Board games are a perfect activity for the holidays. On top of being a way to make happy memories, many of them have fantastic educational value.
We know that games help children to develop behaviours that will serve them well for life: teamwork, turn-taking, and time management, to name a few. There are lots of modern and traditional board games – many of which we remember from our own childhood – which can nurture specific skills that will be useful in the classroom, in exams, and beyond.
So for your next family games night, here's a rundown of our favourite educational board games. Our top picks encourage children to develop STEM skills, problem-solving, creative thinking and critical analysis, all while having fun.
Non-verbal reasoning
Non-verbal reasoning involves analysing visual information and solving problems using shapes, diagrams and pictures. It's commonly part of CEM and GL 11 plus exams for grammar school entrance, as well as ISEB and other independent school exams.
These board games are useful for sharpening logical, problem-solving and pattern-spotting skills.
Backgammon
Educational objectives: Logical and strategic thinking
Why we love it: One of the most widely played games in the western world! This simple-to-learn game requires logical thinking, counting and strategy.
Chess
Educational objectives: Problem solving and strategy
Why we love it: The possibilities are infinite! Introducing children to chess is a gift they’ll appreciate forever. While you may or may not have a grandmaster on your hands, children will love the accomplishment of thinking ahead.
Connect 4
Educational objectives: Logical and strategic thinking
Why we love it: A classic that can be as fun for adults as children. Players have to be thoughtful and methodical to beat their opponent.
Draughts (checkers)
Educational objectives: Problem solving
Why we love it: This game introduces children to a checkers board. Players must move their pieces diagonally, with the aim to capture all of their opponent’s pieces.
Mancala
Educational objectives: Strategic thinking
Why we love it: An ancient game that is easy to learn. The objective is to capture more stones or gems than your opponent. This is a quick game that doesn’t take hours to set up and play.
Mastermind
Educational objectives: Logical thinking
Why we love it: So simple yet so clever! A game for two players where you have to use logic to work out what your opponent is thinking. Another quick option when you don’t have hours to spare.
Sequence
Educational objectives: Strategic thinking
Why we love it: A fun game for ages 7+. The objective of the game is to secure a ‘sequence’ or five in a row. Players select a card from their hand and place a chip on the corresponding space on the board. Each card is pictured twice on the game board, so everyone must choose their space wisely!
Maths and numerical reasoning
These games will support your child to practise some of the maths skills that they'll use during Key Stage 2 and in entrance exams.
Battleships
Educational objectives: Strategic thinking, spatial reasoning, position
Why we love it: A classic strategy game for two players, played on grids. Players take turns calling ‘shots’ at each others’ ships using coordinates.
Darts
Educational objectives: Number fluency and strategy
Why we love it: Starting on 501, the winner is the first person to reach exactly zero. To succeed in darts your mental subtraction and multiplication skills need to be top-notch!
Monopoly
Educational objectives: Number fluency and strategy
Why we love it: A classic game that makes us all feel like property magnates. This is superb for practising mental calculations and getting children thinking about budgets and spending.
Shut the Box
Educational objectives: Number fluency
Why we love it: This traditional game can be played with nothing more than a pair of dice, pen and paper. Each player rolls the dice and ‘shuts’ any combination of numbers that equal the sum of dots on the dice. Quick mental addition and subtraction are useful!
Yahtzee
Educational objectives: Number fluency and strategy
Why we love it: A classic game that’s easy to set up. For younger players, this is a really fun way to practise quick addition. For older children, there’s a lot of strategy involved in winning!
Verbal reasoning and English
Verbal reasoning is problem-solving with written information, and it's another common part of grammar school and independent senior school 11 plus entrance exams.
These games are helpful for honing reading fluency, vocabulary knowledge and attention to detail which will benefit your child for verbal reasoning and Key Stage 2 English alike.
Articulate
Educational objectives: Vocabulary, verbal fluency, time management
Why we love it: The kids’ edition of this party game is a great opportunity to boost their vocabulary. The ‘describer’ has to give clues to a word without actually saying it, and teammates have to race to guess the word. Knowledge of synonyms will be helpful!
Bananagrams
Educational objectives: spelling, vocabulary, time management
Why we love it: Players must race to use all their letters to build a word grid. This banana-themed language game can be played with 2–8 people in as little as 10 minutes. Younger children will find this more accessible than the popular classic Scrabble.
Codenames
Educational objectives: Vocabulary, definitions, spotting connections
Why we love it: Two rival spymasters must give one-word clues that link to multiple words on the board, while teammates try to guess words of the right colour. Ideal for children 10+, although there are family editions available for all ages.
Dixit
Educational objectives: Creativity, storytelling, comprehension
Why we love it: A beautifully illustrated card game for ages 8+. Players take turns being the storyteller and make up a sentence or phrase that describes a card. Others must guess which card inspired their story.
Guess Who
Educational objectives: logical and strategic thinking, descriptive skills, antonyms, deduction
Why we love it: A popular classic, players take turns asking yes or no questions to try and eliminate options to name their opponent’s mystery character.
We hope you and your family enjoy playing some of these board games. Top tip: you can sometimes find second-hand board games in charity shops, and they make great gifts! We've shared more ways to get your child excited about learning here.
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