Twenty of the best board games for kids whether you want something educational, fun for kids and adults, or just something to entertain the kids for a few hours! These are perfect if you want something other than classic board games for kids to add to your game closet!
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I’m a bit of a board game addict, okay maybe even a board game hoarder. I have shelves and shelves of board games for adults at home and ever since I had my son in 2013, I’ve been collecting the best board games for kids I could find.
My boys are both finally old enough that game night doesn’t always end in chaos! Lately I’ve been letting them choose the games we play and these are the ones they choose over and over again!
And I wrote this post specifically to include games that actual kids can play, thinking like five and older. This post also doesn’t include any card games because I have an entire post on the best family card games already!
What Makes a Good Kids Board Game?
When I decide if something makes a good game, I typically think about these things, not just if the kids have fun playing it:
- Does it make them think? It doesn’t need to have a lot of strategy but is it at least making them think for a second before playing? I also love games that teach or practice skills!
- Is it easy enough for them to understand? Games with a lot of rules are better for teens and adults, at least in our house.
- How long it is? Most kids aren’t going to sit and play games for that long, I typically look for shorter game play. You can always play again!
- Is it fun for kids and adults? While it doesn’t have to be something adults might play on their own, is it fun enough that we’ll want to play with the kids – that means we’ll play it more! And if the kids don’t enjoy it, they won’t want to play.
- Can you play it over and over again? My favorite board games for kids are ones that we can play all the time without my kids getting bored with playing it. If it’s fun the first time but no one wants to pull it out again, it doesn’t make this list.
Interactive Board Games for Kids
My boys tend to love games that are more interactive, hands-on, and active than just standard board games. These are those games – you stack, sink, spin, and do anything but sit still and wait for your turn in these games.
Uzzle
This is one of our favorite new family board games! The basic idea is that everyone gets the same set of blocks and then it’s a race to see who can match their blocks to whatever card they’re given!
It’s a lot of problem-solving, hands-on moving the blocks around, and just fun. It’s definitely one of my boys’ current favorites! And I love that there are different levels of cards to make it equal for all ages!
Stack Attack
This is one of those games that’s very tactile, which I’ve found is great for kids! It’s kind of like playing Tetris on top of an unstable foundation!
You have to stack pieces of top of each other without knocking down the entire stack. It’s super easy, a lot of fun, and quick moving. Great for fast game nights!
Sink N’ Sand
This Spinmaster game is actually super clever and fun for the entire family. It combines kinetic sand with a quick and easy game play.
Players take turns moving their players, removing posts from the game, and hoping that their players don’t fall through the sand!
If it shows unavailable, click the option for see all buying options and it’s there. Not sure why it’s not just showing up.
Tilt N Shout
You can absolutely play this game with just adults as well, but my kids love the tilting racing mechanism of it.
It’s a head to head competition where you have to yell out things in certain categories while a marble rolls toward you. Once you yell one out, you tip it back and the other person has to come up with something before the marble falls in front of them. It’s fast, fun, and unique.
Whirly Derby
If you’ve ever watched marbles spin around a marble run or a coin spin around one of those donate coin things like at the zoo, you’ll love this game. I know my kids do!
Everyone gets a bunch of marbles and each round you decide how many marbles to race. The races are so fun to watch together because no one knows which one is going to fall first. It’s a bit of luck but also includes some basic strategy, perfect for the entire family!
Chicken vs. Hotdog
This is such a silly game but such a fun one. Teams compete to flip either the chicken or hot dog and try to get it to stick the landing.
But it’s not just flipping, you’re flipping over your head, under your legs, double flipping and more!
It says ages eight and up but we easily played this game with my six year old, and he was just as good as anyone else!
Farmland Frenzy Card Game
If you want a simple one, this is just that. You roll the dice through the barn (my boys love that) and then it’s a race to see who can figure out which of the cards in their hand does not match one of the things on the dice.
I like this one because it forces kids to think in a different way than normal by trying to find a card that doesn’t match. Feels like it uses a different part of the brain!
Bigfoot vs Yeti
We just recently played this game and its farm counterpart Cowpie Catapults, and my kids had a blast!
