Inside: These are the best board games for kids that are fun and also help your child practice executive function and self-regulation skills. These skills are going through major development in early and middle childhood. These are my favorite learning games for 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds, 7-year-olds, 8-year-olds, and 9-year-olds!
In graduate school, I did my dissertation on effortful control, which is a fancy way of describing the skills children use to control their impulses. In this study, we used several types of games to test 4 and 5-year-old’s self-control abilities.
The type of games we used was similar to Simon Says games, games that asked children to move slowly, to wait their turn, to follow a change in the rule, or to switch between two sets of rules. All of these kinds of games were designed to specifically measure how well children had developed executive thinking.Â
Executive function is the cognitive or “mind” part of self-regulation. The Center for the Developing Child defines executive functions and self-regulation skills as:
The mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air traffic control system at a busy airport safely manages the arrivals and departures of many aircraft on multiple runways, the brain needs this skill set to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses.
Games as An Executive Function Activity for Kids
It is no coincidence that playing board games are a great way to help our kids practice these skills and not just a way to test their skills.
The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University recommends that to help kids develop executive function skills you should play many kinds of games with your kids, including board games.
Games that challenge memory skills, attention skills, quick-response games, strategy games, logic and reasoning games, guessing games, and I spy games are all games that give kids the opportunity to practice executive function skills. I’ve included a link to their activity guide at the bottom of this post.
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Games are listed from least challenging to most challenging below.
Some of the learning games on this list will be too hard for a 5-year-old, but they will grow into it soon. There are also many games that your child may start playing when they are 6 years old, but that is still really fun when they are 8 or 9 years old.
To practice these brain skills you want games that are truly challenging for your child, but not too challenging– something that they can master with practice.
You will also notice that your younger child may focus-in on one aspect of strategy, ignoring others. Whereas, older kids will begin to play the games in a more sophisticated way.
Go at your child’s pace with this — you may gently point out other strategy choices (or simply model them), but I mostly prefer to let them discover this on their own as they play over and over. You can literally see the “lightbulb” go on when they realize a new way to win the game.
Reading is not required for any of these games. Get ready to level up for your family game night!
The object of the game: Don’t Knock it Down! Players are supposed to use one hand to hang their piece on a spot that isn’t occupied. You can modify the one-hand rule if it is too challenging. The first to run out of pieces wins the game. This is a really fun and quick game that is actually quite challenging.
I recently brought this game to a class party and the first graders loved this game. This was probably the most popular game at the party. In fact, I brought it back again for the end-of-year party and it was a big hit the second time around as well. While this is labeled 4+ a group of 7-year-olds loved it too.
Skills Practiced: Planning, decision making, attention, fine motor skills, following instructions, impulse control, taking turns, and regulating disappointment, excitement, and frustration.
We got this as a gift and my 5-year-old loves this game. The board is 6-feet long and has different time periods from prehistoric to the future. The object of the game is to get home before your time machine runs out of fuel. It is a cooperative game — meaning that players work together to get the time machine home.
Cooperative games are nice because children can be mentally challenged without having to regulate the disappointment of losing. These kinds of games are great for siblings.
As you move along the board you also search for objects and place finder rings on the board. The search for objects is similar to the “I Spy” books and is great for practicing attention skills.
The goal of this game is to plot a course to the treasure before the Ogre gets there. Players work together to win the game and beat the Ogre. I absolutely love that in order to set up the game, children will be using basic graphing skills when plotting the tiles. This is for the younger kids, 7-year-olds may be bored with this game. But, it could be fun for older-younger sibling pairs.
This one is great for spatial attention and planning. It has also was several awards, including the PAL (Play Advances Learning) seal of approval.
Skills Practiced: Spatial planning, working memory, inhibitory control,cognitive flexibility, basic graphing, prioritization, coordination, taking turns, following instructions, and cooperation.
My son got this game for his 5th birthday from his cousin and we love it! The object is to discover which fox stole Mrs. Plumpert’s prized pot pie before the fox escapes.
Players work together (cooperative game) to beat the fox. Like the classic game of Clue, players use dice to uncover suspects and clues. I think this may be my favorite game to play on most days because it’s entertaining and pleasant — it’s cooperative so I don’t have to be prepared to help my son handle disappointment and I don’t have to think as hard as I do for some of the more challenging memory or strategy games, but it’s not boring either. Again, as a cooperative game, it is great for siblings and the younger kids within this age group.
Skills Practiced: Counting, probability, attention to details, deductive reasoning, prioritization, planning, working memory, critical thinking, cooperation, taking turns, and suppressing impulses (resisting the urge to peek too soon at the Thief card in the “clue decoder.”)
This is the junior version Catan. If you are a Catan fan, you will love introducing your child to this game series. If you are new to Catan but you like strategy games, this game is a great introduction to a world of games that you can play with your kids forever.
My brother-in-law introduced us to Catan and it is so cool to see how he and his brothers still gather around their parent’s table at holidays to play. These days that table has grown as the brothers bring home their own families and pass on the game and the tradition.
