The Best Family Board and Card Games

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In a world that often feels like it's spinning a bit too fast, taking the time to play games together isn't just about rolling dice or mastering button combos – it's about creating lasting memories, sharing laughs, and, believe it or not, reaping some surprising benefits along the way. Your children learn! That is a benefit all homeschool parents love!

"Preschoolers and elementary aged students greatly enjoy games! Although parents often cringe at playing games like Candyland (ugh!), there are great lessons for kids in these simple games.

Here are just a few reasons to play games with your children:

• Taking turns When you get down to the basics, playing games is about taking turns. Small children benefit from learning this skill. The earlier the better!
• Counting Basic gameplay usually includes counting.
• Sorting Some games ask kids to sort objects as part of the gameplay. Sorting is a great math skill that teaches kids to discriminate.
• Reading Although there are many games for pre-readers, these games still help preschoolers practice pre-reading skills. As your children age and play more complex games, there is more reading to practice.
• Decision Making Even games without much strategy require making simple decisions.
• Math Operations Whether you are playing with money or making a decision about a play, simple math comes into play.
• Group Interactions Learning the etiquette of group play goes beyond taking turns and includes learning to interact with other players in various ways." Bright Ideas Press

Teens are developing their complex reasoning ability. Choose games that will help their strategic thought, and you will see improvement. Playing with older children and teens gives parents a challenge. Are you up for it?

Playing games with your children has more than academic benefits. It creates discussion, fun, stress relief, and time to relax and enjoy life together. Family time should always be a priority. Like I say to my family, "I want to do something together that builds relationship, I don't want to sit around a screen and just breath the same air."

Build relationship and have fun learning at the same time!

It would take a few pages to list all of the Best Family Board and Card Games, but I hope the list provided here will give you hours of fun and learning with your family.

Read more about helping your children strengthen their brains with games. Watch your Child's Reading, Math, and Confidence Soar by Playing Games Free  

Games for ages-under 5

Animal Upon Animal- 2-4 players, ages 4 and up.
Work with dexterity and numbers; roll the dice to see how many wooden animals to stack as you balance them.

Blink- Ages 4- Adult- Brain strengthening
A fun, fast moving game that involves counting, shapes, and colors.

Candy Land- 2-4 players, ages 3 and up
Classic beginner game that works with counting and colors, not to mention the fun illustrations and sweet destinations that children will love.

Chutes and Ladders- 2-4 players, ages 3 and up
Another classic beginner game that helps kids practice numbers in a fun way.

Go Fish- 2-6 players, ages 4 and up
Young children can learn how to hold cards, take turns, read numbers, and start learning strategy.

Memory- 2-6 players, ages 3 and up
So many different and fun options to choose from - matching animals or favorite characters, children and adults will work on focus, memory, and pairing skills. 

Trouble- 2-4 players, ages 4 and up
Roll the dice in a fun way with the Pop-o-Matic dice roller bubble; a fun way for number recognition. 

Ages 5- 10

7 Wonders- 2-7 players, ages 8 and up
Strategy game where you are a leader of one of the 7 greatest cities of the Ancient World; gather resources and develop your city to be able to beat the military resources of other competitors. 

Aggravation- 2-6 players, ages 6 and up
This board game has the long track and short cuts as all players race around the board to get their marbles from base to home; which strategy will you incorporate to win?!

Battleship- 2 players, ages 7 and up
Battle of wits and critical thinking to see if you can outsmart your opponent.

Blokus- 2-4 players, ages 5 and up
A strategy board game where you must try to fit as many pieces as you can on your board, but each piece played must match at least one other piece of the same color. 

Boggle- 1-8 players, ages 8 and up
Shake up the letter dice and then race against the clock and your friends as you try to find as many words as you can.

Carcassone- 2-5 players, ages 7 and up
A tile-laying strategy game where plays collectively construct a medieval city while competing against each other to place followers and score the most points. 

Chess- 2 players, ages 6 and up
The ultimate strategy game, learning to analyze and anticipate multiple outcomes and plan ahead for them; from beginner to professional.

Clue- 2-6 players, ages 8 and up
Use critical thinking skills to solve this mystery.

Dominos- 2-10 players, ages 5 and up
Number and pattern recognition with several ways to play, from chicken foot to stacking in patterns for the perfect fall, these blocks offer lots of versatility.