It’s super simple – you setup yetis and then you take turns (or go all at once but taking turns makes it last longer) trying to catapult splats toward them to knock them down.
It was surprisingly fun, even my husband and I really got into the game!
Connect 4 Shots
I bought this game on clearance at Target for Christmas last year just thinking it was fun that it came with a little drone. I had no idea how fun it would end up being – not only for kids but for adults!
Each person gets these three little aliens and you have to race to get your aliens to land in the drone. When they land in the drone, it turns on and flies up above. It can get a little competitive, but in a really fun way!
Dragon’s Breath
This is one of my our recent purchases that I bought for our dragon themed Christmas Eve Box!
The basic idea is you have to remove jewels from a stack of jewels, trying to only knock off jewels of your color. If you knock others off, they get points. It’s actually pretty strategic, hands-on, and fun! Haba makes some of our favorite games, they’re always a hit for kids!
Best Kids Board Games with Boards
If you want something that has more of a traditional board, these children’s board games are some of our personal favorites!
Outfoxed
In this game that’s a little like Clue and a little like Suspicion (in my favorite board games for groups), you have to narrow down the suspects to figure out which fox did it. But watch out because if the fox catches you, you lose!
It’s surprisingly fun even for adults because there’s an element of chance as you have to guess which action you’re going to roll!
Eye Found It
There are a number of different versions of this i-Spy style board game including a Disney one, a BusyTown one, and more!
If you have a kid who loves seek and find books or i-Spy, they’ll love this game! It’s a huge board full of fun things to find – pick a card, grab your magnifying glass, and see how many things you can find before the timer runs out!
Life Jr.
You’ve probably played the classic game of Life before but let me be the first to tell you that Life Jr. is nothing like the classic game of Life. Unlike Monopoly or Clue Jr that just simplify the rules of a similar game, Life Jr. is completely different. And it’s super fun!
You go around the board collecting stars as you visit places like amusement parks, playgrounds, and the beach. But you also have to pick cards that tell you to act things out, do silly things, and other activities to earn money to visit those places!
Ice Cool
I’d never heard of this one before picking it up at a garage sale, but it’s quickly become one of our favorites! Each player gets a little penguin that is weighted down. You setup the board then have to flick, slide, and otherwise move your penguins through the rooms without being caught (hit) by the other penguins.
This is one of the simplest and most clever games we have, and we play it often!
Ticket to Ride First Journey
There are some junior versions of games, like Monopoly, that really aren’t much better for kids. Ticket to Ride for kids made changes to the game honestly not only make it playable and fun for kids but better for adults too!
Some of the rules are simplified making it a game great for kids six and up, especially if they always want to play the regular game with you!
Risk Jr.
This one is such a fun variation inspired by the classic Risk game! Instead of battling with soldiers, it’s a pirate on pirate battle and it’s a much much much shorter variation!
You pretty much go after other pirate’s islands while collecting gold coins and treasure, but still with the feel of classic Risk. My youngest loves this one!
Sequence for Kids
If your family likes the regular Sequence game, the kids variation is a great option too! It’s pretty much the same game but with less spaces and animals instead of cards!
It’s a great beginner friendly game that kids can play on their own with friends or you can play as a family!
Hoot Owl Hoot
This is one of the first cooperative games we ever played and was a favorite when my boys were a little younger.
Everyone has to work together to get the owls from the start to finish line before the day is over. It’s a super simple cooperative matching game that’s a really good beginner game for kids!
The game Count Your Chickens is another good beginner cooperative game!
Gnomes at Night
This cooperate game is totally different than your typical board game. You have to work together to get your gnomes through a maze together but you have to do it without being able to see where the other person is in the maze.
It’s a great one for encouraging communication between players and a really fun vertical game board, compared to the normal flat one! Plus, gnomes!
Dinosaur Escape
This is one of the very first cooperative board games for kids we tried, and it’s super fun even if your kids don’t love dinosaurs like my boys. You have to use a little memory and logic to try and get everyone to safety before the volcano blows.
It is probably best for younger kids as it can be a little easier once the kids get older, but that doesn’t mean my oldest son didn’t enjoy playing.
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