The best games are the innovative, spur-of-the-moment games that only kids can come up with. One minute the couch cushions are bases and the table is the goal, and the next the tree is the hideaway for capture the flag.The imagination and creativity that these kinds of games teach kids is unmatched by anything we can create for them as educators, so before you start in on this list, be sure to kick them outside for some unstructured, media-free playtime to enjoy.
That said, there is a time when the rhythm of the day lens itself to a more quire sort of activity, and this list is for those types of times. You can view these in more detail on this page!
The Secret Door is super fun, kids have to find the three missing cards before time runs out!
We have three different died that we use with Chutes and Ladders, a regular six-sided, a 12-sided, and a 30 sided.
This is our classic game of Clue! Younger kids do need help figuring this one out.
Factory Fun
The Enchanted Forest is like a board game plus Memory game put together.
We have two games of Labyrinth out tonight, this one has sliding rows and columns so the maze keep shifting throughout the game as you try to collect the treasures.
This is the other Labyrinth maze game, only underneath the board are metal ball bearings, each one is attached to the magnetic Pawn on top and you try to make it through the maze without hitting a wall that will knock the ball off underneath as you pursue a gathering Treasures.
Monopoly DEAL is a fast-paced card game
This is a pegboard with bolts and nuts at different intervals in a grid, with rubber bands connecting and forming corridors for the balls to go through. The main ball tries to make it before it gets tagged by the other balls. We call it Pac Ball, and it rests on a half-ball staircase rail post top so you can pan and tilt it to make the balls move.
Patchwork is a fun game that involves currency which are buttons, planning ahead for purchases, as well as puzzle pieces fitting all the pieces you can on your board before your time runs out.
This is a game called Set, and this one in particular really pretzels my mind.
Tsuro is a “follow the string and try not to fly off the board” type of game that you build as you go along.
