I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Read my full disclosure policy here.
We love playing board games in our house!
You would not even believe how amazing board games are for you and your child’s growth, development, and health. Here are just a few of the many benefits of playing board games with your kids…
- Better memory and increased cognitive functioning
- Improves verbal communication
- Practices impulse control through waiting, sharing, and taking turns
- Strengthens attention spans and focus
- Helps kids (and maybe you – ha!) learn how to manage frustration and deal with the idea of losing
- Letter recognition and reading
- Eye-hand coordination and fine-motor skills
Board games are like the best parenting tool ever.
But most important, playing games with your kids gives them quality time with YOU – which is what they really want. I am the queen of being busy and distracted by all the things (I’m looking at you never-ending-pile-of-laundry). Board games are a great way for me to unplug and remember the best investments of my time and attention. Plus, they are so much fun!
We love all the classics like Candyland
Sequence for Kids
My friend, Jenna, introduced me to this game. It is so simple, yet requires just enough strategy to challenge young ones and make it exciting. Play a card from your hand, and place your chip on the corresponding character on the board – the first with four chips in a row wins!
CLICK TO BUY
Spot It!
This game is fast-paced! Players race to be the first to spot matches between a word and its corresponding picture, between two pictures, or between two words. Players develop language skills, visual perception, sight word recognition, reaction time, and focus.
CLICK TO BUY
HedBanz
My mom and dad showed up at our house one night with this game and it was a total hit. Everyone was laughing the whole time. Players put a card with a picture of something on it into their headband thing. They can’t know what the card is, but other players can see the card. Player has to ask the other players questions to try to guess what is on his/her card. The questions can get pretty silly as you try to figure out what card you have on your head!
CLICK TO BUY
The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game
This game is SO EASY and great for helping kids strengthen their hand muscles. It also reinforces color learning and helps develop matching skills, strategic thinking, turn-taking, and hand-eye coordination. Spin the spinner and pick up the matching acorn with your Squirrel Squeezer, then place the acorn in your log. The first to collect 5 acorns wins!
CLICK TO BUY
HABA Orchard Game
My brother and his wife lived in Germany for awhile and learned about this game. They bought it for us and it is still one of our family’s favorites! My favorite thing about this game is that it is cooperative. All players must work together to fill fruit baskets before the “raven” steals them. Either everyone wins or the stinker raven does! This game is a little pricier, but SO WORTH IT, in my opinion!
CLICK TO BUY
Buffalo Games Silly Street
My Aunt Greta just sent this game to us and I AM SO IN LOVE WITH IT! It is very simple, but is so creative and engaging! Pick a card at your turn and do whatever it tells you to do. Then move forward on the game board. The first one to get to the end of the board is the winner. The cards are so fun – like pretend to surf on a pillow, or make up a story about a boa constrictor who loves bananas. This will inspire lots of laughs!
CLICK TO BUY
I recently asked my Facebook followers what games they love and these are a few of their suggestions that we haven’t tried yet! I am especially excited to try the Yeti one. 😉
GAMES THAT WE HAVEN’T TRIED YET, BUT CAME HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Anyone want to come over to play games with us? I can make popcorn and hot chocolate! 😉
What’s your favorite board game?
Joyfully,
Julie 🙂
“Apples to Apples, Jr.” is a great game – fun for the whole family to play together.
And, in the ‘oldie but goldie’ category…”Hi, HO Cherry-O” is great for counting.
Headbanz is super fun. Another fun game for this list would be Guess Who. It’s an older game, but I like playing it with my little nephews. I believe they still make it as well even though my copy is from many years ago!
Where do you find the Spot It Basic English? I can’t find it anywhere.