work out permutations and calculate probability. There’s also a strong bluffing element!

Aim: To make the best five card poker hand every round and win all the chips.

Number of players: 2-23 Age: 8+

Preparation: Remove the jokers from the pack. Choose a banker for the first round and allocate an equal number of poker chips to each player (in different denominations). The banker deals two cards to each player.

Gameplay: Everyone looks at their cards. The person immediately to the banker’s left has to put in the ‘small blind’ (a predetermined amount, say a chip with the face value of 10). The person to their left is the ‘big blind;’ they have to put in double the small blind. The blinds kick off the betting and have to be played at every hand regardless of whether cards are good or bad.

Betting

The person after the big blind then decides if they want to play their hand, fold or raise the stakes. If they want to play, they have to match the big blind. If they feel they’ve got a particularly strong hand they can even add more chips (or perhaps bluff). The next player then has to make the same decision based on their hand. This carries on until it’s back to the person who’s the big blind. If the stakes have been raised since they posted the blind, they must match ‘call’ if they want to stay in. They can also opt to raise. If they do this then there is another round of betting where, once again, people must decide it they want to call, fold or raise. Once the betting has finished, all the chips bet up until this point are put into the middle (the pot).

The flop

The dealer then deals three cards face up. This is known as ‘the flop’. The person on the dealer’s left then decides what to do based on the five cards they have at their disposal (two in their hand and the three ‘community cards’ on the table).

They can choose to bet or ‘check’ ie not bet. If they check, the next person can also do this. In fact everyone playing can do this. However, if someone decides to bet then the subsequent player has to call the bet if they want to continue playing. They can also raise; again the next player has to match/call if they want to remain in. This carries on until it’s back to the person who initiated the round. If the stakes have been raised since their go, they must call or otherwise fold. The game then continues to the next phase (turn card). Similarly, if everyone has checked play moves on. All chips bet that round are put into the pot.

The turn card and the river card

The dealer then turns over a fourth card. A further betting round continues as above. Now there are six cards in play there’s a higher chance that people have completed flushes, straights, three-of-a-kinds etc (or could be bluffing) so betting could change; watch out for this. Finally the fifth card – the river card – is dealt and the last betting round takes place. When there are no more raises, the players left in reveal their cards to everyone. The person with the highest hand (as shown in the graphic above) takes all the chips that have been played.

If someone has bet all their chips and lost, they are out of the game.

Next hand and finishing the game

For the next hand, the person to the left of the previous dealer now becomes the new dealer and the subsequent players to their left post the small and big blinds respectively. You keep playing hands until one person has won all the chips. You can also play until someone has won a certain amount if you want a shorter game!

Chase the Ace

After the poker masterclass, here’s one of those card games that requires little explanation and is based completely on luck. Again there are several versions, here’s one.

Aim: To not be left holding the Ace. There’s no overall winner, just one person that loses.

Number of players: Four or more Age: 6+ years

Preparation: From a deck of cards remove the jokers and one Ace. Deal out the remaining cards.

Gameplay: Everyone looks at their hand and discards any matching pairs they have of the same denomination; for example two Jacks or two fours. They place them face up in the middle of the table so everyone can see.

Following this action, the person who has the most cards in their hand goes first. They hold up their cards to the player on their left making sure they can’t see them. This player selects one at random. If they can make a pair now this card has been added to their hand they place it in the centre. If they can’t they’re just left holding more cards. Play continues clockwise in the same way with the next player offering their cards to their neighbour.

If you pair up all of your cards, you’re ‘safe’ and have finished your game. The other players carry on until one player is left holding the single Ace (remember you removed one before the game started). They are the loser.

A few other card games to try

Crib/cribbage is one of the classic card games, but a bit more challenging. It can be played as a pair, as a three and as partner crib (two players on each team). My eldest learnt it when she was eight and really enjoys it. Here are the rules.

Kraker Laken Poker (Cockroach poker) a family favourite where bluffing is key and the aim of the game is not to lose. There’s one loser and everyone else shares in the victory. It bears no resemblance to poker other than the bluffing. Find out how to play here.

Solo card games such as patience are also good to learn as are any of the huge variants of rummy.

What are your favourite card games?

