The Best Board Games for Kids by Age – 2024
Family game night is a great way to bond and spend quality time with your family. Game night might mean playing video games, outdoor games, or board games. Sitting around the kitchen table laughing and talking about life helps reduce stress and helps children develop social and emotional skills.
Best Board Games for Kids By Age
Games for Ages 2-5
Sneaky Squirrel – This is a simple game where players take turns trying to collect each color of acorn. The first play to collect each color wins.
First Orchard – All of the Haba My Very First Games are great for younger children. This is a cooperative game where players work together to collect all the fruit before the raven steals it.
The Ladybug Game – This is a really cute game where players help lead the ladybugs to the rose garden while avoiding obstacles along the way. Children learn beginning reading skills and counting.
Paw Patrol Matching Game – Matching games are great for younger children.
Count Your Chickens – Peaceable Kingdom makes wonderful board games for kids that are “Cooperative” games which means players work together to reach a goal rather than compete against each other. These are especially great for younger kids. Count Your Chickens is a game where players work together to help mama hen find all the baby chicks.
Sequence for Kids – The classic game of sequence for kids. 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!
Games for Ages 5-7
Connect Four – A classic board game where 2 players take turns trying to get 4 in a row. Stay one step ahead of opponents and block their attempts to get to 4-in-a-row first!
Battleship – Battleship is the classic naval combat game that brings together competition, strategy, and excitement.
Orchard – Orchard is a cooperative game in which players work to collect the fruit from the trees before the raven can steal them.
Cauldron Quest – A magical game of potions and spells, Cauldron Quest is a cooperative game where players work together to find hidden ingredients to break the evil wizard’s spell.
Outfoxed – A cooperative whodunit game where players work together to found out who took Mrs. Plumpert’s prized pot pie.
SET Junior – SET Junior’s two-sided board is designed to grow with your child. Match cards or race to find the most sets.
Gnomes at Night – Gnomes at Night is a cooperative search-and-find maze game where players work as a team to maneuver the magnetic gnome movers around the maze.
Spot It! – Fun symbols and pictures cover every card in a Spot It! deck, making it the perfect game for family game night. Each card has exactly one matching symbol or picture in common with the other cards in the deck. Spot it first and you win!
Games for Ages 8 and up
Labyrinth – Players must find all of their objects and characters while moving carefully through the constantly changing maze, and be the first to make it back to the starting square to win.
Clue – Who committed the murder in the mansion? Eliminate the suspects and discover whodunit, with what and where
Scrabble – Classic Scrabble game has the letter tiles and game guide for a wordy showdown
Catan – Your adventurous settlers seek to tame the remote but rich isle of Catan. Start by revealing Catan’s many harbors and regions: pastures, fields, mountains, hills, forests, and deserts. The random mix creates a different board in virtually every game.
Ticket to Ride – Ticket to Ride is a game for 2-5 players where players see who can travel by rail to most cities in North America in just seven days.
Kids Against Maturity – Are you sick of the same old dated games every game night? This instant classic was made and played by parents like you. With age-appropriate toilet humor and funny innuendos for adults, it can be enjoyed by all ages. Best results when played with 4 players or more.
Exploding Kittens – If you draw an Exploding Kitten, you lose and you are full of loser sad sauce. All the other cards in the deck help you avoid or mitigate your risk of drawing an Exploding Kitten. If you don’t explode, YOU WIN
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza – This is the social card game that is going to change your game night forever. This addictive game is as unique as its name. It’s a power-packed, quick, and simple party game. Race against each other to SLAP a match between a card and spoken word.
