Five is the year I felt like my little babies became kids. So many changes happen. They stop looking like little babies, they are ready or almost ready to head to Kindergarten, and they’re able to do many things on their own without the assistance of a parent. All these physical and emotional developments make them the perfect age for some new and exciting board games.
We’ve rounded up some of our favorite games to play with five year olds. Kids each age are all unique and develop at their own pace, so if your child isn’t ready to play games yet, that’s okay! These games are also by no means only for 5 year olds and can be a great fit for kids both younger and older!
Be sure to check out our other posts in this series:
Great Games for Toddlers, 3 Year Olds, 4 Year Olds, 6 Year Olds, 7 Year Olds, 8 Year olds
1. In a Flash Firefighters
This fun speed game is great for practicing those processing skills. They’ll work to connect hose pieces to put out the fire. There’s a nice built in leveling mechanism so older players have a greater challenge than younger.
2. Kingdomino
Five is the year we often introduce Kingdomino. This is one of the more perfect family games out there. It’s an excellent option for kids around age five. If you however find that your child isn’t interested or it is perhaps too much, we love the kid version Dragomino (recommended in our Age 4 list.)
We also love Kingdomino Origins. This game comes with multiple modules to play so the difficulty can increase when players are ready.
3. Turtle Splash
Turtle Splash is a new game that combines dexterity with memory. Flick the turtle down the ramp into the pond. The better you do, the more tiles you’ll get to flip over. Match tiles to your animal mat and you can advance towards the end. It’s fun, surprisingly challenging (at least for sleep deprived me!) and super engaging for this age!
4. Brandon the Brave
Brandon the Brave is one of our all time favorite tile placement game for kids. I also love the solo variant that gives kids a challenge to work through on their own.
5. Peek a Mouse
Peek a Mouse is a clever game with a unique design. Part memory, part real-time challenge you’ll work to locate and remember the location of different objects in a mouse house before the light goes off. Answer questions about their locations to advance and win. This game is always a hit with our crew.
6. Specific
This is a fun, easily transported game all about identifying animal characteristics. It is easy to scale the difficulty to account for any age playing. Specific is simple, fast, and educational!
7. Nuts About Mutts
Nuts About Mutts is an excellent kid card game. A fun spin on UNO, you’ll match colors, numbers, and dog breeds to be the first to get rid of your cards. This is one of our favorite gifts to give at kids’ birthdays. Easy to learn and fun for the whole family.
Use my code KELSEY15 to save 15% on your entire Grandpa Beck’s Games order! (we love all their card games!)
8. Quixo
Quixo is an abstract game kind of like tik tac toe meets connect four. I love that you can teach it in seconds and enjoy playing game after game. It’s beautiful and tactile — our kids are drawn to it like a magnet and I love how they have to use their critical thinking skills to tactically maneuver the blocks to win.
9. Cinco Linko
Every home should have a copy of Cinko Linko! This is a favorite game for kids at this age because all the pieces are plastic and hard to damage, it’s compact, and each game plays fast. Toss it in a bag and bring it with you to a restaurant to help keep your 5 year old entertained!
10. Memoarrr
Memory games are one of my favorite types of games for kids as they really help them develop strong working memories, which they’ll need as they enter school! Memoarrr is unique because you only flip over one card at a time and you have to have one attribute of the card you flip match an attribute of the previous card flipped.
