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May 11
great games for young children

10 Great Games for Young Children | Learning Through Play

  • 11 May 2020
  • helpful information
A little while ago I wrote about some helpful online reading resources, which might be of use during lockdown.  Well, here we are in week 8 (or is it nine now? it’s so easy to lose track), and I think it’s time to talk about play.  So I’ve had a bit of a think, asked friends and family – including my three children – and have come up with a list of 10 great games for young children (ok, so it might be just over ten but never mind). Some of them you will definitely have heard of, some might be new to you, but all are good fun.
As parents, we love to see our children playing. Their ideas and imaginations are a wonder to behold and the sound of a happy child playing is a delight. But play is not simply a fun time for children, it’s actually the key to learning. Childhood play is needed for healthy brain development and helps with motor skills. Play helps to nurture imagination and give a child a sense of adventure. It helps to build their sense of self worth and also teaches them essential skills.  So it is super important to make time to play.
Games especially help with turn taking, sharing, teamwork and mixing with others.  Plus, they are also a huge amount of fun.  Hopefully, whilst we are in lockdown, you will be able to have time to play with your children.  If you’re running out of ideas to occupy their time, maybe these might help.  These are all great games for young children and adults alike.  Let’s play!

1]   Noughts & Crosses

Who doesn’t love a game of Noughts & Crosses? I’m sure we’ve all got a piece of paper and a pencil so it doesn’t cost a penny. It’s super quick to play and encourages step-by-step logical thinking. If you have outside space play it in the garden – use sticks to draw in the soil or sandpit, or chalk to draw a giant grid. Everyone can play.

 

2]   Shopping List

Orchard Toys make fantastic range of educational games and puzzles for little ones. But Shopping List, a matching and memory game, has to be my favourite.  I’m not the only one who thinks so, it’s their number one bestseller.  Suitable from age 3, available from most toy stores and online.

 

3]   Bingo

Laurence King started making beautifully illustrated bingo games with their amazing Bug Bingo, and have since made many others.  The one that catches my eye is Ocean Bingo, but there is also Dog, Cat, Monkey to name a few.  They have also made three fun kids editions; Scary Bingo, Jungle Bingo, and Dinosaur Bingo.

 

4]   Hoot Owl Hoot!

The object of the game is to move all the owls from start to the nest before the sun rises. Players take turns, but work together. A fun board game to help with problem solving, taking turns and cooperation.

 

5]   Pairs in Pears

Build words, match patterns, have fun… And learn!  The aim of the game is to make interlocking pairs of words before anyone else can. Great for learning vowels, consonants and word building.  The tiles come in a super cute pear-shaped pouch so will be perfect for holidays (when we can go!).

 

6]   Guess Who?

A classic guessing game, where the two players try to guess each other’s mystery character.  The pictures may have changed from when I played it as a child but the game is the same.  Always fun.

 

Tiddlywinks great games for young children7]   Tiddlywinks

I don’t know many people who didn’t play this in their youth and it brings out the kid in us all.  Tiddlywinks is a game dating back to the late 1800s and is played on a flat felt mat with sets of small discs called “winks”, a pot (which is the target) and a collection of squidgers, which are also discs but bigger.  It’s quite a skill to get the wink to jump into the pot!

 

8]   DobbleDobble great games for young children

Another favourite in our house, Dobble is an easy to play card game where players have to find the matching image as quickly as they can.  A game of speed, observation and reflexes rather than knowledge or strategy, this is definitely one for all the family. There are various versions available – Harry Potter, Disney Princess etc – but you can’t go wrong with the original.

 

9]   Go Fish

This is a great card game for two or more players.  It’s loads of fun and excellent for learning about numbers, patterns and pairs.  If you’re unsure of the rules, they are easy to learn, have a look at this ‘how to play‘ guide on WikiHow.

 

10]   Tenzi

This is a brilliant game that you can easily play together with extended family over platforms such as Zoom.  All you need is dice.  Lots and lots of dice.  In fact you need ten dice for each person playing. It’s fast, it’s fun and it gets extremely noisy.  Everyone rolls their ten dice simultaneously and the first one to have all 10 dice matching shouts “Tenzi” and you that win that round!  It’s that simple.

 

Beetle game great games for young children11]   Beetle

Although you can buy this as a game set where you fit the plastic parts together, you can play Beetle with pen, paper and a dice. It’s entirely based on random dice rolls, with no skill involved.  Be the first to build a beetle. Roll the dice to know which part to add, but you must start with the body before you draw anything else.

 

 

Have fun!

10 Great Games for Young Children

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