The Best Games to Play with Children
In a world increasingly dominated by screens and schedules, the simple act of playing games with kids can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. However, the benefits of engaging in playing games together or encouraging your children to do so with friends will foster healthy development, enhance family bonds, and promote essential life skills.
Learning Through Play: Games provide an interactive platform for children to learn essential skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. Whether it's a board game that requires strategic planning or a physical game that encourages coordination and teamwork, each play session offers valuable learning opportunities.
Building Social Skills: Games offer a structured yet enjoyable way for kids to develop crucial social skills, including communication, cooperation, and sportsmanship. Through gameplay, children learn to take turns, share resources, and negotiate rules, all of which are vital for navigating social interactions both within the family unit and in broader social settings.
Strengthening Family Bonds: Family game nights create cherished memories and strengthen the bonds between family members. Playing games together fosters a sense of belonging and creates opportunities for meaningful connection and laughter. These shared experiences help to build a strong foundation of love and support within the family.
Promoting Emotional Well-being: Games provide a safe space for children to express themselves, explore their emotions, and learn how to regulate their feelings. Whether they experience the thrill of victory or the disappointment of defeat, children develop resilience and emotional intelligence through the ups and downs of gameplay.
Fostering Creativity and Imagination: Games stimulate creativity and imagination, allowing children to think outside the box and explore new possibilities. Whether they're inventing their own rules for a game or immersing themselves in imaginative play, children unleash their creativity in ways that are both entertaining and enriching.
Teaching Life Skills: Beyond academic learning, games teach children important life skills such as patience, perseverance, and resilience. They learn that success often requires practice and determination, and that setbacks are opportunities for growth and learning.
Hedbanz: Pick a headband, place a card in it and play to figure out what’s shown on your card. Using yes/no questions, be the first to guess 3 cards correctly and you win! Ages 4+
Outfoxed: Cooperative whodunit game for preschoolers: Introduce kids ages 4 and up to this classic, cooperative gameplay. Can you help find out which Fox stole Mrs. Plumpert’s prized pot pie? You’ll have to work fast to gather clues and rule out suspects together before the guilt fox high-tails it towards the exit!
Go Fish: Go Fish is a great way for young kids to learn how to play cards – how to hold them, how to deal, how to read the numbers, and take turns.
Guess Who: Ask the right questions to eliminate the wrong faces. Is the person wearing a hat? Do they have a beard? Once you've got it narrowed down take a guess and see if you can solve the mystery!
The Secret Door: Working cooperatively, the players explore the many rooms of the old mansion to find clues, discuss possibilities, and share strategies. Giving their memory a good workout, they'll find out just what's behind the mysterious door. Each game provides a new challenge.
Uno: In a race to deplete your hand, match one of your cards with the current card shown on top of the deck by either color or number. Introduce strategy with special action cards like Skips, Reverses, Draw Twos and color-changing Wild cards.
Beehive Mancala: Easy to learn and play, Mancala is a fun and simple strategy game for adults and children. Move the bee markers from flower to flower to collect pollen and bring it back to the hive to make honey. Everyone wins when learning about bee-friendly flowers, and bees in our ecosystems.