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Preschool board games, card games, and other worthy diversions:

Reviews for the science-minded

© 2009 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved

Preschool board games may teach kids many lessons, both social and cognitive. But it’s hard to find games that can entertain both children and adults. For instance, most young children love Candy Land. But for adults, the game is a bore.

So here are some recommendations: Games for preschoolers (ages 2 to 5) that please kids and adults. My criteria?

(1) The game isn’t boring for adults (because it provokes interesting interactions between kids and adults, or because the game is challenging enough to entertain adult players).

(2) The game is likely to stimulate critical thinking or mathematical thinking in kids (based on personal experience and/or research)

(3) The game doesn’t take a lot of time to learn or play

Cooperative board games: Max the Cat and The Secret Door

Two of my favorite preschool board games are Max, a Cooperative Game of Consultation Decision Making and Natural Selection and The Secret Door, a Cooperative Game of Memory and Mystery.

Both are produced by Family Pastimes, an independent company that specializes in cooperative games. For detailed reviews, see this article about cooperative preschool board games.

The Great Race...better than Chutes and Ladders?

For preschoolers who are learning to count, I recommend The Great Race. This simple mathematical board game was designed and tested by researchers on preschoolers. For more information (including instructions for making your own copy of The Great Race), click here.

Submit your own review!

Do you know of a board game for young children that (1) isn't boring for adults, (2) is likely to stimulate critical thinking in children, and (3) doesn't take a long time to learn or play?

Then please consider writing your own review and sharing it with your fellow Parenting Science readers.


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More preschool game reviews

Click on the links below to read other reviews. The first--a review of Hisss!--was written by me. I hope to post reviews by other authors soon.

Hisss! A game review  Not rated yet

This stylish variant of dominoes is a good introductory game for young children, and it has the all-important virtues of simplicity, brevity, and ...


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