As someone who is in love with board and card games of all kinds and has fond memories of playing them as a kid, I couldn’t wait to play games with my kids.
We first bought Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders when Grace was 2. What a disaster. She couldn’t sit still for more than 10 seconds and had no interest in doing anything but throwing the cards around. Now, at age 5, she has the patience for most games but tends to make up her own rules or even cheat sometimes. And some parts of some games she still can’t comprehend. But more and more, we are enjoying playing with her.
Just a few of our kids' games. (We save space by ditching the original boxes.)
I put together this guide in hopes of saving some of you the frustrations I have faced over the past few years. I’ve reviewed all the games we own. They are listed by the age *I* recommend them for. You’ll be surprised to see where Candy Land falls! The stars I have given it are out of 5 and basically indicate whether I would buy it again for the age at which I have it listed. The link is to the best price I found online though most of these can be bought at many online and physical retailers.
(When I originally wrote this post, before Blogger ate it, I included what the manufacturer said about the game and what age it recommended the game for but it was all kind of cheesy and boring. If you want to know, it’s available in a 2-second search on Google. Sometimes Usually less is more. Also, let me know if any of these links are bad. I wasn’t as diligent the second time through.)
Playing Cranium Hullabaloo
Cranium Hullabaloo
Age: 2-6
I say: This game is fabulous. It’s nice to have a game that requires little to no adult help, even for toddlers. And it’s super fun to watch them “spin to a circle” or “hop to an animal.” A winner is declared often enough to hold their interest for a long time.
Grace says: I like that you get to do a dance when you win.
5 stars
Memory
Age: 3+
I say: This game is a classic and can be challenging even for an adult if you use enough cards. It comes in many versions, including the original listed in the link. We have a Backyardigans version, and the four different colored backgrounds makes it easy to pull out some cards for a shorter/easier game. I’m not sure if this is true of all versions. Or if they seem to have short attention spans at the moment, we put out even fewer cards. With Connor, we put a bunch of the cards out face-up and just have him look for matches. Another fun memory game that requires a little less set-up but isn’t customizable is Husker Du.
Grace says: I like that you get to go again when you get two matches and you don’t get to go again when you don’t get matches.
5 stars
- Cuties and Cooties
Cootie
Age: 3-6
I say: This game stinks. It’s frustrating for kids to go through several turn where they don’t roll the number they need. And of all the games here, it’s the most boring for adults. If the kids like the little bugs (and they are kind of cute and have varied parts, unlike when I was a kid), just have them put them together and play with them. Another drawback, even as a toy vs. a game: Lots of little parts to lose or choke on.
Grace says: I like that there is a dice and it has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 6 is for legs and 5 is for … I forgot.
2 stars
Hi Ho Cherry-O
Age: 3-6
I say: This is a quick, easy game that’s especially great for early counters. Connor still makes a complete mess of all the tiny cherries in this game but Grace mastered it as an older 3-year-old. She didn’t even balk at the idea of sometimes having to put cherries back on the tree. Just watch out for all those small parts. (Tip: if you have an older version with the long stems that are easily knocked over, put them in the board upside down.)
Grace says: I like spinning the spinner and sometimes you have to put cherries back if you get a dog or bird.
4 stars
Animals Animals Color Bingo
Age: 4+
I say: This game combines bingo with a board game. And it features great animal illustrations by Eric Carle. There are suggestions in the rules for ways to make the game harder or to match what your kids are learning, such as colors or addition. Connor “plays” this game with us too without wreaking any havoc on it.
Grace says: I like filling up the boxes and then when they are full, you get to put on the caterpillars. (I wish I could spell caterpillar how she says it because it’s so dang cute.)
4 stars
Candy Land
Age: 4-6
I say: Classic beginner game, right? Maybe it depends on the kid. It wasn’t until recently that Grace played it correctly and didn’t whine about not being in the lead. Trying to play with Connor is impossible. He messes up cards, knocks the pieces off the board and really has no clue what the point is.
Grace says: I like that there’s Dora, Diego, Boots, Backpack and Map. And if you get a treat card, like candy or ice cream, you go to it. And if you’re before it, you have to go back to it.
