Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I feel like there was a thread about this long ago, but I could not find it.

What games do you like to play with your kids? Any Pre-K, non-reader friendly games?! I am so tired of Candyland. We play Memory and Catan Junior, but we need some more options.

We got Inez Haba's Orchard and Animal Upon Animal for Christmas. Orchard is a big hit and she likes playing with the pieces from the animal one but she's still a little young to really play it. They're simple and really nicely made.

I got my friend's 5-year old a gardening game made by a local company that looked really cool. It was kind of like Monopoly, except not horrible. I'd have to look up the name.

We play a lot of Uno. It's a game that I like anyway and it was easy for my 3 year old to learn. We have the Dora version that I got at a garage sale which worked out well before my daughter knew all the numbers for a regular game. We also do a lot of puzzles together because I like puzzles.

Just the other day, I watched this video by Geek&Sundry about gaming with children. It's a bit long but you might find it interesting. They had lots of recommendations.

Cribbage!! The card-licking round comes after the pegging round.

What, you were looking for useful suggestions rather than gratuitous photos of my bebbeh?

Lego Creationary doesn't use any words. They have other board games and I don't know about those, but they might as well - lego tends to try to make unified products for an international audience.

We love the Busytown board game, Eye Found It! It's cool because you work together as a team. No reading involved.

Yahtzee jr, scrabble jr, zingo, trouble. We play a zillion games, I'd have to look for Silas' shelf to see what other ones are actually not torture :)

Diplomacy.

I recommend The New Game of Emulation - Designed for the Amusement of Youth of Both Sexes and Calculated to Inspire Their Minds With an Abhorrence of Vice and a Love of Virtue.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6336 ... -the-amuse

I'm evil, so would suggest a vintage Hi Ho Cherry-O. It used to have little plastic stand up trees that could be knocked over (accidentally) if you were losing. Now it's a flat board.

Whatever you do, do not get chutes and ladders. Worst game ever! Way too many chutes at the top, and it's impossible to cheat to lose so you can just end the game already. (Am I the only one who does that?)

Sequence for kids is a big hit at our house.

I don't know if they count as board games, but Hungry Hungry Hippos or Operation might work..

This company seems to make a lot of kids games. I remember getting a catalog with a bunch of kids games in it inside another game we like called Forbidden Island (which is a good game for older kids).

http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/in ... page=index

These might be too hard for pre-k (and some aren't technically board games) but do not require reading:
Mexican train (Domino game)
Memory
Parcheesi or Sorry
Crazy 8's
Old Maid (I'm sure there must be a politically correct version by now!)
Rush hour

I really love this visual attribute game called Set. It can pretty hard, but I think little ones could play it if you taught them using only a couple of the attributes first.

http://www.setgame.com/set/

BTW I ran across this a while back, and I think it's interesting and relevant. I didn't have candyland as a kid and I was horrified when I found out that there's absolutely no skill/decisions involved in it. http://www.lscheffer.com/CandyLand.htm

another vote for uno and dominoes. also, hungry hippos. we once had a travel set of hungry hippos and brought it on a plane and i think we passed it around to half the plane, everyone wanted to play.

King of Tokyo!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-of-tokyo
(I knoooow it says for 8 and up. But it's so easy to play and it's fun and kids learn fast. Also, it's created by the same person who created Magic the Gathering, so it's kind of a baby stepping stone to knowing basic plays in that game.)

Cadoo is a fun kids game (like the kid version of Cranium)

There's a really fun Horton Hears a Who game, too (http://www.amazon.com/Horton-Hears-Who- ... m_sbs_t_10)
and The Cat in the Hat I Can Do That (http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Hat-Can-That- ... +that+game)

I'm not sure what the target ages are, but I've played the games with young kids and we all had fun!

King of Tokyo is my favorite game. However, it comes with a bunch of tiny green plastic energy cubes that kids might try to consume. Cause they're pretty. And little.
Also, some of the power up/bonus cards might be tricky for kids to grasp.

My kids loved Labyrinth Junior. Son3 was obsessed with Guess Who for a while. Another good one was a cooperative game called Harvest Time. Connect 4 was popular too.

Going back in the recesses of my brain here.

The youngest liked Cranium Cadoo and Cariboo and I liked them too.

Guess Who was always one of my favorite games as a kid! I bought the Haba stacking animal game from both sets of neices and the 4-5 year old set seem to like to play the game while the 3 y.o likes to play with the animals.

Mancala! Reno just learned how to play at a friends house and I bought our own box of it at Target for $5. It's great for kids who are learning or know how to count. As they get older it helps them think ahead and all that good learning stuff. Its so easy.

We also are playing UNO now, which is a game we both like. I can't wait until she is old enough for Monopoly. I loved that game and I don't know anyone else who will play it.

I hate Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. Reno is also a sore loser (like her mama was at that age) :) I would cheat and let her win just to end the game earlier.

Ugh, Chutes and Ladders is right up their with Candyland. Beyond tedious. Do not want.

This thread is full of wonderful suggestions! I am going have to start a game wish list.

That video had some great stuff. The game suggestions start sometime after 50 minutes, for those curious.




This sounds cool! They mentioned the game in the video posted above, too. My 4 1/2 year old can handle some strategy and no longer tries to eat choking hazards (his little bro will have to be managed, however), and I think he would love everything about this. I actually was just asking my husband at what age he thought we could introduce Magic the Gathering.

Also, Uno, Mancala, Dominoes! Of course!