Favorite board games for 5 year-olds?

[Jean in CA]

We are starting school again but still want to stay relaxed... my ds asked me to please play more games with him. I realized I have "grown up" with my older 2 children who are entering middle school and don't "play" with the youngers as much.

 

So, I would love to hear your favorite family board games for this age. Something that can be played within 1/2 hour would be great!

 

Jean

[NanceXToo]

My four year old likes:

 

Connect Four

 

The Grinch Sing Your Heart Out game (I want to get him a few Dr. Seuss games actually)

 

Uno Moo

 

Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, Hi-Ho Cherry-O

 

and will also enjoy playing things like Monopoly, Jr. even though we have to help him significantly as he can't read or add money or anything like that yet.

[ChrisB]

My 4 yr olds and 6 yr old LOVE the Kids of Carcassonne. It really keeps my interest too, fortunately. And it doesn't last forever. I highly recommend this game!

[sbgrace]

Orchard by Haba is a really great game for that age range (and beyond too). It was more fun for me than the other games as well.

Zingo

Cariboo

One of mine really loved Hiss and Sequence. His twin didn't have the attention span for those at five but I think he's unusual in that respect. All are quick.

[Karen in CO]

In additon to Chutes & Ladders, my 5yo loves Guess WHo, Connect 4, Uno, BLockus and Stratego. Her brother taught her to play Stratego and she is terrific at it.

[SailorMom]

Hi-Ho Cheerio

Candyland

young kids' versions of Monopoly

[Jen500]

Uno

No Stress Chess

Jamaica

Connect Four

Aggravation

Pit

[Jean in CA]

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone! It's been a while since I looked at board games for this age. It looks like there are quite a few good newer ones as well as old favorites.

[*Jen*]

My 5 year old is a beginning reader so that has opened up a few new games to us

 

His favorites

 

- Connect 4

- Monopoly Jr

- Scrabble Jr

- Boggle Jr

- Scrabble Slam

- Guess who

- Occasionally candy land or chutes and ladders

- Crazy 8's and Go fish

- Trouble

- Perfection

- Memory

- Uno

[Sasharowan]

Ds4 likes Candyland, chutes and ladders, Hiss, Leap Frog Bingo, and Boggle Jr.

[lynn]

don't wake daddy, clue jr.

[BikeBookBread]

The Ladybug Game

Quirkle (we play without keeping score...)

Blokus (started out playing this like a puzzle, taking turns...)

[jld]

Labyrinth. I don't think we're playing it exactly the correct way, but he loves it.

[Outdoorsy Type]

My boys favorite games are:

 

Hiss

Uno

Scrabble

Scrabble Slam

Old Maid

War

Apples To Apples Jr.

Sum Swamp

 

And sometimes to shake up Chutes and Ladders or Candyland, I'll break out trivia cards or flash cards to make it more educational.

[AK_Mom4]

We played a million games of Uno, Clue Jr. and Monopoly Jr. with DD9 at that age.

[Bostonian]

I've had two 5-year-old boys enjoy chess. You can try checkers first. Watching her older brothers, my 3.5 yo girl demands to play and makes legal moves about 2/3 of the time.

[Farrar]

In addition to those listed here, we also really liked Gobblet Junior (though I think they changed the name to Gobblet Gobblers). Also, the kids really enjoy Dancing Eggs.

[aggieamy]

Lots of the games are already mentioned but I'll repeat anyway with our favorites:

 

Blokus

Guess Who

Swamp Sum (this is educational!)

Frog Juice

Set

 

I will only play games that I can stand so no Candyland for me although the kids would like it.

[WiseOwlKnits]

Eye Spy Eagle Eye, Ruckus are two of DD's favorites.

[skueppers]

I'm going to repeat what others have said, since I think in this case, repetition is helpful to see what's popular among multiple children. My 5-year-old likes:

 

Set

Gobblet Jr.

Dwarves and Dice

Go Fish

Blokus

Sequence for Kids

TransAmerica (you do have to be able to read the city names, or at least match the ones on your cards to the cities on the board)

Uno

[dcurry]

Pet Hunt

Cooties

Checkers

Ant Farm

Don't Break the Ice

[ChristusG]

DD6 enjoys CandyLand, Zingo, Uno, Shrek Matching, Trouble, Go Fish, War, Hi Ho Cherry Oh, Checkers.....and our newest family favorite....Flapdoodle. It is pure fun. My 6 and 3 year old absolutely love it and are laughing the whole game. Check it out. There's absolutely no learing about it LOL, but it sure is fun.

 

And I despise Shoots and Ladders.

[ScoutTN]

Yahtzee Jr. is the fave here right now.

 

Sequence for Kids is a close runner-up.

[Jean in CA]

I looked up all your suggestions at Amazon.com, loaded my cart with my favorites and now the total is over $80....

 

Seems so frivolous to spend that much on board games!!! But, I suppose building great memories would be worth it... 5ds sure won't remember the OPG lessons, and history crafts, but hopefully will remember the good times playing games with ol' mom!

[LisainOhio]

My daughter is 5 1/2 and we've been playing:

 

Uno

Chutes and Ladders

Mousetrap (I do not like this one at all but she loves it)

Yahtzee Jr

Trouble

Various versions of Go Fish with the favorite being an I Spy version

Checkers

[aggieamy]

I looked up all your suggestions at Amazon.com, loaded my cart with my favorites and now the total is over $80....

 

Seems so frivolous to spend that much on board games!!! But, I suppose building great memories would be worth it... 5ds sure won't remember the OPG lessons, and history crafts, but hopefully will remember the good times playing games with ol' mom!

 

You can always put some aside for Christmas presents when they arrive. That way you'll already have a head start on that. :001_smile:

[vonfirmath]

If 5 year olds are playing UNO -- is UNO Moo really needed for the younger? or could we just get the large laminated Uno H2O cards and start playing that way?

[DaffodilDreams]

Ladybug Game (created by a little girl when she was maybe 6?)

 

Endango

 

Wild Craft

 

Hi Ho Cherrios

 

Cooties

[Dobela]

Sorry Sliders has been a long time favorite here. His friends beg to play it when they come over. Operation is another one. We never play it right with the cards though.

[duckens]

Dominoes. Splurge on a colored set.

 

With dominoes (and a five year old), you can match the numbers (a 4 to a 4, a 7 to a 7) or you can say that the dominoes need to add up to 10(or 13 if you have a bigger set). So 6 matches to 4, or 12 matches to 1.

 

Other domino games you can play with 5yo:

 

Chickenfoot

 

http://www.pagat.com/tile/wdom/chickenfoot.html

 

 

Mexican Train

 

http://www.pagat.com/tile/wdom/mextrain.html

[Mert]

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat..."

 

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions! My Cmas/Hanu list is starting to take shape. Great thread!

[Jane Elliot]

I've had two 5-year-old boys enjoy chess. You can try checkers first. Watching her older brothers, my 3.5 yo girl demands to play and makes legal moves about 2/3 of the time.

 

This is what I was going to say. :iagree:

Start by teaching them with just pawns. The first one to get a pawn to the other side of the board wins. Next add the rooks. Continue adding a piece at a time until they've learned them all.