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A board game cafe for children and adults

The Ludoquist, in Croydon, South London, has over 1400 board games available to play. These range from ‘very first games’ – which are suitable for ages 2 years up – and family games to solo games and the most strategical of board games.

For £5 per person (£2.50 for children up to 14) you can play as many games as you like for three hours or up to six hours if they have space. Whilst playing, you can enjoy great food and a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Our experiences at Ludoquist game cafe

The Ludoquist is a great venue. It’s packed to the rafters with games yet retains a wonderful sense of brightness and spaciousness. The games are all really well arranged into categories and themes so it’s easy to both explore, and to hone in on exactly the type of games you want.

For our first visit we didn’t want to be too ambitious (and have to learn lots of new rules) so selected a different edition of Ticket to Ride, which is one of our favourite family board games. Their ‘Games Gurus’ are on hand to make suggestions if you do need them.

The game cafe menu

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Before settling down to the game, we ordered our food and drinks. They have an impressive drinks menu, which includes the hip Dead Skull coffee brand and equally trendy hoogly tea. These sit alongside a wide variety of the usual soft drinks and more exotic smoothies and shakes. On the alcohol front, they have a range of beers, lager and cider on draft and in bottles/cans (including low alcohol and a specialised craft beer selection), a variety of wines and, the pièce de résistance, cocktails and the ‘Gin Palace.’ I couldn’t help myself and ordered an Espresso Martini, which was fabulous. The girls opted for an Oreo shake and Berry Go Round smoothies, which went down equally well. It’s table service but you can also go up to the bar.

On the food front, we had paninis, pizza and homemade sweet potato curry, all of which were great and reasonably priced. We also ordered bowls of Haribo and chocolate eggs to keep energy levels up during gameplay!

Let the games begin!

We set up the game whilst waiting for our food (which arrived promptly). Our table was spacious so we could play and eat at the same time. I found myself really immersed in the game as there were none of the usual distractions I get at home and the kids definitely loved playing in a different and funky environment. The staff were attentive and friendly and we had several more rounds of drinks while we played.

In an increasingly screen-orientated world, it was great to look round and see so many people enjoying the simple pleasure of board games.

It had been our intention to play more games, but our Ticket to Ride game was epic; so much so we came to the end of our time slot. Luckily, they were able to extend it for us. We can’t wait to come again and try out some more games. We would all thoroughly recommend.

What else you need to know

They have a special deal Monday-Friday until 5pm where you can play for £3 (£1.50 for children) each for up to 3 hours.

For evenings and weekends they highly recommend you book, which you can do here. For groups of over six you need to email: info@theludoquist.com .

You can also buy games in the cafe or from their online shop – https://www.theludoquist.com/collections/kids-games

Visit The Ludoquist website for more details.

And finally…

As a Wordle addict, I was seriously impressed that ‘Chaser’ and quizzer Paul Sinha was talking to ITN about the word game from The Ludoquist

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I’ve played occasional face-to-face poker games with friends over the years and really enjoy it. In the first lockdown, my husband got involved in a regular online poker night with friends. It’s an all boys affair, but I joined them a couple of weeks in. Ten months later and it’s still a much enjoyed weekly fixture.

Our daughters were interested in what we were playing so we taught them. They love it. It’s actually good for learning about probability and brilliant for improving concentration and honing observational skills (matching cards and spotting winning hands such as flushes, straights, full houses etc).

All Quizzed Out

Aside from when it’s someone’s birthday, I find it can be surprisingly tough to organise a video chat with a few friends simultaneously. I think it’s a lot easier if there’s a focal point such as a quiz. However, I’ve become a little quizzed out. I was finding that coming up with rounds on a very regular basis was becoming more stress than fun.

Ladies Poker Night

As New Year approached, in the spirit of trying new things/activities, I asked a couple of female friends if they’d be interested in getting involved in a friendly game or two. They all liked the idea. I got them to set up accounts on PokerStars, which is the platform I use. I set up the game and we log in at the same time each Thursday. We run a Zoom meeting at the same time so we’re all looking at our individual hands and the table, but can also see each other.

