- November 2, 2021
15 Top Board Games for Kids
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It can be somewhat difficult to choose an appropriate game for your children given that there are numerous options out there. After a while, it can all look the same. Having fun while playing is important but that is not the sole purpose of playing board games.
It is a fact that frequent playing of board games can have a positive effect on the child’s cognitive development and speed of conclusion. To choose the best board games for kids we need to look at what life lessons those games are offering.
That is why we carefully choose the 15 top-rated games for children that will keep them engaged.
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Ravensburger Labyrinth Family Board Game
This is a fun game in which players have to move walls to reach their goal. In this labyrinth, there is a hidden treasure that all players are looking for.
By using special cards, the walls are moved, hallways get opened and players can move through the Labyrinth. Inside it, there are a couple of goal tokens to collect.
To win you need to be the one who will collect them first, and then go back through the labyrinth to the beginning. This game can be played by up to 2 to 4 players, and it takes an average of 20 to 30 minutes. Enter the labyrinth and be the first to get the treasure.
Benefits:
- Ever-changing game board
- Perfect for ages 7 and up
7 Wonders
If you are looking for historical educational board games for kids this might be it. Collect resources, develop commercial routes, and assert your military supremacy.
Build your city and raise an architectural marvel that will transcend future times! One of the biggest advantages of this game is that it can be played from 3 to 7 players with a very short downtime period.
Leave your mark on the history of civilization by building architectural wonders that will outlive the time to come. You, as one of the leaders of the seven great cities of old times, will try to build these buildings that will surpass all others. With each advance, you are close to building a miracle.
Benefits:
- Short downtime
- Up to 7 players
- Game length around 30 minutes
Hasbro Connect 4
The Hasbro Connect 4 board game represents a new dimension to the classic series. The game is designed for 2 players and comes in a travel version.
It is intended for children that are over five years old. This game will allow the whole family to spend quality time together.
The task of the player is to place the disc in a row (horizontally, diagonally or vertically) and the winner is the one who first joins the four discs in one row.
This game will help your children develop a sense of strategy and competitiveness. There are infinite ways one can outmaneuver his opponents. Getting four discs in a row before your opponent has never been so much fun.
Benefits:
- Super fun two-player game
- Teaches strategy
Splendor
Splendor is a game that, when it appeared in 2014, completely wowed the entire gaming world.
It has won numerous awards, and with its simplicity but also its depth of tactics and competitiveness, the game is attracting new players day by day.
In this game, you collect tokens and buy development cards. Players are taking on the role of Renaissance traders competing who will buy more gem mines, better transport those gems, and open better stores to distribute them.
The goal is to become the most prestigious jewelry merchant. If you are rich enough, someone from noble families may visit your jewelry store, which of course will further elevate your prestige and help you win.
Benefits:
- Simple to learn
- Good strategy and tactics
- Great for 2 players
Operation (EA)
The objective of this game is to carefully remove all objects that are out of place, but so that the patient does not feel it, otherwise the player loses.
Help the patient heal – what is necessary is to perform surgery on him – when you are done, press his nose and he will tell you if everything is right, and then he will instruct you what to do next.
Operation game is quite famous and one of the top board games for kids and adults. This fun and unpredictable way to play will entertain children of all ages! The winner is the one who successfully removes the most items and heals the patient.
Benefits:
- For 4 years olds and up
- Supports solo play
Watch Ya' Mouth
If you’re already bored with all the board games and looking for something new and hilarious, then maybe you can try out a game that has become a hit on social networks these days.
It’s a very funny board game in which one person tries to say a sentence while others try to guess what the sentence is.
Ten dental-grade mouthpieces that are dishwasher safe will turn the simplest tasks into the real challenge.
Saying a given sentence, drinking a glass of water, or eating a banana becomes an impossible mission, and every attempt provokes lots of laughs. You can play Watch Ya’ Mouth with your friends and family in the atmosphere of your own home.
Benefits:
- Simple and easy to play
- No complex pieces
- Great family board game
Sequence Game
Here is one simple and fun game that is usually played in pairs.
