By the age of two, most children are ready to play simple board games. Here are some of the ones I recommend for toddlers and preschoolers.
Yesterday, after a long day running around the house (my oldest son said it was exhausting work), and a quick dinner, I decided to settle things down for my own kids and one of their friends who spent the day with us. I suggested that we bring out a board game. “What’s a board game?” the little girl asked. In all of her six years of age, she had never played, let alone heard, of a board game. I admit I was pretty surprised, but maybe I shouldn’t have been. There aren’t a lot of board games being played these days.
Because the players were 2, 4, 6 and 7 (along with my husband and myself), I decided to pull out chutes and ladders. This is a classic game that is simple to learn, reinforces counting and cause and effect and is generally a lot of fun, especially when one of the very competitive adults (no names please) is ahead and then lands on a square that sends her all of the way down to the bottom of the board. Older kids or parents can help younger ones with the counting, and the spinner is easy enough for toddlers to spin.
Another game that can be played easily is one called Picnic. In it, there are four boards into which various large picnic items fit, like a puzzle. Also include is a large die with pictures of the picnic items, such as a bottle of juice, an apple, a loaf of bread, a cupcake and a pear. Players take turns rolling the die and trying to get all of their picnic items into their board. My two-year-old can do everything by himself, and this game is teaching him sequencing and taking turns.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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