We’re into our fourth week now and loving it. For the first two weeks we played with play chips ie no money involved, but for two weeks we’ve played for real money. It’s a £3.30 buy in so not huge stakes. I won this week and came away with £20 The poker play is great fun. Those that hadn’t played before have quickly picked it up though none of us will be giving it all up and heading to Vegas any time soon. However, unlike the ‘boys’ fixture the outcome is pretty secondary. We chat a lot. It’s the perfect way to get us all online together regularly and doesn’t require the effort of a quiz. 

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We’ve had a few new games this Christmas, which have already established themselves as favourites. Here’s a roundup of our current top games – old and new – for a family games night.   

Kaker Laken Poker (Cockroach Poker)  

Ages: 7+

Players: 2-6

It might have poker in its title but its only resemblance to the betting game is the element of bluffing aka fibbing. Kaker Laken Poker (Cockroach poker) is quite novel in that there’s no overall winner, just one loser. However, this doesn’t mean it is in any way less competitive.

The aim of the game is to force another player to collect four of the same kind of creature (cockroaches, stinkbugs, bats, toads et al) or use up all their cards; both these situations result in them forfeiting the game. This is achieved by making a fellow player guess incorrectly about the identity of the card that’s passed to them. On their turn a player receives a card from their neighbouring player. They can choose to accept the card and decide if the player’s telling the truth or not about the creature on it. If wrong, they add the card to their pile, but if they’re correct the previous player has to add it to theirs. Instead of accepting the card, they can also choose to pass the card on either confirming the previous player’s claim or changing the identity. The subsequent player again decides if what this player says is the truth or not.  

It all gets very duplicitous and is deliciously entertaining.

Kaker Laken Poker

Rolazone/Omshanti  

Ages: 5+

Players: 2 (but can be teams)

My husband has had this game for 20 years or more. He introduced it to me many moons ago then we introduced it to the kids. It remains a perennial favourite. Our friends now know it well; it gets ‘rolled’ out at many gatherings.  

It’s a real game of skill and a sort of modern-day twist on shove halfpenny, but played at each end of the ‘board’ – in this case mat. Two players take consecutive turns to roll their three spherical playing pieces into successive zones. Players then move their score counter up the side for each successful zone they achieve (in order) terminating with the ‘end zone’. Play continues until one player gets all three of their counters to the top.   

It is highly addictive and frequently frustrating.

Omshanti

Ticket to Ride

Ages: 8+  

Players: 2-5

This is a brilliant strategy game for older children and adults but is equally fun for younger children who can play on a more elemental level. The aim is to build railway routes across America. This is done by collecting different types of train cards and claiming sections of track, which connect cities. The more routes completed, the more points earned, with longer routes being the trickiest but most lucrative. Extra points are up for grabs at the end of play for the longest overall track, which can literally be a game changer. Points are deducted for incomplete routes. There are plenty of opportunities for accidental sabotage (or deliberate if that’s the way you’re playing!).  

We got rather addicted to the online version during lockdown 1 then received the original board game for Christmas; it doesn’t disappoint. The gameplay is pretty much identical, but it has the added old school charm of a board game and is more immersive than its digital cousin.

Ticket to Ride

Flipping Hats Game/Hats Off

Ages 4+

Players: 2-4

If you’re looking for a game of silly fun which requires skill, but no brain power then this is perfect.

Each player chooses a colour, and the aim is to get the six small witch hats into the corresponding coloured section. The little hats are launched using a very fun flicking device. The winner is the first to do it. That’s it!

It’s fast, furious and ultra-competitive.

Flipping Hats Game

Vintage Hats Off

Family Fortunes Kids v Parents

Ages 8+

Players: 2+

Most people are familiar with the format of this long-running TV gameshow. We started watching it as a family earlier this year and the girls love it (they’re fans of Gino anyway). It prompted me to get it for Christmas.

The board game is pretty faithful to the show. Play includes four Face Off rounds and two Fast Money rounds with each team trying to get as many correct, and specifically top, answers as they can whilst avoiding the dreaded uh-uh (incorrect answer). Everything is recorded on the wipeable scoreboard.

The kids absolutely love anything that pits them against adults and the questions are tailored well for two different generations. We’ve all thoroughly enjoyed playing it and it is perfect for a family games night.

Family Fortunes Kids V Parents

Let me know of your family favourites in the comments below.

The Entertainer toy shop has loads of new and classic games and is currently doing a mix and match buy one get one half price – board games

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