Most 6 year olds are just beginning their formal school life and therefore need to practice a number of different skills in order to succeed. Board games are a great way to help children practice both academic and social skills in a fun and stress free way.
In this article we cover some tips for deciding on which board games your child will like and also have listed some great board games your 6 year old will love!
Tips for Choosing Good Board Games for any 6 Year Old Boy or Girl
- Look for games that are action packed and appealing to your child so that they will actually want to play the game more than few times
- Look for games that will help your child improve their math or reading skills or expand their knowledge base
- Games that require children to begin using critical thinking are important and very beneficial at this age
- Choose games that are quick and can be completed in 20 or 30 minutes to prevent them from becoming bored.
The Best Board Games for 6 Year Olds List
1. Guess in 10: Animal Planet
In the Guess in 10 Animal Game kids get to ask 10 questions that their opponent holding the card must answer and then try and guess the animal on the card. Players take turns asking the questions and guessing and holding the cards. The first play to get 7 cards wins the game.
This game is designed for 2 to 6 players and can be played with individuals or with teams. The game comes with 50 animal cards and 6 clue cards in a travel friendly box. This is a great game for children to improve their critical thinking skills, learn about animals, and learn how to ask good questions to gain information.
2. Guess Who Classic
Guess Who is a deductive reasoning game designed for 2 players. The game consists of 2 game boards and 48 people cards. Each player chooses a mystery person that their opponent must guess to win. Players then take turns asking yes or no questions and use the answers to these questions to eliminate potential people. The first player to guess the correct mystery person wins.
3. Sorry
Sorry is a game that consists of a game board, 12 pawns (in 4 different colors) 44 cards and the instructions for playing.
The object of the game is to be the first to get all 3 of your pawns home. Each player in turn draws a card to see how many spaces you can move. The game does require kids to develop some strategy as players determine which pawn to move each turn to give them the biggest advantage and help them win the game.
4. Qwirkle
A tile matching game Qwirkle is designed for 2 to 4 players. It offers an educational and fun experience making it perfect as a gift for any childs 6th birthday. Players match tiles by either color or shape and the player with the most points wins once all the tiles have been played. This game comes with 108 wooden Qwirkle tiles, a drawstring bag and a rule book.
This game will help develop spatial recognition, problem solving, and planning. The game grows with the child since the more often the child plays the more ability they will have to build more complex combinations.
5. Bugs in the Kitchen
Bugs in the Kitchen is a path building game that is loads of fun for young children. The game is designed for 2 to 4 players and a round normally takes about 15 minutes. This game comes with 1 game board, 18 pegs, 4 traps, 24 utensils, 20 bug tokens, 2 trap doors, 1 die and a Hexbug Nano.
The object of the game is to turn the silverware on the board to create a path that herds the bug into your trap. Each time you catch the bug you get a bug token.
6. Twister
Twister is a classic game to get children moving and laughing while they contort their bodies in ways they never thought possible. This is a perfect game for 2 to 4 kids age 6 and can be played indoors or out.
This game consists of a large mat filled with large colored dots and a spinner divided into 4 sections, one section for each hand and each foot. Spin the spinner and move the proper hand or foot to the colored spot on the mat that matches the dot on the spinner. The last person to fall wins!
7. Connect 4
If you are looking for an educational game for your 6-year-old that teaches them strategic thinking then Connect 4 would be an excellent choice. This 2 player game consists of a frame to hold to disks and colored disks for each player.
The object of the game is to take turns dropping your colored disks into the frame in such a manner as to get 4 of your disks in a row going either up and down or across while preventing your opponent from getting 4 disks in a row. The first player to get 4 in a row wins.
8. Mouse Trap
Mouse Trap is a classic childhood game that is designed for kids 6 years of age and up. The game is designed for 2 or 3 players with the object of the game being that players take turns building the mouse trap to catch the other players mouse while at the same time trying to get their mouse around the board without getting trapped.
The game comes with the game board, 3 mouse figures, a spinner and all the parts needed to build the mouse trap. This game helps children develop their fine motor skills, problem solving and a little bit of strategy.
9. Icecool
Icecool is a good game for helping a six year old to develop their hand/eye coordination and dexterity and it’s plain fun! The game is designed for 2 – 4 players and the game board is a 3D box-in-a-box concept where the telescoping boxes are used to put together classrooms to form a penguin school.
The object of the game is to collect the most fish by flicking your penguin to get it to go through doorways or over walls and collect fish while the hall monitor (each player takes a turn being monitor) tries and stops the collection of fish.
10. Aggravation
Aggravation is one of the best board games for any 6 year old girl or boy. The game is designed for 2 to 6 players. The object of the game is for a player to be the first to get all 4 of their marbles around the board and into their home base before any of the other players. A player that lands on a space occupied by another player’s marble can send that player’s marble back to the start.
11. Operation
Operation is anther classic game that offers a bunch of fun. This game allows young children to feel like a surgeon. The object of the game is for players to take turns removing the 11 ailment parts from the body without setting off the buzzer. The person who collects the most pieces wins the game.
This is a great game for helping improve any 6 year olds patience, fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination.
12. Cauldron Quest
Cauldron Quest is a cooperative game for 2 to 4 players aged 6 years and up. The object of the game is for players to collect the ingredients for the magic potion to break the dark spell before the evil wizard blocks the path.
The game consists of the game board, 6 potion bottles, 6 ingredient tokens, 6 wizard tokens, 1 wizard hat with stand, 1 spell breaker token, and 3 magic dice.
13. Quick Cups
Quick Cups is a stacking game for children ages 6+. The object of the game is for players to flip over a card and then be the fastest player to stack the 5 cups in the same order as seen on the card. This game comes with 24 picture cards, 20 cups (4 sets of 5 cups) and a bell to ring when you complete your stack of cups.
14. Catan Junior
Catan Junior introduces younger children to the Catan game. This game is designed for 2 to 4 players and the object of the game is for children to gather resources and be the first to control 7 pirate hideouts. It is a great game for helping children develop strategy.
The game includes a double sided game board, markers for resources and specials, cost boards, pirate hideouts, pirate ghost ships, game pieces and rule book.
15. Sum Swamp
Sum Swamp is a fun math game that helps young children develop basic addition and subtraction skills. Kids make their way around the board by throwing dice and solving problems as they meet up and pass various swamp creatures. The game includes the game board, 4 swamp creature pieces, 2 number dice and an operation dice.
Are Board Games a Good Gift for 6 Year Olds Development?
If you are looking for a fun way to help your 6 year old to be successful in school and beyond then purchasing them one or more of these educational board games for can be a huge help!