10 best board games for kids

The content of the article

• How to choose a board game for a child
• Educational functions
• Rating of the best board games for children
• 10. Magellan, Chicken Run
• 9. Tenth Kingdom, First-Grade Quiz
• 8. BONDIBON, Cheese loopholes
• 7. Ravensburger, Cucaracha
• 6. Cosmodrome Games, Imaginarium
• 5. Biplant Scrabble, Magnet Strength
• 4. Hasbro, Jenga A2120
• 3. Ravensburger, Crazy Maze
• 2. Mattel, Uno W2087
• 1. Hasbro, Monopoly Classic
• Product comparison table

It’s not easy for modern children to find entertainment with benefit. This is helped by desktop educational games, which are no less interesting than tablets and phones. They train fine motor skills, memory, attention, coordination, teach languages. There are hundreds of options in stores for both solo leisure and a fun family evening..

How to choose a board game for a child

• Batch duration. Children 3-5 years old do not need long classes – the process should not be delayed for more than 15-20 minutes. At the age of 6-9, children like games with a cube and chips, which carry away for 30-40 minutes. Children over 10 years old can take 1 batch for more than an hour if they are diligent.
• Design. The younger the child, the brighter the game should be. At the age of 3-5 years, familiar cartoon characters will attract attention, for boys and girls it is better to choose different characters.
• Material. The safest is wood, but plastic is more often found on sale. It must be strong and well-crafted so that children do not get hurt. If there are cardboard elements in the set, it is important that they are tight, not torn from frequent use.
• Genre. Challenging strategies are great board games for a company over 10-12 years old. The younger the participants, the easier the tasks should be. At the age of 4-8 years, outdoor games are more interesting, later – “walkers”, puzzles, quizzes.

Educational functions

• Training. You can recognize colors and shapes, master the score, writing, a foreign language with the help of board quiz games. This is a great choice for children 5-7 years old who are preparing for school.
• Development of creative inclinations, imagination. This helps games in the association.
• Improving fine motor skills, agility, coordination. Outdoor games cope with this task, especially those focused on a large company. The wider the circle of participants, the more interesting and difficult the tasks for each.
• Training memory, attention. To do this, release games where you need to guess similar figures, words.
• The development of thinking, logic. Strategies are pursuing this task: military, economic. They are interesting for children after 10-12 years, require perseverance.

Rating of the best board games for children

At the age of 3-5 years, sets that develop attention, fine motor skills are relevant: different “designers”, “puzzles”. Older children (6-9) will use games for practicing counting, speaking, exploring the world around them – quizzes and walkthroughs, where you can make a move after correctly answering the question.

From 10 years old, it makes sense to look closely at strategies that develop thinking, logic, and learn to quickly navigate the situation.

10. Magellan, Chicken Run

A simple and exciting option for kids from 3 years old, teens, adults will be boring. It is intended for 2-4 participants, but, according to reviews, is also suitable for large companies (up to 10 people). Parties are short, up to 10 minutes, so they do not tire the kids. You can repeat them indefinitely, children’s attention is often taken for several hours. “Chicken Run Escape” develops fine motor skills, coordination of movements.

Participants share a set of hens (36 pcs.), Choose 3 pcs. and throw a die. The colors of the faces indicate the figures to be placed in the chicken coop. Then they throw the die again and repeat the step. When the chicken coop suddenly bounces (it is difficult to predict this moment), the players catch the figures and throw them back, but not the caught ones. The winner is the one who threw all his hens. Detailed rules are described in the instructions..

Price:

980 rub.

Benefits:

• low cost;
• funny plot;
• simple rules;
• strong plastic.

disadvantages:

• the appearance of the figures (cheap);
• unreliable chicken coop mechanism.

9. Tenth Kingdom, First-Grade Quiz

Educational board game for a child older than 3 years. She will help students to test knowledge, because the questions relate to materials of 1-2 grades. The highlight was the field where every step is the right answer. Up to 12 people can participate in the quiz, although there are only 6 chips. 800 cards with questions from different fields are divided into 5 categories, painted in several shades. Children learn to know the time, get acquainted with nature, sports.