3 stars
Chutes and Ladders
Age: 4-6
I say: Similar to Candy Land, this was an early purchase because I remember loving it as a kid. And similar to Candy Land, Grace had no patience for following the track or the rules until recently. Even now, she does not get the reward/consequence concept of the game and gets confused about which direction to go on the board. I think, however, with more patience on my part, both of these could be good learning opportunities for her.
Grace says: I like going up the ladders and down the slides.
3 stars
Connect Four
Age: 4+
I say: Grace LOVES tic tac toe and this is like the bigger, better version. It’s fun to see her learning to use strategy and prompting her to do so. And the adult playing with can easily alter their competence level to let the child win enough to keep them from getting discouraged. Heck, this game is even fun for two adults to play on occasion. And sometimes Grace and Connor just sit together and make patterns on the board.
Grace says: I like sliding the thing and making them all fall. And there’s red ones and black ones.
5 stars
Uno
Age: 4+
I say: We have/like the original deck of Uno cards, though Grace has played and liked the Attack version as well. This is one of the few games that Grace mastered much younger than the recommended age. She can play on her own with just a little help on what the special cards mean. I even saw my father-in-law playing with Connor last weekend, and with a little bending complete disregard of the rules, it worked great.
Grace says: I like matching numbers and colors.
5 stars
Yahtzee Junior
Age: 4-6
I say: We haven’t played this a lot because it’s a recent purchase but we enjoy it. I think this is one of the few cases where the character version is better than the non-character because it might be boring for kids if it were just numbers. Luckily, there are a bazillion character versions to meet your kids’ tastes. Here’s a more thorough review, including how it differs from the adult version. I haven’t tried it with Connor yet but I don’t see him getting the point.
Grace says she likes it but declined further comment.
4 stars
Tri-Ominoes for Kids
Age: 5+
I say: The adult version of this is one of Mark’s favorite games. The kids’ version is fun because it has animal shapes in addition to the numbers. So far, Grace is more interested in making shapes or making up her own game than in playing by the rules. This is true of regular dominoes as well. But she has SO much fun doing it that it doesn’t bother me. And for the most part, she tolerates Connor adding to her shapes as well.
Grace says: I like that you can make funny shapes. And there are cows and pigs and sheeps.
5 stars
Camp
Camp
Age: 5+
I say: This is by far my favorite “kid” game we own and I hope the manufacturer comes out with more products. There are four levels of trivia questions that keep all ages interested and challenged and an element of luck that helps level the playing field without annoying those of us who don’t care for luck games. There’s also a booster pack if you play enough to memorize all the cards 
Grace says: I like that sometimes I win and sometimes I don’t. (I found this an odd reason to like the game since this is true of pretty much every game we have but oh well.)
5 stars. I’d give it more if I could.
We also have a Disney Princess game box. I think it came from Target but I can’t find it online. An item like this is good for kids about 4 and up who don’t have a lot of other games. It includes:
- Checkers (Grace gets frustrated that she’s not good at this but still likes to play)
- Bingo (We have a lot of fun with this)
- A mechanized fishing game (These are kind of hard but both kids love them)
- Old Maid (Too hard for little hands to hold all those cards)
- Go Fish (A favorite here)
- Tic Tac Toe (OK, that’s dumb. Get a pencil and paper)
- Dominoes (See Tri-Ominoes blurb for what we do with these)
Princess dominoes
Have kids older than 5? This is a great post about playing games, how to get them on the cheap and suggestions of games for slightly older children. This post also lists games that look to be good for early elementary age children.
Here’s a funny but true video about playing games with kids – keeping a balance between teaching them how to play and still having fun. Thanks to Ben at Windmill Fighter for the link.
What do you think about the games I listed? Am I off my rocker for hating on some kid classics? Do you know of any games we should try? Seen any posts/lists/reviews worth sharing? Fill up that comment box. I hope to do a follow-up post after Christmas with leads from readers and reviews on any games we receive as gifts.
What a great post! I thought I was done shopping for my boys, but now I think I want to go out and by a game (or two) I think I’m going to go for Cranium Hullabalo for now… and then come back for more info when my little one is a bit older!!
YOU ROCK!!!