It’s a combination of a card game and a board game. In addition to the fun, it has elements of strategy. If you are looking for thrill Sequence board game is the right thing to try out! Use the tokens to create strings on the board that are horizontal, vertical or diagonal.
This can be achieved by using cards and tokens, and you can also prevent your opponent from creating his winning string. It can be played in two players, but also groups.
The winner is the one who first completes the two strings together. This game is a new and innovative take on an existing game Four in a line.
Benefits:
- Team-based gameplay
- Has elements of strategy
Hungry Hungry Hippos
Hungry Hippos is an interesting and dynamic board game that everyone will want to play. It is suitable for two to four players.
The rules of the game are very simple: you need your Hungry Hippo to eat as many marbles as possible. The game lasts until all the marbles are eaten.
The plastic cover prevents the marbles from popping out and being lost, so this game is compact and suitable to play anytime, anywhere.
It affects the development of fine motor skills in children and fosters competitive spirit, and that is why it is one of the good board games for kids.
The Hungry Hippos is a social game and it will be interesting for both young and older children. It is suitable for ages four and up, and it is a great family game.
Benefits:
- Perfect gateway game
- Colorful and dynamic
Clue Junior
The new version of the old game Cluedo (“Clue” in North America) comes from the famous Hasbro.
Clue Junior is a game tailored for children ages eight and up and can be played in 2 to 6 players. Play a fun detective board game and solve the mystery!
The goal is very simple – be the first to discover who ate the last slice of cake! Practice concentration, detailed observations and a better understanding of the interaction between players.
Clue is interesting for children, but it is also often challenging for adults. This travel version is easily foldable and portable, so you can take it with you wherever you go. Can you become the world’s best detective? Find the clues and solve the puzzle.
Benefits:
- Famous classic game adjusted for kids
- Puzzle-solving game
- Develops intuitive thinking
PlayMonster Yeti in My Spaghetti
This is a fun board game where you have to prevent Yeti, who is resting on spaghetti, from falling into the bowl. Are your hands shaking? Place the bowl on a flat surface, and stack the spaghetti over it.
The spaghetti must be intertwined. Place the yeti toy on top of spaghetti, preferably in the middle.
The oldest player goes first, and he/she must save the spaghetti from the Yeti. You have to pull out spaghetti that you touched. No changing your mind! When playing, you can use both hands but not at the same time.
If you manage to move the spaghetti, the game resumes going clockwise. The game ends when the Yeti gets into spaghetti.
Benefits:
- For children ages four and up
- Family game
- Designed primarily for kids
ThinkFun Robot Turtles
Surprise your children with the fantastic Robot Turtle board game.
The best kids board games are ones where children can learn something through play and this game is one of the best in that area. By playing this game, kids learn essential programming skills without even realizing it.
It is a game based on the Logo programming language created by the famous software expert Dan Shapiro.
To win, players will use cards to program the movement of their turtles around the board. This game is ideal for kid’s ages 3 to 8 but everyone else will also have a lot of fun with it and maybe even learn something new.
Benefits:
- Learn programming the fun way
- Develops creative thinking
Pandemic: Legacy Season 1 (Red Edition)
Pandemic Legacy is a standalone game that is quite similar to the famous classic co-op game Pandemic.
Together, players are trying to stem the deadly infections that are spreading rapidly around the world. However, Legacy is different in that the board is constantly changing and everything that players do has consequences for each successive game!
Inside the game is a special deck of cards that players draw until they reach a specific card that tells them to stop.
Cards are events that put new elements on the board – from special stickers that change the board, special packs that add more stuff to the game, right up to changing the rules of the game itself! This game is ideal for slightly older children as well as teenagers.
Benefits:
- Campaign gameplay
- New elements with each play
- The classic game redefined
Catan
Catan is one of the most popular board games in the world. It is a 3-4 player board game. This is a simpler game that doesn’t require too much gaming experience.
Players develop their region with the help of raw materials; they build roads, villages and towns, and develop their civilization. All this is happening on the small island of Catan, where there is room for only one winner!