Dutch Blitz- 2-4 players, ages 8 and up
Fast moving game as players race to place their cards in sequence and color order.

Farkle by Legendary Games- 2 and up players, ages 8 and up. Recognition of numbers on a dice and addition

Guess Who- 2 players, ages 5 and up 
Ask yes or no questions to determine a character, develops analyzing skills.

Guesstures- 4-99 players, ages 8 and up
Use charades to race against the timer and get your team to get guess what is being acted out; challenges quick and outside of the box thinking in an outrageously fun way!

Head Full of Numbers by Learning Resources- 2-4 players, 5 and up. Math and numbers

Jenga- ages 6 and up 
Carefully pull a wood block out of the tower and place it on top; works on your strategy, critical thinking, and small motor skills to beat your opponents and not be the one to topple the precarious tower.

Kerplunk- 2-4 players, ages 5 and up
Skillfully remove sticks from the tube while dropping the fewest marbles as possible; uses strategy and motor skills.

Money Bags- ages 7 and up
A fun way to discover the value of dollars and cents as you collect, count, and exchange money as you move around the board. 

Money Match Me Cards- ages 6- 8
Boost your child’s skills in matching, memory, and vocabulary word/picture recognition of coins. 

Monopoly by Hasbro- 2-6 players, ages 8 and up recognition of and counting money

Pandemic- 2-4 players, ages 8 and up
A cooperative board game as you work to save humanity from four deadly diseases, playing to each player’s assigned role of a specialist; uses teamwork, strategy, critical thinking

Parcheesi- 2-6 players, ages 5 and up
Classic game of chase, race, and capture; simple math with dice rolls, a strategy game with getting your paws around the board. 

Pass the Pigs- 2-10 players, ages 7 and up
Funny game of chance as you score points with how your pigs land; uses simple math of addition and subtraction, first player to 100 wins!

Pit- 3-8 players, ages 7 and up 
Each player is dealt a random hand of commodities of the market; use memory, matching, listening skills, and strategy to collect 10 cards of the same commodity as all players trade cards to win before everyone else. 

Qwitch- 2-5 player, ages 7 and up
Deal out cards that display numbers (1-8), letters (A-H) and 12 directional cards (up, down or equal); follow directions of placing cards in the correct sequential order of up or down.

Qwirkle- 2-4 players, ages 6 and up
Simple game of matching colors and shapes; use quick thinking and well-planned strategy.

Qwixx-2-5 players, ages 8 and up
With every roll of the dice, all players make quick critical thinking skills of crossing numbers off their score sheet, use color and number recognition and math. 

Roll For It- 2-8 players, ages 8 and up
Roll the dice and match the dice numbers to the card numbers, utilizes quick decisions and critical thinking to make sure your card and points aren’t taken by another player.

Scrabble- 2-4 players, ages 8 and up
Show off your vocabulary and spelling skills and you compete with others to build a crossword and get as high of a score as you can!

Sequence- 2-12 players, ages 7 and up
Play a card from your hand and place a chip on a corresponding space on the game board to get five in a row and strategize so that you can block an opponent placing their chip.

Skip-Bo-Ages 7 and up. Critical thinking skills, use color and number recognition and math. 

Sorry!- 2-4 players, ages 6 and up
Move around the board to get your pawn from Start to home but pay attention to the details of where you can slide or bump opponents back to their start; a fun way to help kids work on good sportsmanship.

Spot it- 2-5 player, ages 6 and up
A fast-paced game that sharpens reflexes and observation skills as you study colorful symbols and try to match them between cards. 

Stare Jr 2nd Edition- 2-6 players/teams, ages 6 and up
Test and train your visual memory skills; you have 30 seconds to stare at an image and then answer questions about it to be able to advance around the game board. 

Stratego- 2 players, ages 8 and up
A board game where you utilize and strategize your army, a spy, and six deadly bombs to capture the enemy’s flag while defending your own. 

Sushi Go!- 2-5 players, ages 8 and up
A quick-thinking pass and play game where the goal is to grab the best combination of sushi dishes and score the most points to be the sushi master!

Taboo Kids vs. Parents- Word game Ages 8 and Up
Race against the clock and guess the correct word without using the forbidden words; think outside the box to give your team clues and score points. 