According to reviews, card trays are not very convenient – they are too small, bad to hold. The cardboard itself is good, dense, drawings and letters are clear, children themselves can read from it. To make the quiz interesting, it’s important to learn the rules. She captivates children 4-8 years old for several hours..

Price:

686 rub.

Benefits:

• informative, very exciting;
• Cheap
• several difficulty levels of questions;
• designed for different ages;
• bright drawings on the playing field.

disadvantages:

• many easy questions.

8. BONDIBON, Cheese loopholes

This is a great activity for a child of 5-7 years old. In the book on the spring there are pages with magnetic parts in the form of pieces of cheese. They need to be placed so that the muzzle of the mice peeps through the holes. It is convenient to take funny board games for children of this type with you on the road: small parts do not fly everywhere, the dimensions of the field are compact. Cheese loopholes have 48 puzzles of different difficulty levels, so they take a long time. The party lasts up to 30 minutes.

“Cheese loopholes” develop attention, thinking, concentration, learn to see forms. There are 4 difficulty levels: 2 in each of the books. Parents can verify the finished task for the correct answers at the end. Included are 6 mice, 8 slices of cheese. The game is recommended from the age of 3.5, but, according to reviews, at this age, “Cheese loopholes” are still poorly carried away. Due to its complexity, the layouts of the last level are interesting even for adults.

Price:

634 rub.

Benefits:

• for all ages;
• simple and interesting;
• inexpensive;
• compact
• strong materials.

disadvantages:

• not for company.

7. Ravensburger, Cucaracha

A dynamic family game that kids enjoy. The lower age limit is 5 years, but the kids of Cukarach are also interested. Parties are short, lasting up to 20 minutes, so the participants do not have time to get tired. The box contains a maze of small blocks in the form of forks, spoons and knives. In the middle “sits” a cockroach on a battery, which needs to be driven out into the side compartments, moving parts next to it. For each hit in the trap, the player is given 1 chip. Victory is celebrated when 5 pieces accumulate..

The game is easy, it perfectly develops reaction speed, motor skills, and thinking. The set contains a field, 18 chips, a cube and moving elements of the “table”. It is convenient for Kukarach to take with him on a trip, school, on a visit. You can play alone and in a company of up to 4 people. To do this, put on the field special doors that come with the kit. When the cockroach starts to run slower, you need to change the battery – it sits down.

Price:

2532 rub.

Benefits:

• box inside the box;
• simple rules;
• original idea;
• high quality materials.

disadvantages:

• fast battery consumption.

6. Cosmodrome Games, Imaginarium

An interesting board game for a large group of friends or a family evening, designed for participants over 8 years old. She develops imagination, thinking, teaches to build complex associations. In order to successfully reach the finish line and win, the participants select a card from their set to the given leading topic. In the Imaginarium, all images are associated with fantasy creatures and landscapes, and associations are carried out with more general concepts: “love”, “freedom”, “joy”.

After each move, the leader’s right is transmitted in a circle, so everyone participates. The set contains 98 cards, 49 tokens with numbers and 7 elephants: 1 for each player. Can participate from 3 to 7 people, in a large company more interesting. The party lasts 30-50 minutes. The manufacturer Imaginarium also has other board games for children: Childhood, Good, and even Soyuzmultfilm. If the existing cards are tired, in the store you can order additional sets from 600 rubles.

Price:

1718 rub.

Benefits:

• colorful pictures;
• the game is fun, entertaining;
• many additional cards from the manufacturer;
• simple rules.

disadvantages:

• not suitable for younger students.

5. Biplant Scrabble, Magnet Strength

The modern version of the usual word game, only here they are laid out on a magnetic board. “Scrabble” is offered to children from 7 years old, but many parents say that you can try in 5-6. The participants’ task is to collect words using magnet chips with letters that are randomly taken from the bag. There is only one board, but there are many options for filling it, “Scrabble” does not bother for a long time, actively expanding vocabulary.