If your child is 7-years or older, you might consider skipping the junior version and going straight into Catan. My son is 8, and we still play this one, but the real one as well.
In this junior version of the game, the object is to collect resources in order to build pirate hideouts or “lairs” and ships. The first player to have 7 pirate lairs wins the game. Players must think about where to build lairs in order to get resources that they need, watch out for the ghost pirate, and evaluate trades with the bank, the market or other players to get the resources they need. This is a great game for developing critical thinking skills.
Skills Practiced: Planning, working memory, inhibitory control, taking turns, prioritizing, competition, cognitive flexibility, counting, and critical thinking.
In this game strategy for what you build and where you build it is key. You need to plan ahead, weigh options, and make decisions. This is truly a fun game for adults and kids.Â
This is our new favorite game! Another fun aspect of this game is that it changes every time you play it because you recreate the game board with each game. This keeps the game fresh and interesting.
Skills Practiced: Planning, working memory, inhibitory control, taking turns, prioritizing, competition, cognitive flexibility, counting, and critical thinking.
This is my 5-year-olds favorite on the list and perhaps mine too. It is a gorgeous and brilliant game that is challenging and captures the imagination of children. Winner of the Kinderspiel des Jahres in 2009 (and 14 other awards!), this is a game that really challenges self-regulation skills. Every time I ask my son if he wants to play a game — this is his first choice.
The object is to collect 5 magical symbols by moving your wooden character along a board. But watch out! Invisible walls block your path! As the instructions say “Labyrinth, turn around, walls disappear, ways will be found.” The wooden characters are magnets for a metal ball that you place under the board. Beneath the board is a grid-like structure that holds wooden “walls.” To get to the magical symbols you have to learn the path through the maze with some strategy and some trial and error.
The challenge is remembering the path. Honestly, your child may be better at this than you are. Maybe that is why it’s my son’s favorite — he knows he can beat me. Ha! My mommy-brain is no match for his 5-year-old memory. Keep in mind though, this game can be very challenging. If your child gets frustrated, put it away and try again when they are older.
This is another more recent favorite. Winner of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Best Toy Award and the Mensa 1996 Best New Mind Game Award, this is a fun and fast-paced card game that challenges memory, strategy, timing, and math skills.
This is another one that is fun for both adults and kids. If you are anything like me, your memory isn’t what it used to be, so while adults have more strategy and math skills than kids– they often have better memories, so it is fun for everyone!!
My son loves playing card games with his grandparents. This one and Five Crowns Junior are great first card games for kids.
This is a “fast response” game. The object is to match the order of colors on the card either vertically or horizontally with your stack of cups. The first one to finish rings the bell. A quick-paced, fun, and challenging family game.
Challenging is the keyword. This is just on the cusp of difficulty for my 5-year-old, mostly because of the racing aspect. If he races on his own, he does fine. But if I try to play with him he gets so distracted by what I am doing that he can’t focus on his stack. That takes ALOT of regulation. I imagine at age 6, he will love this game.
This game requires cognitive flexibility at a quick pace — you have to change how you stack based on the direction of the card. This is a hard skill for kids to master and truly fun for the whole family.
Skills Practiced: Attention, cognitive flexibility, quick decision making, inhibition, taking turns, competition, and working memory.
This is currently my 8-year-old’s favorite game to play and probably ours as well. Winner of the Spiel Des Jahres 2017 this is a fun family strategy game.
Building on the basics of dominos, players build kingdoms by matching landscapes. Points are multiplied based on the number of crowns on the landscapes. I highly suggest watching one of the many videos online that show how to play — it’s really an easy game to play, but hard to explain.
Planning, spatial awareness, decision making — the multiple layers of strategy are great for practicing executive function skills and gameplay, yet it is light enough game that the whole family can enjoy.
Skills Practiced: Planning, working memory, inhibitory control, spatial awareness, taking turns, prioritizing, competition, cognitive flexibility, counting, and critical thinking.
We received this game to review and it has quickly jumped to the top of the pile in terms of which game we chose to play on family game nights. It is truly fun for the whole family and younger players could team up with parents to play older siblings.
My son loves the 3-D aspect of the game, which is like classic checkers, but in modular form. Thinking in 3-D is definitely challenging, especially when it comes to jumping in a straight line to different levels in order to capture your opponent’s pieces. There are also special pieces that allow you to beam around the board, leaving the linear game of checkers far behind.
Honestly, I haven’t figured out all of the possible strategies yet — thinking in 3D challenges my brain — so this game is a seriously good brain-stretching exercise for parents as well.
During the game, each player has the chance to build onto the board which can completely change the board and your strategy (mind blown!)
Spatial planning, divergent thinking, and strategic decision-making are just some of the executive function skills this game will help your kids (and yourself) practice.
I am always on the lookout for great children’s games. Comment below and let me know what your favorites are and I will check them out!
Hi! As a mom and a child psychologist who spent over 15 years studying children’s emotional development, I am excited to share science-backed tips and tools with you so that you can thrive as a parent.
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Great list of games. I for one have had a hard time on figuring out which games are best for developing function.
Parents I highly recommend these mental games that will help your children in developing their mind and self-control.