My Kids’ Favorite Board Game At the Moment

Building Their Empires One Day at a Time

• What: Monopoly Junior
• When: 5 years and up
• Why: Quick, fun, geared towards younger kids
• Where: At home

Every morning, I come downstairs to hoots and hollers as my kids play the same game over and over. Every morning before they take off for school, they pull out this box. And every morning, I find myself putting it back on the shelf. I am beginning to wonder why I bother, given how often they play it. Wondering what has captured their attention for weeks on end? Monopoly Junior.

We’ve owned this game for years, so many now that I can’t even recall when we first got it. It’s certainly been more than five years, before we thought our oldest child (now twelve years old) had the stamina, strategy, or reading abilities for longer games. While we got lots of play out of it at younger ages, it languished on the shelf for a period as we discovered new games like Zeus on the Loose and Kingdomino.

My kids play almost every morning. Some days it ends well, some days someone ends up in tears. They set it up themselves, and (mostly) get the pieces back in the box on their own when they finish. The ability to finish a game in time to get out the door and to school on time provides a large part of the appeal. Unlike the full version (which they also play, but rarely finish between after school activities, dinner, and evening routines), it can be completed much faster. It offers all the excitement of acquiring property and collecting money with fewer complexities. And though my kids no longer need this simplification, the smaller bill amounts make it easier to count, add, and subtract money.

Although I had considered passing this game along to friends with younger kids, I’m glad we held on to it. (Thanks, pandemic hoarding tendencies!) If you want a fun game with plenty of challenges that kids can enjoy at multiple ages and stages, choose any one of the themed Monopoly Junior sets for your family.