Archive for August 18th, 2009

Fun Game Tables and the Life Lessons they can Teach your Children

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
MJ Marks asked:


In today’s world, as parents, we need to make an extra effort to keep our kids active and to teach them to interact with other people face to face. This is something that parents used to do without giving it much thought. But today, many youth spend a lot of time watching TV or playing video games. Many of the interactive games they play online keep them sedentary and anonymous. A lot of the communication comes through online chat, games and texting instead of face to face. There are many things that parents can do to help their children in these two areas, but one solution to both problems, that your kids will enjoy, are game tables. These fun game tables come in many forms, so you can find something that the whole family can enjoy. Let’s take a look at some of the options available.

The air hockey table has been around since the 1970’s. This great game was an instant hit and quickly appeared in homes around the country. It only took a few years before it became competitive with world championships. A miniature version of actual hockey, the puck floats atop a layer of air that is blown through holes on the table top. You score by hitting the puck into your opponents goal. Though the concept is simple, there is also much skill that is employed in the top levels of the sport. This is a fast action game that people of all ages can enjoy. It is highly competitive and will have your kids returning over and over again, keeping them very active.

Foosball makes for very fun game tables and have been around since the mid-twentieth century. A table top version of soccer, it is also very competitive. It can be played with two players or in teams of two for a total of four players. This allows more people to interact at a time.

Pool tables have been around for a couple of hundred years and offer a myriad of games that can be played. You can play games that involve anywhere from two to many players. Though not as active as the previous two games, it is great for having fun and interacting with other people.

Of all the fun game tables out there, one of my favorite is table tennis. This game can be very active and can be enjoyed by players of all experience. You can play one-on-one, with pairs, or around-the-world which can involve as many players as you wish. Though around-the-world starts out slow, it definitely picks up pace as people drop out of the game.

If you cannot decide which table is best for your family, or each member has a different opinion, then you should go for the All-in-1 fun game tables. A variety of number of games can be available in different tables, but some of the higher quality tables have two or three games. These types usually involve tables that flip over, with a different game on each side. Such as pool on one side and air hockey on the other (a pockey table!). Most will at least include a third game, usually by placing a removable table top onto the pool side, you then have ping pong. Other tables will have up to 10 games, but a majority of them are smaller games like backgammon and poker, not active games as we have discussed.

It is obvious that any of these games will allow your kids to be more active, but it also encourages great personal interaction between the players, and as an added bonus it promotes good sportsmanship. So if you would like to teach your kids some of these essential skills in life, then an investment in any of these fun game tables could be just what you need.



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Pool table room size

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
George Pennwood asked:


So you want a pool table in your home, which one do you get and most importantly have you thought about the room size you need to put it in? You see it’s all well and good to think that yes a 7 foot table will fit in that room nicely, but have you considered the room needed for actually playing the shots with full size pool cues? Remember pool cues are generally 57 inches long or 145 cms so ideally you will have to add 2 x 60 inches to each dimension of the pool table, to give a comfortable space to actually play the game.  

Actually its not as bad as it seems as the playing area for a 7 ft full sized English pool table is 6 ft x 3 ft, so the actual room size you need is 16 ft x 13 ft if you are using full size cues and you could even get away with a smaller room say 13 ft square by using a short pool cue of 3 ft or so if the cue ball was on or near the cushion at one end of the room.  And for a six foot table the playing area is only 5 ft x 2 ft 6 inches, so the ideal room size would be 15 ft x 12 ft 6 inches. These dimensions are for proper slate bed pool tables like you find in the pubs and pool halls. Obviously for the American pool tables, the dimensions are larger, for an 8 ft American table, the room size would need to be 17 ft x 13 ft 6 inches and a 9 ft table needs a room size of 18 ft x 14 ft minimum.

So you could fit a pool table even in a relatively small room with a bit of imagination and a couple of short cues, I would recommend getting a piece of graph paper to work out the pool table room size you need before you part with your cash.



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