With your little ones spending more and more time on screens, it’s time to think about how to keep them entertained without a tablet or phone. Picture this: it’s pouring down with rain and your plan to take the children out to the park is ruined! Why not invest in some brilliant indoor games for kids so that they can have lots of fun and laughter, and also learn new skills while decreasing screen time.

If you’re a fan of board games, you may be excited for when your children reach an age to play some of your favourite games with them - but why wait? You might recognise some of the names on our list because many popular, award-winning board games have been developed for children to understand and love. 

We’ve compiled a list of our top 10 favourite board and card games for kids, which consists of both silly, fun games as well as strategy games which all help to aid their development. We have considered the best kids board games for children of different age levels and personalities, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Classic Board Games for Kids

1. My Little Scythe

My Little Scythe is a competitive adventure game designed for 1-6 players aged 8 and over. Choose whether to move, seek or make in the Kingdom of Pomme with your 2 animal miniatures. Your actions allow the characters to power up, earn pies and friendships, learn magic and much more, with the goal earning 4 trophies first. 

This family-friendly game is an adaptation from the original Scythe board game, wherein the mechanics are similar but the instructions are much easier to understand for younger audiences. 

This game offers children a good introduction to playing strategy games but is also just as entertaining for the adults too.

2. ICECOOL2

A dexterity game with a difference - use your plastic penguin game piece to skid around the school hallways in ICECOOL2. 

One player is the catcher and up to 3 players can be runners. Runners must flick their penguin through doors to collect fish which equate to cards with victory points. Watch out for the catcher though, as it’s their mission to stop runners by bumping into them! 

ICECOOL2 is great for children aged 6 and above, but can be fun for the whole family to get involved with.

3. Concept: Kids

Designed for children as young as 4, Concept: Kids offers an innovative way of game based learning for animal comprehension.

In this cooperative game, players must describe an animal by placing rings around features on the board - choose the animal’s colour, diet, method of travelling, characteristics or habitat to give clues to the guesser. Based on the features picked out, if the player guesses the animal correctly, the whole team wins. How many animals from the 12 cards picked out can be guessed correctly? 

Since this board game doesn’t include written words, it’s a great visual learning game that can be played by children unable to read yet.

4. Articulate! For Kids

Articulate! For Kids is a competitive description game where teams must battle against each other to have the most words guessed correctly.

Players must take turns being describers or guessers. Describers will try to explain the word that is written on their card and other team members must try to guess this word. How many words are correctly guessed in 30 seconds indicates how many places you move on the game board. Which team can make it to the finish line first?

The kids version of Articulate! offers more child-friendly words to describe, but adults might still want to get involved with each team to help if they’re unsure. This game is a great option to bring out during family events where everyone can enjoy taking part.

5. My First Bananagrams

Perfect for children who are learning letters and words, My First Bananagrams uses lowercase letters and combo-letter tiles such as ‘TH’ and ‘EE’ so that players as young as 4 can learn about phonetics and create their own words more easily.

With 15 random tiles, players must try to create their own grid of words without any spelling mistakes. The player who uses up all of their tiles first, wins.

There are 11 different exercises where the letter tiles can be used to help children progress with their reading and spelling skills. Make word-learning fun with this letter game which can be transported easily in a great banana pouch!

6. Ticket To Ride: First Journey (Europe)

This child-friendly version of Ticket to Ride maintains the same game mechanics and theme but is simplified nicely for a younger audience.

Players must race to claim train routes on a map across Europe using cards so that they can connect two cities shown on their ticket. The winner of the game is the first player to complete six of these tickets.

Ticket To Ride: First Journey lets children aged 6+ develop their own tactics and use problem solving to find routes for their train journeys.

Easy Card Games for Kids

7. Unlock! Kids Detective Stories

Unlike the competitiveness of most games, Unlock! Kids Detective Stories is a card game which allows kids and their families to work collaboratively.

Inspired by escape rooms, this children’s game allows players to search through different places to find items which help to solve riddles and mini-games. 

This cooperative board game for kids has a lot to offer - the opportunity to work in a team and use problem-solving skills makes it valuable to add to your collection.

8. Dobble Kids

Following the success of the original Dobble game, this kids version combines the same fun mechanics but has more colour and less symbols making the game perfectly simplified. 

In the 30 card pack in Dobble Kids, every card will always have a matching symbol to the next, and it’s your mission to spot this symbol the fastest. Within the game you’ll find a rule booklet for 5 mini games that can be played with the cards, meaning different players might shine in different rounds.

This card game for kids is fast-paced, entertaining and easy to transport, making it a great option to bring on holidays.

9. Pokémon TCG Battle Academy

Prepare to battle with your team against another trainer in this Pokémon trading card game designed for two players. You’ll find three 60 card decks to play with, each containing an iconic Pokémon -  Pikachu, Mewtwo, and Charizard.

You’ll find a rulebook and tutorial guide to learn exactly how to play if you’re new to card trading but also develop stronger strategies if you’re an advanced player.

For ages 6 and above, this game is loved by fans of Pokémon who enjoy the characters and have experience of trading cards, as well as young people who want to start their trading card journey.

10. Jungle Speed Kids

This kids board game combines dexterity and observational skills in the heart of the jungle! 

Save as many animals as possible by flipping tiles in the hope of finding a match. Once a tile matches, players must race to grab the totem - whoever is first, gets to flip another tile which hopefully matches again if they can remember where it is. Once all 4 lion tiles are flipped, the game is over and the player with the most matching tiles wins.

For 2-6 players aged 4 and above, this quick game is great to play when you’re looking for something entertaining to fill 15 minutes of time.

Our list of fun board games for kids shows how playing games with younger people can aid development in all different ways. From team-work skills, to spelling, strategising to using dexterity skills, there are many board games for kids and adults to enjoy together.

If you want to discover even more games, why not explore Asmodee’s family games to play as a group, or kids brain games for even more educational options.