Lists

8 Great Board Games for Toddlers

Our youngest son, Harry just had his second birthday!

Two is such a fun age, but I find it to be a little hard to shop for. They’re old enough to want to do all the bigger kid things, but still too young to be able to do them independently.

I must not be the only one because this is also the age that we hear the most from our readers about what games they should get for their kids. 18 months to 3 years of age is an exciting time as kids begin to show actual interest in new activities and are excited to try new things.

Harry is all about playing games, but sitting still is very hard and he doesn’t have too much of a vocabulary yet. Luckily there are a whole bunch of very fun games for kids in this age group and we wanted to share 8 of our favorite board games for toddlers! Hopefully you find something that is a perfect fit for your favorite little one.

Kids hit developmental milestones at such different ages, so while this list has kids 2 and 3 years of age in mind, your child may be ready for these games later or earlier, and that’s totally fine! Keep in mind that the best thing you can do when introducing games to your kids is to keep it fun! Check out my post on some of my best tips for gaming with young toddlers.

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Go Away Monster!

This was one of Harry’s presents this year.

Attempt to furnish your bedroom by reaching your hand into a bag with various sized cardboard pieces. If you pull out something for your room, such as a bed, lamp, or teddy bear, place it in your room! But if you pull out a monster, tell that silly monster to “Go away!” And toss it out of your room and into the monster pit.

I like this game for Harry because it helps him work on his speech and vocabulary while also being quick and fun for him to play. He loves to shout “Go away Monster” so much that I’m 99% sure he reaches his hand into the bag hoping to pull out a monster so he can say it.

Roll and Play

This was his other birthday game. Harry is a very active kid, so sitting still isn’t always possible. Wanting to channel his energy, we tried this.

Roll the cube to select a color. Then take an activity card of the same color and perform that action together. Some of the actions on the cards are actions, colors, animal sounds, counting, body parts, and emotions. When you’re done doing the action, roll again to get a new action.

The plush die is large and brightly colored. Harry has a lot of fun tossing it around the house and performing all of the actions. His favorite is acting out the animal sounds, while his siblings love to run around the house searching for things in specific colors.

The cards store inside a pouch on the die itself which is nice as well. It’s great way to channel all of that energy kids of this age have and have them practice their gross motor skills.

First Orchard

This was the first game we ever got our daughter, and now, 7 years and four kids later its still our favorite pick for toddlers. First Orchard is part of the My First Games series from HABA and is based on their classic children’s game Orchard.

A hungry raven is making his way to the orchard to eat all of the delicious fruit. Roll the die to determine whether you can harvest fruit, or must move the raven forward towards the orchard. Harvest all of the colored fruit into your basket before he gets there to win the game.

The wooden pieces are beautiful and perfectly sized for small hands and rules are easy enough that kids can play confidently. This cooperative game plays quickly and is also perfectly suitable for free play. Usually we play the game and then afterwards our kids spend about twice as long or more just playing with the pieces and acting out their own little scenes.

Check out our full review of First Orchard here, and if you’d like, check out our kids playing it in this video!

Let’s Go Fishing!

It’s a classic and it’s still got wheels in this house.

I like this choice for young kids because it works well as a hand-eye coordination activity while keeping them engaged and sitting still for a bit. Harry and Oliver (3.5) will sit happily together, catching and returning fish. There’s not too much of a gaming element and for us that’s okay. It’s perfect for when your kids are a bit too wiggly to focus on rules yet still helps focus their energy into something engaging. Let them free play and fish for anything they can get, or if they know their colors, see if they can get all of the fish in one color!

If you’re looking for a fishing game with a bit more game to it, check out Here Fishy Fishy. This is another My First Game from HABA and does a great job of taking this classic game and theme and making it a bit more refined to help kids learn turn taking, colors, and coordination.

Snail’s Pace Race

Dice to roll, snails to move. Roll two 6-sided colored dice, then move the snails of the same color rolled forward on the race track. It’s a simple game that is great for kids to practice their colors without overwhelming them with rules.

Sequence for Kids

We love the original Sequence for us and now, Sequence for Kids is one of our kids’ favorite games. Play animal cards from your hand to place a chip on a matching animal space on the board. The first player to get four of their chips in a row wins.

tip: holding cards in your hand is tough; let younger players lay their cards on the ground.

This is perfect for young preschoolers at or around 3 years of age. Our son Oliver is always bringing this one to the table. The animal illustrations are so cute and engaging, and the game is simple enough that, at three, he can play with confidence.

We love to play the regular rules, but also will play a “black out” version, especially when Harry wants to play as well. Simply play cards and place chips until all of the animals are covered. You’re sure to have a great time!

Hisss

Another long time favorite in this house and one our littles just love!

Flip cardboard tiles to match colors and make snakes from heads to tails. These multi-colored, slithery snakes will be long, short, and every color in-between. Finish a snake with your tile and add it to your snake pit. The player with the most snakes at the end of the game wins.

Kids love the bright, beautiful snakes that form. I love that this simple game helps them work on color identification and visual logic. They will have to decide with each tile where it should go. Do the colors match? Does this snake already have a tail? Even work on counting at the end to determine the winner.

Hisss plays quickly, under fifteen minutes or so, and is perfect to introduce to toddlers when they’re around 2 or 3 or have a good handle on their colors.

Pancake Pile-Up!

Race to stack and serve your pancakes to match your order, then top it with butter first to win!

This is a great choice for kids who love to move. Play it outside in the yard during the summer, then inside to work out those winter wiggles. Our older kids love this one as much as the younger ones.

Have fun playing while also working on pattern recognition, coordination, and gross motor skills. Perfect for kids starting around three.