Next to each letter is a number that indicates the number of points for its use. Similar marks are on the field: they increase the amount of winnings for the composed word, give additional points. For those who want to learn a foreign language, the manufacturer has a similar set in English with a dictionary in the kit. This purchase is justified for children 6-9 years old, because it uses basic vocabulary.

Price:

1055 rub.

Benefits:

• words of varying degrees of difficulty;
• the game is compact;
• strong magnets;
• simple principles for organizing a game.

disadvantages:

• difficult scoring.

4. Hasbro, Jenga A2120

A good inexpensive game for preschoolers, teens and adults, which develops agility, accuracy. It is designed for both 1 player and company. The main task is to build a tower from wooden blocks. There are only 54 elements, therefore, in order to increase the height of the structure, they have to be removed from the bottom and added to the top. It trains agility, reaction speed, coordination, fine motor skills.

Many manufacturers have board games for children of this type and differ only in the size of the blocks, their number and material of manufacture. Hasbro also has sophisticated options: 27 parts with a dynamic platform under the tower, 36 – with a detonator timer. The cheapest kits are with plastic parts. Jenga is designed for participants over 6 years old. Due to its small size, weight, you can take it with you to nature, to friends.

Price:

1237 rub.

Benefits:

• simple and interesting;
• compact
• natural materials;
• wood processing quality.

disadvantages:

• no.

3. Ravensburger, Crazy Maze

An exciting family board game in the genre of “adventure” offers participants to try on the roles of ghosts who are looking for treasures. The path through the castle is laid using special maps. The road changes because the walls move with each new move of the players. The winner is the one who will collect the most treasures and again will be at the starting point. The crazy maze is designed for players from 7 years old, but it is also of interest to younger children – 5-6.

The party lasts 20-30 minutes, each new repeat becomes even more exciting, because the moves are not repeated. The playing field is designed for 2-4 people, all elements are made of paper and plastic, large, non-hazardous for children. Tasks on cards of different difficulty levels develop reaction speed, thinking.

Price:

1986 rub.

Benefits:

• bright design;
• fascinating;
• suitable for all ages.

disadvantages:

• defective chip sets come across;
• cards made of tissue paper.

2. Mattel, Uno W2087

A popular and cheap game for children and parents is suitable for both a large company and a party for two. The minimum age of participants is 7 years. The rules are simple: each player receives 7 cards, which must be discarded. Anyone with only 1 left in their hands should shout “Uno!”, Otherwise he will take a penalty. All participants lay out cards one by one, focusing on the color or the picture of the latter in the deck.

A full batch is a few rounds in which a roundabout can change direction. It lasts up to an hour. The winner is the one who scores 500 points. Uno develops attention, reaction speed, coordination, memory. The set contains 19 cards of 4 different colors: green, red, yellow and blue. In addition, there are “penalties” that require taking new ones, skipping a move, rolling back a step (take the discarded card).

Price:

428 rub.

Benefits:

• fascinating;
• simple rules;
• suitable for travel;
• dense bright cards.

disadvantages:

• difficult scoring.

1. Hasbro, Monopoly Classic

The most famous and popular board game that develops strategic skills, attentiveness, logic, teaches economic literacy. “Monopoly” is suitable for children over 8 years old, but often the border rises to 12-14. It requires perseverance and thoughtfulness: the party can last up to 6 hours. The average time is 60-120 minutes. Each participant receives a starting capital, with which, throwing a dice, must go through all the squares and make the rest of the players go bankrupt.

Hasbro’s kit is designed for 2-6 people. It contains 104 cards with real estate and actions, 8 chips, 2 dice, “money” and instructions. The size of the playing field is 5.2 * 40.2 * 27 cm, you can take such a monopoly with you on the road. The main parts are made of cardboard, plastic, the materials are thin, so users have complaints about the fragility of “money.” Metal chips, in the form of animal figures, attract children’s attention.

Price:

1976 rub.

Benefits:

• captures for a long time;
• bright elements;
• Suitable for a large family or group of friends;
• different colors of notes (easy to recognize).

disadvantages:

• restless children will not do;
• long parties.

Product comparison table