Let me start by sharing a deep, dark secret. I hate board games. I’ve never enjoyed sitting around a card table and playing with tiny game pieces for hours. However, God has a sense of humor because my kids love board games. They are five, five and four years old, so finding a game they understand and enjoy is challenging.
Here are the games we’re playing together right now, and they ask to play over and over again. My twins can play some of these games without an adult (winning!).
Chess – OK, don’t stop reading. I’m not talking about full-blown chess. We started with Storytime Chess. It is a chess set that gives the pieces characters and their storybooks. My kids learned how to set up the board and how each piece moves. My girls are still happy to play this version of chess, but my son has moved onto actual games with coaching from his dad. He’s obsessed, and it is excellent father/son time almost every day.
Bug Bingo – I like this game, too. I’ve learned how to identify tons of bugs, and it’s fun watching my kids mark off each one that’s called. Also, Bug Bingo is a beautiful game. The photos and illustrations are vivid and bright.
Ticket to Ride Junior – Now, I consider Ticket to Ride a more traditional board game. Your kids don’t have to read to play this one, which is helpful when they’re ready to play independently. However, we did have to explain the instructions through three different rounds of play before the kids got it.
Wild Kratts Race Around the World – Again, this game feels more traditional. Your kids pick a TV show character and go around the board game collecting Creature Power Suits and Creature Power Discs. My kids love Wild Kratts, and this game was a big hit with them.
Scrabble – now, my kids don’t play traditional Scrabble at the Kindergarten level. Instead, they use this as more of a spelling practice game. Usually, they put CVC words on the board and count up their points. Then, we play 5-10 rounds and give everyone a chance to spell words. No, it doesn’t follow the rules, but we’ve had a lot of fun playing together.
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