Jen,
Thanks for taking the time to write this post twice! I liked that you added in what Grace said about each game-very cute!
I appreciate your reviews, this will make deciding which games to get Abigiail for her birthday next year much easier! It also gives me some ideas for the nephews for christmas.
I rarely played candy land or chutes & ladders as a child because we didn’t own them so the reviews of those two are extra helpful!
What a great post! We love Hulabaloo too! I’m going to add Hi Ho Cherry-o to our Christmas list. I saw a good craft for homemade yatzee game I need to make as well!
Thanks ladies. I’m proud of this post (what an exciting life I lead, eh?) so please pass it along to anyone needing to buy gifts for little ones.
I enjoyed this post very much. I have bought a few games at the recommended age level on the box only to be disappointed that my daughter wasn’t quite ready for them. At four years old, she now enjoys Candyland and does pretty well with the rules. Chutes and Ladders she still needs help with the direction to go too. Go Fish is another favorite even though she can’t hold the cards in her hand yet. But I am glad to see some other game recommendations for her age, as we (well, I) need some variety.
Thanks for taking the time to rate these.
I’m so glad Grace isn’t the only one so far behind the recommended age. Part of me wondered if she was just being dense, even though I know she’s a smart girl!
I love this post and agree with you on the games that we have. I do love Hullabaloo and Isaac usually beats me at Memory. In the classic version that we have I don’t think the cards are color coded so I have to match them up and count out how many we want to play with.
I need camp!
You, Isaac and Rich would all LOVE Camp.
Awesome post! I need to go find that Camp game now, I’ve never heard of that one. Have you played Zingo with the kids? That is a big favorite around here.
I had never heard of Zingo. I like this part of it: “There’s a real-time component to the game — only the first person to call the name of the tile gets it.” Thanks for the tip. Here’s a review, if anyone is interested
We got Camp at a state park but I see they sell it at a lot of sporting goods stores.
(I’m so in love with the way I can reply to a specific comment on wordpress. YAY)
I ordered Camp on Amazon for Makayla for Christmas – I can’t wait!
PS If you’re looking to buy Hasbro games, check out this deal at CVS this week. You get two games for half the price of one. I’m not sure how good their selection is though.
Thanks for the great ideas/suggestions..
Loved your blog. Going to buy hullabaloo.
The camp game looks difficult. Tell us more about it
It’s not hard at all. You roll the dice to move. If you land on a white square, you get a question of the level you have chosen. If you get it right, you go again. There’s also a shortcut and a couple of squares that send you to the “clubhouse.” And that’s it. I bet it takes about 15 minutes to play if nobody is distracted.
One thing I liked about it is that the whole family could play the game at the same time. Grace was playing at one level, I can’t recall if Connor was playing at that level or one level lower, and Jen and I were at the highest level. It was pretty fun.
Connor hasn’t ever played for real. He just moves a piece around the board. Grace plays at the lowest level usually, though she has tried level 2 a couple of times.
Wow, great post – and love your new blog digs!!!
YOu have a lot more games than we do – but now I know of some more I want to buy!
I love the picture of Connor playing princess dominoes…we do the same thing about once a week (the dominoes game) Jack makes it about 2 minutes and then throws his dominoes…we then have to wait to finish playing with B until he’s in bed!
Ok–good luck with the baby…we’ll keep praying for you!
I just wrote down four of these on our shopping list. THANK YOU so much for writing this review – it’s seriously awesome, and I love that you had parent comments and kid comments.
By the way, I’m also planning to link to this post in the very near future!
Jen, what a fabulous post! I’m in a constant struggle to find games that are age appropriate for Henry. I really appreciate you taking the time to walk through each one…
now, which one am I suppose to buy?!
All of them? LOL. If he’s into animals and outdoorsy stuff at all, I really do recommend Camp the most. If he’s into logic, I’d go with Connect 4. I buy a lot of games at Goodwill for just a couple of bucks so then you’re not out much if you/he doesn’t like it.
You should freelance this post to the PiPress. Or a magazine. Seriously. It’s great!!! Based on how many glowing comments you got here, it’d be a big hit. Make some moola off of your genius!
thanks for the info on the board games this was very helpful