boardgamesforkids

6 Best Board Games for Kids

It’s clear that the age group of young and very young children always require extra attention and that’s why they have their own category of practically everything.

Lots of board games have been published targeted at the young audience through the years and considering the fact that a good percentage of the targeted audience is unable to read, it might be difficult to locate and choose between board games the one that your kids are most likely to have a blast playing.

In this article I intend to help you do exactly that and take care of all your children’s board game needs. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, coach, tutor or the fun uncle/aunt, by the end of this article you will have learned a few helpful new tricks to keep the little fellows entertained and help them strengthen their critical thinking and cognitive skills.

Why Kids Should Play Board Games

Children need entertainment more than most of us do and it’s usually up to the adults to decide on the activities they want their child to engage in during their leisure time. Board games are one of if not the best form of entertainment for kids as it is just as beneficial as it is fun and challenging.

Children playing board games as a habit will practice many behavioral skills and exercise their brain functions simultaneously. Many of these will in later stages of the children’s lives prove extremely useful to have mastered.

Board games can teach kids how to cooperate with each other and how to socially interact with your teammates and opponents alike. Playing board games is definitely one of the most constructive forms of entertainment for kids and it’s also one of the best ways of utilizing entertainment for teaching your children valuable life lessons!

Board games that are designed for the first age group are often easy to grasp and they mostly feature simplistic and easy-to-play mechanics. Kids won’t have any problems adjusting to the setting and the rules of the game and the setup is almost never complicated. This factor significantly helps the kids to feel more confident about their decision-making and as a result, they learn how to effectively communicate and express themselves in a society. Needless to say, since the other playmates are of the same age group, around the game board is the best place for kids to be themselves and take actions that represent their individual characteristics. Social development for your children may be just a couple dice away.

Furthermore, board games designed for kids usually enjoy a rich art style decorated with a wide range of colors and patterns that make it very hard for young children not to find interesting. Although every game has its own unique design and color pallets, kids’ board games have all been produced with the interest of the kids in mind as a number one priority and you can be sure it shows; even on the store shelves. Light hearted designs in the material and the components of the board game will encourage children to keep playing it even if it’s just for the sake of the aesthetic.

The Best Board Games for Kids

Here, I have gathered a list of what I believe to be among some of the best board games for children.

6. Zombie Kidz Evolution

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Made by Scorpion Masque and published in March 2019, this co-op adventure game is one of the best cooperative board games for kids and to be honest, even from an adult’s point of view, it’s pretty awesome.

Zombie Kidz puts players in the middle of it’s light hearted, colorful apocalypse and challenges them to fight their way through the zombies in order not to fall in eternal detention. The players are free to use all sorts of fun weapons such as Nerf guns and off-brand light sabers.

It’s a great adventure game that gets more and more intense as players cooperatively make progress and it’s been awarded the best board game for kids numerous times.

5. Disney Sketchy Tales

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Everyone knows how much young children take pleasure in drawing. The Disney Edition of Sketchy Tales, manufactured by Big Potato Games, not only challenges the players’ drawing skills, but their imagination as well. It’s perfect for kids who are into Disney characters, drawing funny sketches, or both.

The package includes a series of cards that are divided into two groups, Characters and Actions. I think you already know where I’m going with this. The player combines a character card and one of the actions into a drawing and it’s up to the other players to guess who the character is and what they are doing. It’s bound to lead to some laughter and fun times and it’s by no means restricted to any certain age group and can be enjoyed by all members of your family.

It’s easy to learn and even easier to play but being simple doesn’t make the game any less fun. The familiar names amongst the character cards will definitely catch your children’s eyes, making sure they stay playing and they stay entertained for as long as there’s time to kill.

4. Richard Scarry’s Busytown – Eye Found It!

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Join Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm as they search for hidden objects on a fun-filled race around Busytown!
Busytown, published by Wonder Forge, is a game that focuses on attention to details and observation skills. It enhances visual perception of the children while also keeping them entertained for quite a while.

It could be considered by some people an upgrade to the classic title Where’s Waldo. There are lots of areas to uncover in Busytown and they each feature challenges that will take you all around town to overcome.

If collaboration in mystery solving as you drive around on the huge and colorful map of Busytown sounds like your cup of tea, or your kids’ cup, this game is exactly what you’re looking for.

3. Hisss

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Gamewright introduces a simple fan favorite gameplay mechanic into tabletop entertainment and it works pretty well. It’s a card game where the main objective is making snakes and making them as long as you possibly can. Of course this task isn’t always as easy as it may sound and that’s what makes Hisss such a memorable experience.

Kids will love this game for the stunning graphic design, simple rules and the easy-to-learn, yet engaging gameplay.

Cute and colorful snakes slithering in between the cards is a sight that’s exciting for children to see and competing to see who can make the best looking one is going to keep them entertained every now and then.

2. King of Tokyo

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King of Tokyo might be the ultimate family Halloween game, but it can be enjoyed all throughout the year. It’s a place where all the infamous beasts and monsters gather to goof around.

This game is one where you ought to push your luck and use your dice to come out on top. It features dice, ability and power cards and not to mention, cool gigantic monstrosities (plus my favorite character, the space penguin!).

Publisher IELLO guarantees and we approve that young children will have a blast playing this board game and battling over the title of “King of all the monsters”. It’s one of the best options for young players who enjoy strategy games and it can pretty quickly light up your family gatherings (specifically monster-themed ones such as Halloween etc.).

1. Spot It!

Spot it!, a.k.a. Dobble appears on the top of this list for many reasons. It’s an untimely classic that can bring family and friends of all ages together to play.

It’s popularity, flexibility, simplicity and the sheer fun it provides children with are the main points that attributed to Asmodee’s Spot It! Being the top pick.

Of all the board games I have come across and have gotten my hands on, this one is easily the most mobile. It’s a package that fits in a backpack, in the car, even in your larger pockets and it contains hours of entertainment for your kids.

Easy to learn and play, easy to move and widely recognizable, this game was many people’s entrance to the world of tabletop gaming and definitely holds a special place in our hearts and it can and will have the same positive effect on our children too.

Final Thoughts

Children can take benefit from playing board games in a number of different ways and playing games that are specified for their age group certainly helps them get hooked onto the experience.

There are a huge number of board games for kids. According to your little ones’ interests or preferences, you have a wide variety of options to choose from. The important thing to keep in mind, is that each of them focuses on specific needs of the children and to see the positive effects of playing board games regularly on your kids’ behavior vividly, one or two titles may not suffice.

What board games are your kids’ favorite ones? Tell us about the board games you find most suitable for children in the comments!

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