Board Games for Kids: Elementary and up
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Confession: I am a bit of a game fanatic. Before kids, my husband and I often played games together, from countless hands of Gin to Khet (chess with lasers! look it up). We still do kid-free game nights with friends, and kid friendly game nights with family.
Once I started introducing games to my kids, I realized what a wonderful way they are for kids to learn. Kids develop so many skills when playing games, from math skills to problem solving to planning strategies to emotional regulation (dealing with losing). My game loving child has a real skill for math and logic, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they’ve been playing a variety of games since they were a toddler. My other kid will play games solo, making up their own rules and ways to playing, which I’d argue is valuable in developing creativity. Our family game nights with the four of us are one of my favorite things to do, and usually result in lots of laughing and inside jokes.
I tried to sort the games into two basic age categories: preschool and elementary. Check out the Preschool board games here. Take my suggestions with a grain of salt; age recommendations are tricky for games because kids are so different. I personally think it’s a good idea to try games even if they seem too advanced. Kids will surprise you, and there are usually ways to make games easier (or harder).
Also, while I was putting together this list I found about a million more games I want to try! So by no means is this a definitive list.
Elementary Age (5-11)
Spot It and Spot It Jr.- easy to learn and fun. Good for all ages, even preschool for Spot It Jr.
Quiddler- 8+
Tangoes- as I mentioned in the preschool section, these are great for math development. You can also use any tangram type game. My kids do these in school!
Sum Swamp- good early math game, more like ages 5-7.
Cat Crimes/Dog Crimes: logic games that have fun illustrations and story lines. The cards range from easy to very hard (I had to break out pen and paper to work through the hardest one).
Little Red Riding Hood, Smart Farmer, and similar by Smart Games: a lot of these can be played solo, which is great. These are great thinking games that tend to involve logic, spatial skills, planning/problem solving, etc.
Pop for Sight Words, Pop for Word Families- these are good for kindergarten and first grade (5-7), with development skills for reading.
Yahtzee- have your kid add up the scores for extra math.
Spelligator- good for younger elementary, ages 5-7.
Bananagrams- great spelling game.
Farkle- fun dice game, math in adding scores.
Heap-O-Sheep- this is a funny game where you fling Velcro sheet at a “field” to get them to stick.
Money Bags- we got an old game called “In the Money” years ago from a local parent. It was fantastic in teaching my kids skills with counting money, identifying coins, making change, etc. However I don’t think it’s available anymore. This game seems similar.
Rush Hour- good for the 8+ crowd. Fun logic game that kids do independently. Cards range from easy to hard.
Rush Hour Jr.- an easier version for 5+.
Cube Duel- for the 8+ crowd.
Prime Climb- this deals with multiplication and division as well as addition/subtraction, so later elementary (8+).
Catan Jr.- great game. We also play regular Catan too, and probably started that around age 8-9.
Gravity Maze- 8+.
Math Dice Jr.- great math game that you can make harder or easier depending on the equations you make/operations you use.
Math Dice- a slightly harder version using more operations.
Labyrinth- This game is great for focus and spatial insight.
Proof- math game that’s probably better for 8+.
Smath- like Scrabble, but with numbers. Probably 8+.
Space Escape- a cooperative game.
Rock, Paper, Switch- this game is like a combo of rock paper scissors and chess. Definitely strategy involved.
Dragon Inferno- one of the Smart Games logic games.
Word on the Street Junior (7+) or Word on the Street (10+)- helps with spelling and vocabulary.
Wingspan- this is for the older crew. We just started playing this with ages 7&9 and really enjoyed it. The artwork on the game is beautiful.
PicWits- fun, quick family night or party game.
Telestrations- hilarious game that’s a mash up of Pictionary and Telephone.
Life Jr. or Life for older kids. Caution: leads to conversations about what constitutes “winning” in real life 😉
Dixit- another game with beautiful artwork. We love this for family game night. The game play is similar to Apples to Apples, but a cool illustrated alternative.
Hive- this is a neat strategy game that reminds me of chess.
Kanoodle- tetris type game that’s good for spatial intelligence. Works great for solo play.
Guess in 10- animals, cities, sports, etc. These are fun and you learn a lot while you play.
Rack-O- good for math skills (greater than/less than).
The Genius Square- another spatial awareness game, Can be two player or solo.
Sequence Dice- involves some math.
Say Cheese- fun multiplication game.
Here to Slay- a strategic card game. Box says 10+ but we played it earlier than that.
Dominion- this is a deck building game. The age recommendation is 12-13, but we introduced this to my kid at age 9 and they did great.
Chess. Or try No Stress Chess as a way to learn chess. I’m going to be honest, the card drawing aspect of it drives me sort of nuts (because it does limit your plays), so my kid and I prefer regular chess.
Outnumbered- math game, 8+.
24- math game, I played this in school and still love it. I just bought the fraction/decimal version and can’t wait to try it with my kid.
Monopoly World Tour- I don’t particularly like Monopoly, but this one is fun. Box says 8+ but I think younger kids could play, especially with help.
Boop- a way trickier version of tic tac toe with cute little cats. Lots of strategy involved.
Here are a bunch of new to me games (in elementary section) from Wirecutter that I’ll be checking out!