Educational GAMES Gift Guide

Board games are a perfect gift for any child in your life! Playing games is a great way for them to learn many different things and not realize they are learning at all. They learn about good sportsmanship, taking turns, having patience, and much more!

My kids LOVE to play board games! Every Thanksgiving break we go to our family cabin and I always buy one new game for them to open and play all weekend. They also get one new game together at Christmas.

There are a TON of great educational games out there, but here is a list of some of our favorite games that we have or will be getting this year! I have listed the recommended ages for each game, but all of these games my 5 and 3 year old can play (sometimes with just a little help from mom. ☺️) Click the link or the photo to get to the product!

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UNO MOO!– I had to put this game as my #1. My kids LOVE this game and any cousins that come over to play also LOVE this game! It is a preschool version of the traditional UNO game! Players round up the animals by matching their colors or types. It is so fun and the pieces are perfect for little hands! Great for ages 3 and older! This is our favorite and does not disappoint! 👍🏼

Zingo Bingo– Another favorite at my house is Zingo Bingo! This game is great for young learners and is played just like bingo. The Zinger dispenses tiles as you slide it and you must quickly find a matching tile and race to be the first player with a full card and yell ‘Zingo!’ Recommended for ages 4 and up, but this is my 3 year olds favorite game! There are also other versions of Zingo Bingo: Zingo Bingo Numbers Zingo Bingo Sight Words
Koala Capers–This game is very simple and my kids think it is hilarious! The Koala family wants to travel the world, but first they’ve got to get dressed! You roll the dice to help them find a few matching outfits, but watch out for the underwear dice roll or you loose all your clothes! This game builds pattern recognition, observation and memory skills. Recommended ages 3+
Sequence Letters– I love the original Sequence game, so was so excited when I found this! We bought it over the summer and it has helped my 3 year old with his letters and my 5 year old with beginning sounds! 🙌🏼 Players match the letter on a card to the beginning sound of a picture on the board, and place a chip there. Get 5 chips in a row and you win! Recommended for ages 4+. There are also other versions of Sequence like these: Sequence for Kids Sequence Numbers
Frankies Food Truck Fiasco– This game is a lot of fun and one I love to gift to others. Kids take turns using the fun Frankie Squeezer to fill orders while they practice identifying geometric shapes, beginning math skills and fine motor skills. The first to deliver a five-course meal is the winner! Perfect for preschoolers, recommended ages 4+
Frieda Fruit Fiesta– This game is similar to the one above, but instead of gathering shapes they are gathering alphabet fruit letters to place in their Toucan nest. Fill your nest with four fruity letters first to win the game! Perfect to help teach the letters of the alphabet through play.
Sneaky Snacky Squirrel– Another similar and great game from Educational Insights, like the 2 above. Spin the spinner, squeeze the matching colored acorn with your Squirrel Squeezers, and place it into your log. Be the first to fill your log with acorns, and you win! Develops matching and sorting skills, strategic thinking, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills, There is also a card game version, perfect stocking stuffer!
Sum Swamp– This game is new to us and is another favorite! It has been helping my daughter with her math facts and skills tremendously! Journey through the swamp by adding and subtracting numbers on the dice. Kids develop and sharpen beginning math skills, because the only way to escape is to roll the dice and add and subtract your way around the board. It is recommended for 5 and older, but my 3 year old can play too with a little help from me. 😊
Peek-A-Doodle-Do– This game was gifted to us last Christmas and it is so cute! You hide the eggs under the chickens and then start collecting them one by one – You have to remember which chickens are still hiding eggs or else YOUR egg will crack! Then you can reverse the game! – You have to put the eggs back under the chickens without placing two eggs under one chicken! It is a great new spin on the game memory! Recommended ages 3+
Pop to the Shops– This is great for children to learn about handling money and giving change with this fun shopping board game. Move around the board from shop to shop, using pretend money to buy lots of different items. Every player takes on the role of both shopper and shopkeeper, encouraging role play and polite conversation as they say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ once they have bought or sold their items. Recommended ages 5+, but again younger ones can play with a little help. 👍🏼
Outfoxed– I have heard many great things about this game and it is on our Christmas list this year! This is a cooperative game where you work together to try and nab the guilty fox. You move around the board to gather clues, then use the special evidence scanner to rule out suspects. Kids will learn about working together as well as estimating probability and paying attention to details! Recommended ages 5+
Scoop Up– This is a great math game where you have to be the first to build your ice cream up to 10 scoops. Ice cream pieces are numbered 2-49 and you get to add a scoop to your cone if it’s a higher number than your current top scoop. This game is also great to use for counting practice. I use it for my 3 year old to build his ice cream in number order or for my 5 year old to practice skip counting!
Kanoodle Jr.– This is a game that is great for solo play! It includes 60 puzzle challenges and large puzzle pieces, perfect for little hands, that helps develop spatial-reasoning and critical-thinking. It’s also great for on the go or during read aloud time. Recommended ages 4+ The next level up is Kanoodle for ages 7+
Perfection– I loved this game growing up and am excited to introduce it to my kids! Be the quickest to fit all 25 shapes into their matching holes in the tray before the timer goes off and the whole thing pops up! You can even play without the timer for younger players 👌🏼 Helps practice skills including focus, hand-eye coordination, and shape recognition. Recommended age is 7+, but my 5 and 3 year old could definitely play this!
Hoot Owl Hoot– This is another great cooperative/ work together game where everyone is a winner! Players work together picking colored cards to help the owls move around the board and fly back to their nest before the sun comes up. Two levels of play allow the game to grow with your child and lets older kids play with younger ones too! Recommended ages 4+
Clumsy Thief Jr.– A super fun game of give and take where kids develop confidence and solid math skills. Players stack food cards by adding numbers to 10, but the Clumsy Thief can snatch your stack! Every player has fun as cards are constantly changing hands! Recommended ages 5+ There is also Clumsy Thief for adding up to 100 for ages 8+.
Fish Stix– This game is a fun fun way for kids to practice color recognitions and counting by matching colors and counting fish. Take turns matching fish sticks and counting fish, and the board grows as the game goes. You can play with or without strategy making it easier for different ages to play together. Suggested ages 6+
Pop for Sight Words Game– This is a great game for learning and reinforcing sight word recognition. Kids race and compete to read and collect the most popcorn pieces. But watch out for the 8 POP cards—pull one and you have to put all your pieces back! Comes with 92 sight words and 8 Pop cards. This game would be so fun to play with my daughter! Ages 5+
Alphabet Island– This game looks so fun! Player’s race to match upper- and lowercase letters. Watch out for the hungry shark, or you’ll lose a letter!Collect the most letters, and win! For an added challenge, flip the lowercase letter discs over to reveal picture words, and match beginning sounds to uppercase letters. Builds letter recognition skills and grows with your child as they learn beginning sounds. Recommended ages 4+
Make a Pie– This is a great game to introduce and practice fractions. Each pie piece adds to the whole pie. Handling the fractions and seeing how they are portions of the total makes the concept more understandable for beginning learners. Recommended for ages 5 and older.

Of course there are many more great games out there, but these have been our favorites so far, or some that are on our wish list! I hope I helped you find a game or 2 to enjoy together with your kids or use as gifts!