Cindy Crushes Programming: Three Games I Want to Try with My Teens, by Teen Librarian Cindy Shutts
One fun way to incorporate programming with teens into your library is to play games. Yes, good old fashioned board games. We review them regularly here at TLT. Today I am sharing with you 3 board games that I want to try with teens. These aren’t reviews, just a look at some games out there that I want to try. If you’ve played them, share your thoughts in the comments.
Wingspan
I know birding has gone up in popularity because of the pandemic and people have more time to spend in nature. This game allows you to play the role of a birder. You try to get rare birds to come to your preserve. This game is rated 14 and up and allows for 1-5 players. I think the age range is more about interest than content. The artwork is said to be spectacular. There is an expansion pack of European birds. I think fans of Ticket to Ride might enjoy this game, also of course, bird fans.
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Azul
The goal is to create mosaics for the Portuguese monarch King Manuel I. You can earn extra points by making patterns and collecting different sets of tiles. This game is for people ages 8- and up. It can be played 2-4 players. This is a good game for people who like tile games such as Tsuro.
Happy Little Dinosaurs
In this game you are a dinosaur just trying to survive the end of your world. You can win by being the last one standing or reaching fifty points. You are trying to avoid various catastrophes. This game is for people ages 8 and up. You can include 2-5 players. This is an expansion pack if you want to play with more players. This game is cute and would go well for fans of Exploding Kittens or Gloom.
What games are you playing with your teens?
Cindy Shutts, MLIS
Cindy is passionate about teen services. She loves dogs, pro-wrestling, Fairy tales, mythology, and of course reading. Her favorite books are The Hate U Give, Catching FIre, The Royals, and everything by Cindy Pon. She loves spending times with her dog Harry Winston and her niece and nephew. Cindy Shutts is the Teen Services Librarian at the White Oak Library District in IL and she’ll be joining us to talk about teen programming. You can follow her on Twitter at @cindysku.
Filed under: Board Games, Teen Programming
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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Wingspan is such a great game! Also educational and teaches a lot about different species of birds. You can check out some expansions as well.
I’m a huge fan of Azul. I think there’s a fourth Azul coming out this year too.
Great list!
I love tabletop gaming with my teens! Sushi Go!/Sushi Go Party!, Loonacy, UNO, and Exploding Kittens are probably their favorites (they love card games). Second Chance, Carcassonne, and the various Timeline games get played fairly often too. Right now our teen programming numbers are still pretty low and most of our teen gaming happens at my weekly, drop-in afterschool program, so we tend to focus on shorter games and ones that can add or lose players fairly easily or quickly. I would love to be able to teach/play something a little meatier like Wingspan; hopefully we’ll get to a point soon where our teen attendance numbers are up and COVID cases are down, and I can try those kinds of games with them.
I love Azul! I’m planning to purchase it for my high school library and teach my students to play it. I will be moving into a completely razed and rebuilt library probably in the fall (it’s still under renovation) and so I will be adding board games for students. They have played chess, checkers, Uno, Phase10, and others this year, but space is an issue as we’re working out of a classroom, with only part of my collection accessible. But I so look forward to new options in the new space!
Some new-ish games that I’ve played with teens that they loved: Superfight and Poetry for Neanderthals. *Highly* recommend them both, especially if your teens tend to be shy – and if you have a group that’s really into anime, Superfight has an anime edition that went over amazingly well!