The board is made up of water and land hexagons that, with each new game, blend into a new landscape. The game depends very little on luck and more on the tactics and negotiating skills of the players.
It has been enthralling players of all ages for almost two decades with its simplicity and interesting gameplay mechanics.
Benefits:
- A nice and simple family strategy
- Different board with every play
Jenga Classic Game
This classic, worldwide popular board game is filled with the fun of stacking and collapsing wooden blocks.
How will you handle the law of gravity? This is a game of precision and patience. Jenga Classic Game is equally fun to play with others or alone.
The objective of the game is to remove the pieces from the Jenga tower and put it on top without collapsing the whole construction. You need a calm hand and a clear head to win.
Show physical and mental skills, dexterity, and calm with Hasbro Jenga’s board game. The pieces in Jenga are not small and there is no danger of little kids choking on them or sticking them in their nose. The game is also fun for teens and adults.
Benefits:
- For ages 6 and up
- Easy to set up
Hasbro Guess Who?
What secret identity did your opponent choose? Watch all the faces carefully – only one wise question can eliminate several people at a time! Be the first to reveal an opponent’s secret identity and win the game of Guess Who.
Does he have brown eyes? No. Does he wear a hat? Yes. Ask the right questions and use the YES and NO answer system to figure out who is the mysterious person on the card.
Become a champion in personality guessing! This is a game ideal for two players or two teams. It is recommended for ages 6 or older. You will have a lot of fun and laughs while playing the social deduction board game Guess Who’s.
Benefits:
- Great social deduction game
- Team-based gameplay
- Fun and different every time
How to Choose Good Board Games for Kids
Every game has its own unique strengths and benefits but the main distinction is if the game is co-op or competitive.
If you choose a game in which players are grouped into teams, the child will understand the importance of cooperating with others as well as being able to create a compromise. If they want to achieve a goal (in this case to win), children will realize through play that working with other team members is often the only way to go. This kind of play will also strengthen trust and develop a more interlined relationship between players, in this case, all family members. Trust is a great part of such games.
If you choose a board game in which each player acts independently, the child will learn that his or her moves in the game don’t need to be justified every time by any of the players involved – why did he/she choose this particular move? They will also understand that the others are not there to constantly give advice, and some situations will have to be solved by the child itself. This, of course, can be a valuable lesson of independence – dealing with the problems that a child will face someday.
Criteria We Used
The greatest fun board games for kids also need to teach them important life lessons. The games we choose develop critical thinking in children, teach them independence, how to work with other players, but also that life does not always go as planned, and that we need to be able to adapt and use the given situations to the best of our ability. By the age of five, children are somewhat accustomed to constantly winning games, and after this period they should get used to being in real-life situations where that is simply not possible.
Of course, such changes in the game should not be introduced abruptly, and parents should talk with the child after the defeat about how they feel. Once your child truly understands that defeat is an integral part of the game and that the goal of such games is not always just winning, they will begin to accept that things in life may not always go the way we want them to.
FAQ
How to get my children interested in board games?
Introducing something new to a child can be a lot of fun for both parties. Unravel the mystery of a new board game by telling its background story, possible ways to play and the reward by winning it. Show your kids how fun it can be to spend some quality time together as a family by playing games.
What is the best age for children to start playing board games?
Not all kids can start playing all board games at the same time. The average age to start playing the simpler games is when they are about three to four years old. Some children are simply too energetic to sit in one place for a longer period. For them, the perfect games are the ones that require imagination or role-play, the ones that have fewer rules.
Conclusion
As a child grows, so does his or her thinking and worldview. When a child encounters a problem during play, they will try their best to solve it. At first, the child’s teammates will help, and over time such situations will not be an obstacle for a kid. Experts say that these kinds of situations teach a child how to deal with potential problems in real life, while some even say that board games (provided they are played from an early age) also help to increase the child’s IQ. Firstly, they will learn to not give up and that every problem has various solutions.
Catherine is a writer from Canada who simply loves toys, collectibles and superhero figurines. Writing is her passion, but she also loves reading, enjoying her “me time” and finding new ways to improve her work and ways to entertain the readers.
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