My eight-year-old daughter loves board games and card games.  Given the choice, she’d rather play chess, double solitaire, or Sequence than any video game.

Her favorite game at the moment is Yahtzee.  She begs her Grandfather and anyone else who happens to be nearby to play with her the minute she finishes her homework, and I love hearing the sound of dice shaking in a cup, followed by her delighted squeals of “Yahtzee!”  It improves her math skills.  She can count by threes or fours without pausing to think about it.  I think the reason she likes it most of all, however, is that she has the most astonishing luck.  She rolls two or three yahtzees in almost every game.  It’s a rare occasion when anyone else wins.