Playing board games with your preschooler has many advantages.
It teaches them:
- To take turns
- Resilience
- New vocabulary
- Social skills
- Strategy
- To follow instructions
- Problem solving
- Fine motor skills
- Maths & Literacy skills
1. Sequence
In this family game for up to 3 teams, players place a counter on an animal square on the board after playing that same animal card. The aim is to get four counters in a row. It is a game of turn-taking and strategy because players also need to try to stop their opponents getting four in a row.
This will require adult support at first but soon your little one will become confident enough to play for themselves.
2. Uno
This is a card game of strategy. Place cards of the same colour or same animal/number on the pile in order to get rid of all your cards first.
There are also Wild Cards and other cards such as Pick Up 2. We left these out of our first games until our preschooler had learnt the rules and then we added them one type of card at a time.
3. Ludo
This is a great traditional game of strategy and turn taking. It also requires practising fine motor skills and Maths skills as you move your counters round the board.
4. Snakes and Ladders
Another traditional game of turn taking. This one has a bit of luck mixed in too as it depends on the roll of the die (dice) where you will end up.
5. Snap
This is a great game for preschoolers as the premise is so simple. Match a card and say snap first and you win the pile. Lots of fun with turn taking.
6. Cupcake Game
We have this Orchard Game. The pictures are fab and colourful.
It’s a game of matching with a bit of a twist as you can match with cakes which are on the table or on players’ plates. The one with the most cakes at the end of the game is the winner.
7. Dobble
An observational game with lots of communication and new vocabulary learning. Two cards are visible to all players and the aim is to spot the picture which is on both cards. It may be small or it may be big, but it must be the same image.
8. Memory Game
Pick two cards to try to get a pair. Remember which cards have already been turned over to get more matching pairs. A simple game of turn taking and memory skills.
If you’ve loved these play ideas, take a look at my ideas for old-school games and activities for toddlers and preschoolers by clicking the link.
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