Minimal Prep Tip 3 - Give them the Gift of Board Games
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What was your favorite game as a kid? Mine was Mastermind and Speed. And, Uno, Connect Four, Operation, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, I could go on. Now, write down your favorite five. Now go buy them...or borrow them if you can. And now go play them with your children. My work here is done.
Almost.
The joy of playing games with your children isn’t just the nostalgia, the quality time, and the fun...it’s that it literally takes no preparation to have educationally-rich moments with your kids. It’s a big bang for your buck.
I constantly learn the educational value of game playing - with every game that we play at every age. There are so many to choose from, and so many lists of games appropriate for each level of development...I cannot possibly address it all here. I am not going to give you the research about how awesome games are for child development. You may Google that yourselves...but, I will tell you about the games we play and how I use them to teach my kids.
Below are just a few of our favorites to recommend for each age range. Hopefully these will inspire you to be purposeful when you play, and, when it comes time to teach any of these skills, maybe first consider using a board game instead of flash cards or worksheets.
Ages 3-5 Years Old
Dinosaur Escape (and most of the cooperative games! Great for strategy and teamwork!), Dominoes, Sorry, Spot it!
Chutes and Ladders
This game is great for practicing taking turns, directional words, number recognition, counting, and even prepares them for addition. Ask, point, and teach the following: Up or down? Left or right? Count up to 20, to 50, to 100! How many do you need to get to this ladder? Point to a number and ask, “What number is this?” If you aren’t ready to introduce them to competition yet, play this together as a single-player, still taking turns. That way you can win together!
Fairy Opoly
“Twinkle freeze, 5 acorns please!” I swear my daughter learned most of her early math with this simpler sweet version of the Monopoly game. She learned addition, subtraction, making change, saving money, buying, and problem-solving - all combined with twirling, spending acorns, balancing wings on her head, and more. Plus, once she started reading, this was motivating reading practice for her. By age six she could read all the fairy cards. What I love about this game is that all my children easily transitioned into regular old Monopoly (the original) without a glitch, since they already understood the basics of the game.
Uno!
Want an easy way to practice number and color recognition plus matching? Just play Uno! This is a great game to introduce card play too. Start by laying their cards out in front of them so you can help them choose the correct card. Then, after they get the hang of it, you can teach them how to hold the cards in their hand. Use the opportunity to introduce the reversing direction too with the “Reverse” card. What a great way to teach your child Spanish too! Don’t just stop at numero uno, why not keep going all the way up to 9? While you’re at it, teach them the Spanish words for colors too. If you have a single-child playing with you, it’s super fun, because when you use your “Draw 2”, “Skip”, or “Reverse” type cards, it’s your turn again! (Disney Uno is our recent favorite themed Uno! There are over a dozen of other themes to choose from, like Harry Potter Uno, Super Mario Bros. Uno, and Emoji Uno - each includes a unique card that changes up the game a bit. A great way to build a theme day!)
Ages 5-8 Years Old
Apples to Apples Jr., Banana Split, Catan Jr., Checkers, Guess Who, Monopoly, Robot Turtles
Labyrinth
It’s kind of like Chess...but easier. Strategizing your plays, manipulating game pieces, and blocking opponents will only add suspense to your hearts and problem-solving expertise to your children’s mental tool box. With an actual board that is constantly changing with every player’s move, be ready for a complex learning experience fit for all ages. My five-year-old can enjoy family time with us serendipitously gaining the lead sometimes, and my nine-year-old can even foil all my plans. It’s a fun-filled exciting family game.
Mermaid Island
Cooperative games are a helpful way to engage the non-competitive child. It’s all about working as a team together, discussing strategy together, and working together to land at the mermaid island before the Sea Witch gets there! This is a great one for kids this age to play with younger siblings. Also, you can use this as a launch pad for teaching about mythical creatures, islands around the world, and even introduce literary terms and story-making such as a protagonist and antagonist and good vs. evil..
Ages 8-12 Years Old
Chess, Clue, Exploding Kittens, Operation, Phase 10, Pokémon, Rummikub, Rummy, Scattergories, Suspend It, Trekking the National Parks, Yahtzee
Hearts
This gateway game can go anywhere - all you need is a deck of cards. My nine-year-old plays this game with his grandparents and me. He has beat me every time. This game is a simple way to teach about high cards, trump cards, counting cards, and risk-taking...if you dare to “Shoot the Moon!” Pair this with a read-aloud of Alice in Wonderland collection of stories, a study of the human heart, and a history book such as Who was Queen Elizabeth or a mythology book such as Usborne’s Illustrated Tales of King Arthur, you now have a wonderful themed week of math, literature, science, and history.
Oh, as a side note, and this works for any scoring game, have your children keep score. My oldest learned 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 digit addition and subtraction this way, since depending on the card game (hand and foot, ShangHai), some card games can get up in the 10,000’s! They can also go negative, and my seven-year-old son could do it all.
Ticket to Ride
A super fun strategy game for kids and adults alike. It takes about one hour to play and all my kids ages 5-9 love it. I win almost every single time since I have a knack for math, problem-solving, and critical path project management...but I am still in suspense the entire time. This game comes in many themes. We have the United States version which encourages proficiency in the geography of states and cities. With other versions such as Europe, Africa, Japan, and more, pick what blows your train horn. Then, you can pair it with a European history study, watch YouTubes about the Transiberian Railroad, and go to a world market and enjoy some international food.
Ages 12+
Hero Quest, Magic the Gathering, One Night Ultimate Vampire (all the One Night… games!), Settlers of Catan
Dungeons and Dragons
This game is well known, widely played, and comes with many different preconceptions. D&D is a role-playing game encouraging players to become someone else for a bit, promoting empathy, social skills, and resilience. Players enjoy spending time building their characters to participate in campaigns. Each character has skills and traits that will benefit the team when employed advantageously. The world building and unique storylines are engaging and exciting and keep players coming back to continue campaigns and start new ones.
Board games are just one way to teach your kids without them even knowing it! Use them for their math and strategy value, to teach your children how to win and lose with grace, how to work together as teams, and even use them as launch pads for a unit study. However you use them, some of your kids will love them and want to play over and over again - and join in with purpose, intent, and most of all, fun!
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