Christmas List Suggestion for Students Who Love to Play with Words/Who Love Strategizing

I figured since I teach literature, math and grammar for multiple ages this would be a list that could apply to any ages between 4th and 12th grade, and would be great fun for the entire family. All of these games can be found at most toy stores, malls, or online for discounted prices.

Word Games:

•  Madlibs (any topic, very cheap to find at the Dollar Store)- Classic word games that can be played on long road trips by the entire family-very interactive
• Apples to Apples- A fantastic way to learn correct word definitions and have fun matching suggestions for people, places, or things that could be described by the word...
• Balderdash-How creative can you get with inventing word definitions for outlandish words?
• Bananagrams- A sister to Scrabble-easier to transport
• Catch Phrase- How fast are you at guessing a word for your team as someone else describes it?
• Taboo- A really fun team game that results in much laughter and some "taboo" words...
• Scattergories- Think a dice, timer, and words and every man for him/her self!

Strategy Games:

• Chess/Checkers- Does your student like to think things through logically? An investment in a chess set with a timer is worth it, and checkers is easy enough for young children to play
• Sequence-Can be played by individuals or teams and quickly becomes addictive, you have been warned!
• Stratego-The goal of the game is to capture something your opponent does not want you to have...this is where your strategy comes in
• Risk- A very exciting world domination game that teaches world geography as players try to take over countries and continents in order to win!