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happynurse
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Do you have any fun board games that you'd recommend for the 3-5 year old crowd? Bonus points if they have some educational component. My DS is nearly 4, and I am really tired of memory matching games. ;) We have Sequence for Kids, but he's not *quite* ready for that ye. Don't Spill The Beans is a hit around here, but I'm hoping for something slightly more involved than putting fake beans on jar. I'd love to hear some suggestions. Thanks!

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When my wife ask me to help with Home Schooling our 5 kids I laughed and responded "you are smarter than me in EVER category, how could I possibly help?"  I then thought about it.  I played chess as a child and loved it.  I told my wife I would contribute by teaching our kids chess.  Chess is a strategy game and teaches many skills and is fun!

 

One year later our oldest was state champion at chess.  Our family has won 23 state championships and 1 national championship since I started teaching our kids chess 11 years ago.  We have had a great time playing chess.  There is always something to learn, there are tournaments nearly every weekend somewhere, and the chess tournaments provided lots of life lessons.  Great stuff. 

 

Your move!

:patriot:

 

oh, I almost forgot.  I starting teaching our oldest, who is now 17, at 6 years old, but I started teaching our 2nd oldest at 4.  yes, 4 years can learn chess...and fast! 

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Haba games are well loved here.  They're usually cooperative, easy to learn, but challenging.  Animal Upon Animal is a favorite.

 

Aside from those, there's the usual standbys:

Chess - my son learned at 3 with terms like Sneaky Bishop whispering in the king's ear, Skittish Horse who can never make up his mind, the Castle Wall going straight to protect..He's 5 now, uses the real names, and is learning the grid.

Gobblet - another easy to learn.

Guess Who - ours is older and comes with a card for animals that are all different colors.

Sneaky Squirrel - works on fine motor skills, sorting and matching.

Cathedral - easy to learn, difficulty can be worked up.

 

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My three year old mostly enjoys the classics: Chess (not correctly yet), Chinese checkers, Parcheesi, backgammon, etc.

 

He use to like Hi Ho Cherry Oh, Sum Swamp, and chutes and ladders but is now getting bored with them. Probably just from frequent playing.

 

Labyrinth has been great for being interesting and stretching his thinking skills a little. I'm going to introduce Risk to him today.

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Games my kids at that age like but don't see on the list:

 

Blockus

Mancala

Rush Hour 

 

We especially enjoyed playing some of the cooperative games from Peaceable Kingdom. We have Hoot Owl Hoot and Lost Puppies. Everyone works on a common goal (to bring home the owls before sunrise, for example). They can be straightforward, or you can use more involved logic to solve them. 

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Uno.  

 

There is a Set Junior game.  I like Set because it is a mind game that children can trounce adults at because it is a mental agility game.  this is basically training for the real set game.  

 

Camelot Junior

http://www.amazon.com/SmartGames-SG-011-Camelot-Jr/dp/B004TGPQDW/ref=lp_6317464011_1_11?srs=6317464011&ie=UTF8&qid=1445959388&sr=8-11

It is a visualization, logic game where the prince and princess take turns rescuing each other.  This can be an independent game, but we do it where the parent sets it up, and the child does it.  parent gives occasional hints.  

 

Moose in the House - It has zero redeeming features, but it is extremely silly so lots of giggling happens.  Goal is to get moose in the other persons house.  Person with the least moose in their house wins.  

 

Blink is cool too.   Cards have symbols on them.   You can lay a card on top of a card if the color or the symbol or the number matches.  No turns you just try to dump all your cards before the other person.  

 

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Do you have any fun board games that you'd recommend for the 3-5 year old crowd? Bonus points if they have some educational component. My DS is nearly 4, and I am really tired of memory matching games. ;) We have Sequence for Kids, but he's not *quite* ready for that ye. Don't Spill The Beans is a hit around here, but I'm hoping for something slightly more involved than putting fake beans on jar. I'd love to hear some suggestions. Thanks!

 

Yahtzee Jr

Busytown: Eye Found It

Haba Orchard

Spot it (not the game so much. Find the matching picture between these two)

Chutes and Ladders

Zingo

Ravensburger Snail's Pace Race

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  • 4 weeks later...

Simply Fun games has a nice selection of games for that age, with sturdy game components are nice game mechanic. They are direct sales company, but you can order from the website. My kids three favorites from that company: Share a Berry, Walk the Dog, Digger's Garden Match

 

Others:

Feed the Kitty

Zingo

Uno

Connect 4

Labyrinth

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