The new year will be upon us before you know it. Thinking back on my childhood experiences I remember staying up late (or at least trying to), eating junk food, and then at midnight my parents would bring out pots, pans and wooden spoons and out to the porch we would trot. We would bang on them as loud as we possibly could. They were homemade noise makers in place of paper horns and blow outs. As an adult, I still ring in the new year with family. Now it's staying up late, eating junk food and playing games. I'm sure there are others of you out there who have a similar type of casual gathering for New Year's Eve. In my family, game night is a pretty regular occurrence. If there's a holiday, there's a game. If everyone is bored on a Friday night, there's a game night. That got me to thinking... for a family of game lovers we haven't embraced the "personal" touch a stationery supplier might offer. So, I decided to check out my options. I have come up with a variety of game related items that would be great as Christmas gifts as well as for welcoming a new year filled with many game nights.　

• If you know a card lover there are a couple offerings. American Stationery offers personalized bridge pads and playing cards
• For the children in the family there are also some options. There's the game pad set - a personalized trio of traditional games for children such as Hangman and tic-tac-toe.  What a great way to get children involved in the tradition of game night. They can play games on their level, plus they'll have a good time and not feel left out.
• Another unique idea for children is a kid's travel set. Perhaps you will have to travel for the upcoming holidays.  This set is ideal for traveling by car or plane.  It will  help the child enjoy the ride and save mom and dad from the never ending questions like "Are we there yet?" The travel set includes one pad for ABC's, one for tic-tac-toe and one that has space to connect the dots and an area for "I Spy."  The ABC pad would be a good toold for familiarizing younger children with the game of "I'm going on a trip and I'm taking..." where repetition and memory are key.

This list was designed with families in mind. Hopefully it has sparked the fun of having game night in your own home or has generated a few new gift giving ideas this holiday season.　

- A game loving customer service representative