Tenzi- 2-4 players, ages 7 and up
A fast, fun and competitive game where you roll your 10 dice as fast as you can to meet the requirements of the laid out card; a great way to help kids make rapid decisions and build confident number recognition. 

Thinkfun Math Dice®- 2 and up players, ages 6 and up. Numbers and math

The Allowance Game- 2-4 players, ages 5 and up
In a skill-building game, players race around the board doing chores to earn their allowance and then decide to save or spend their money; they learn to make change and handle money. 

The Game of Life- 2-6 players, ages 8 and up
Life is full of choices, make your decisions through the twists and turns of life and manage your money to see who wins when they retire with the most money; money management skills with exchanging money, paying debts and bills, and adding up wealth. 

Ticket to Ride- 2-5 players, ages 8 and up
Players race to connect iconic cities across the USA by claiming railway routes; a fun strategy game.

UNO- 2-10 players, ages 6 and up
In a race to get rid of all of your cards, players take turns playing on the table card and matching by color, number, or action.

Yahtzee- 2-10 players, ages 6 and up
Roll different dice combinations and strategize how to best use your three rolls per turn to score the highest points; uses math and critical thinking.

Ages 10 and up

Apples to Apples- 4-10 players, ages 12 and up
Look at the cards in your hand and see which phrase you think best fits the adjective the judge has has given to the group; with printed cards, read and make quick decisions for this hilarious game. 

CASHFLOW by The Rich Dad Company- 2-6 players, ages 14 and up
Make learning stocks, money saving, and the like more fun with this unique investing game; uses basic math. 

Catch Phrase- 2-16 players, ages 12 and up
How quick thinking are you to get your teammates to guess the word or phrase on a time limit?

Caverna- 1-7 players, ages 12 and up
A worker-placement game with a focus on farming where you lead your family, cultivate your forest to grow your wealth, develop your resource management, and ultimately outsmart your rivals to claim victory in this strategy game. 

Clock Patience- 10 and up
Using an ordinary deck of cards with the jokers removed, this number sorting card game is a quick distraction; click the link for game description and play. 

Dominion- 2-4 players, ages 13 and up
With many expansions for varied game play, this tactical card game incorporates paying attention to details and strategy as you expand the dominion of your kingdom before your competitors do. 

5 Second Rule Party Game - Ages 10+
Think fast and shout out three items of the given category in under 5 seconds; it’s harder than you think in this fast-paced and funny game!

Forbidden Island- 2-4 players, ages 10 and up
A cooperative strategy game where you and your team race the rising flood waters as you problem-solve and strategize to collect the treasures before the island sinks.

Math for Love Prime Climb- 2-4 players, ages and 11 and up
Learn to master multiplication, division, factorization and prime number concepts in this beautifully colored math game. 

Money Wise Kids- ages 7-12
Discover the value of dollars and cents as you collect, count, and exchange money.

Puerto Rico- 2-5 players, ages 12 and up
Players take different roles to bolster their wealth and reputation by carefully building their city, harvesting goods, and governing the island of Puerto Rico; the player with the most prosperous island wins in this strategy game.

Risk-2-5 players, ages 10 and up
Take over the world in this game of strategy conquest; players aim to conquer their enemies’ territories by building an army, moving troops in, and engaging in battle.

Set- ages 8- adult
A brain strengthening game where players look to for visual matches by color, shape, number, and shading, all in “sets” of three, to score the most points.

Settlers of Catan- 3-4 players, ages 10 and up

Splendor- 2-4 players, ages 13 and up

Stare- 2 or more players, ages 13 and up- Brain strengthening

Terra Mystica- 2-5 players, ages 12 and up

Trivial Pursuit- 2-6 players, ages 12 and up

Tapple-  word game. Aged 8 and up

Would you Rather?

Pick a game and ask your kids to play!

Enjoying the journey,

~Michelle~

  Michelle Osborn is the owner and founder of Homeschooling Teens Successfully and Yellow House Book Rental, specializing in providing homeschool curriculum for rent or purchase, as well as counseling and guidance for homeschool families. She is a wife, a 22-year homeschool veteran, and mom of four children and six grandchildren. Two of her children are now entrepreneurs, running their own successfully businesses. Michelle’s passions include serving by leading worship at her church and encouraging homeschool moms through one on one, social media and speaking engagements. She has found her niche in helping parents homeschooling their teens through the high school years and on to pursue their dreams.

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