There's a lot of learning that can happen from a game from the skill involved to play, teamwork if it's a team game, winning/losing, taking turns, and other educational concepts that you can add in when playing games. Also, they are a "toy" that can be brought out and put away and provides a different level of play beside just being a toy.
In our home, we love doing games for gifts! Below are a few of our favorites that we have found over the years as well as some classic games from my childhood.
Hi-Ho-Cherry-O (the original) - Hasbro has a "newer" version of this game, but it only comes with 1 bucket. Really? Granted, there are 4 different colors of cherries in this game which is nice, but to have everyone use the same bucket just doesn't make sense. Especially when someones bucket "tips" and you have to sort through them all. This classic version I love so much more because everyone gets their own bucket. This game focuses on taking turns, counting with one-to-one correspondence, number recognition and more.
Shark Bait (by Melissa and Doug) - This game is small and great for travel! You can have up to 4 players in this game. You roll the dice and then have to dig in the sharks mouth to find your item (flipper, shovel, wheel, and anchor) of your color. If you get the wrong one, you put it in the middle of the playing area (so if someone gets that item on their roll they don't have to dig for it...sneaky), if you get the right one, you keep it. First person to get all 4 of their items wins. Sometimes you loose a turn too which is a great lesson to teach children. All around a fun game and it's quick too if you are in a time crunch to play something.
Take the Cake by Gamewright - This has to be one of my favorite games we have found. You roll the dice, which tells you how many shakes you get. 4 cupcake cards are placed in the middle of the playing area. You shake the container and have to create a cupcake with the correct shapes. If they don't all match, you put them back. If you complete a cupcake you "take the cake" and keep it. The person with the most completed cupcakes at the end wins. This is a great game for 2 people, though we have played it with 4. I love that you can talk about colors and shapes as well as counting. Great for ages 3 and up I would say. The pieces are quite small, so be aware of that if you have littles around. We use the game box (which is also small) to shake the container in as well as roll the dice so it doesn't go everywhere.
Hiss by Gamewright - Another favorite I stumbled across when looking for games for our boys. Players take turns choosing cards and creating a snake by matching the colors of the body. Once you complete a snake either by adding the tail or the head, you get to keep all the cards that build that snake. Sometimes the snakes grow very long, and other times, they are shorter. There are also two rainbow pieces (a head and a tail) that you can place on any part you choose. My boys get so excited when they draw the rainbow snake piece. The box is small which makes it great for traveling and it's easy to learn and play.
Uno Attack - Everyone loves Uno, and there are so many fun versions you can get now (dinosaurs, Disney theme, etc.), but we love Uno Attack at our house. This is probably the go-to game we play when choosing a game because everyone can agree to it (Hallelujah!). You play just like Uno, but there are a few different cards (like all hit 2), and if you don't have a card to play, you have to hit the button. Sometimes cards spit out at you and sometimes you get lucky and no cards come out. The boys love seeing mom and dad get thrown a bunch of cards at them. Our 18 month old has recently discovered the game and loves to just sit and push the button and laugh at the cards flying out of it.
Enchanted Forest - I played this game with my brother when I was little. We got it last year for our now 8 year old (and 6 year old). You place a card at the "end" of the game, you take turns rolling the dice and making your way to different trees. When you get to a tree you get to peek under it. If the tree has the same pictures as the card at the end of the game, you make your way to that space. When you land at the "end" you must show where the tree that matches your card is, then you win. It's a fun memory/race game. My boys love it, and I enjoy playing it (which is a bonus).
Boom Blast Stix - This is kind of like Jenga (a classic, which we also have). You clip a piece together on your turn and place it on the lid of the container. You take turns placing the clips on the lid, trying not to make them "pop". If some clips fall off on your turn, you have to put them back on. The goal is to not let it "explode" on your turn. Note: The clips do fly all over the place when they pop. If you get jittery with Jenga, you will be even more so with this game. It's very suspenseful. Younger children (4 and under) may need help putting the clips together, but they aren't that difficult to do.
Ultra Dash - Are you looking for a game to keep your kiddos entertained and moving on long winter days when you are stuck inside? Get Ultra Dash! You place the 5 "stations" around a room (or we sometimes put them in different rooms of the house). You take turns racing with the base stick by going to the correct color that displays and locking it into the base, then move on to the next. The base stick keeps track of your time. This game is great to keep the kids moving (hello...4 active boys here), works on memory/color recognition and is just fun! We've played it in our unfinished basement for more room to run, but have also set it up upstairs in all the different rooms to make them run to them all as part of the challenge. You can even make it more challenging by not letting them see where you are putting the colors (but still tell them which rooms) and have them race that way.
Spot It - Spot It is another favorite in our home and a great game to take on trips because its small and packs easily. I think we have at least 5 versions of this game at our house which I'm totally ok with! They have the original Spot It or you can get Dory, Olaf, doc mcstuffins, cars, letting/shapes, fishing, camping, just type in what you love and spot it and you might find they have a spot it for you! In this game you flip over two cards and the first person to say the two items that match gets to keep both cards. My 4 year old is obsessed with this game and he's quite good at it. He's been playing since he was a young 3 year old and loves it. It's fun now to do it with the letters and numbers and shapes as he's learning more. They also have a Spot It Junior which I would recommend getting for a 3 year old as a way to begin learning this game. You can't have too many spot it games! My 4 year old loves playing this game with his great grandmas and it's his first choice of game to play when asked what game he'd like.
Rush Hour Junior by ThinkFun - This game is played by 1 person. Great for traveling because it comes with a mesh bag to store the pieces in. Great thinking/strategy game too. You set up the cars on the board according to the card and you have to free the ice cream truck by moving the other cars blocking it's way. They start with easy cards and move to medium and hard. This is a great quiet time game for children and allows them to do problem solving tasks. The junior version is a great way to start at age 5 I think. This year we are getting our oldest Rush Hour Shift (for 2 players) because he loves the first one so much.
Balance Beans by ThinkFun - Similar to Rush Hour Junior, but you have to balance the beans on a scale. 3 different levels with easy, medium, and hard. It's an individual game which is nice for quiet time and building problem solving skills. You can also work together to solve the cards if your child is just learning. Probably best for ages 5 and up.
I don't have a review for this game yet, but we are getting ThinkFun Hopper's Logic game for our 6 year old this year. Since I love the Rush Hour Junior and Balance Beans, I'm pretty sure this will be another favorite.
Stack Up by Peaceable Kingdom - I love Peaceable Kingdom games. Many of them are cooperative learning games, meaning you work as a team to complete the task or finish the game. This has been great for our boys to learn teamwork. Especially for when they are younger, there is no winner/loser, you work together to win the game. We started these games with our boys when they were around 3 and 4. Stack up is a teamwork game to stack all the blocks before the Hand guy gets to the tower. Sometimes you have to do a silly task while stacking the blocks. My boys get a kick out of this. Peaceable Kingdom games are great games for children just learning how to play games.
Hoot Owl Hoot by Peaceable Kingdom - another favorite cooperative learning game. Work together to get the owls to the next before the sun rises.
Phew! That was a lot. If you read all the way to the end of this post, thanks for hanging in there! I have may more games I could recommend too, but these are some that I'm not sure everyone has heard of and wanted to give some ideas if you were looking for them for Christmas. Perhaps I'll create another post soon of other classic games we love at our house. What are some of your favorite go-to games you love?
