Published September 1, 2025
It’s time for Family Game Night! Deciding what game to play can take almost as long as playing the game itself, and making sure that you’re picking a game that’s fun but also educational can feel near impossible. Fortunately, we’ve got a whole list of board and card games that are sure to be a hit with the whole family and will also help your child strengthen a variety of skills, from spelling to coordination to strategy and more!
Pattern Recognition
- Go Fish & Old Maid: Ages 3+, 2–6 players, Card Games – Sometimes, all you need is a deck of playing cards. Go Fish and Old Maid are two classic card games that help younger kids learn numbers, how to match up cards, and how to politely take turns.
- Slapburger: Ages 4+, 2–4 players, Card Game – This card game is fast-paced and guaranteed fun. One-by-one, players put down cards and have to slap the pile when a SlapBurger Card, Double Decker, or Sandwich appears. It’s easy to learn and strengthens both pattern recognition skills and reflexes.
- Connect 4: Ages 6+, 2 players, Board Game – Another classic, Connect 4 asks kids to make a row, column, or diagonal of four chips while blocking the other player from doing the same. With colorful chips and an iconic board, it’s a fun way for your child to recognize patterns and think strategically.
- Spot It: Ages 6+, 2–8 players, Card Game – This matching game challenges your child to be the first to find symbols in common across cards. It’s a fast-paced and fun way for kids to recognize and name commonly found animals, foods, objects, and more.
- Uno: Ages 7+, 2–10 players, Card Game – One of the most classic card games, your kids will learn to sort Uno’s colorful cards by both color and number. Plus, the thrill of yelling, “Uno!” is second to none.
Hand-Eye Coordination
- Don’t Break the Ice: Ages 3+, 2–4 players, Board Game – This game has kids break up ice blocks for Phillip the Penguin. They’ll use their skills to determine where and how hard to hit the ice, and also get pure enjoyment every time they knock a block out of the board.
- Jenga: Ages 6+, 1+ players, Board Game – It’s a classic game for a reason. Great for kids and adults, players will rely on their coordination and strategy skills to remove blocks from the tower without making it fall (even though watching it fall is half the fun, if we’re being honest).
- Twister: Ages 6+, 2+ players, Board Game – Twister has kids use their whole bodies by placing hands and feet on colored circles according to the directions and get tangled up in the process. It’s one of the silliest ways for kids to learn where their body is in space, as well as work off any extra energy they have.
- Bop It: Ages 8+, 1+ players, Electronic Game – Great for hand-eye coordination and listening skills, kids simply need to follow Bop It’s instructions to bop, twist, or pull it to keep the game going. But one wrong move and it’s game over! It can be played with one person or multiple people by passing the game around.
Logic & Strategy
- Checkers & Chess: Ages 6+, 2 players, Board Game – Checkers and chess are classic games for a reason. Checkers is a little easier to learn and gets kids comfortable with thinking a few moves ahead, while chess takes those skills to the next level. You can use the same board for both games—you’ll just need different pieces.
- Mancala: Ages 8+, 2 players, Board Game – If nothing else, kids will love mancala’s glass marbles and cool wooden board. This strategy game has them try to clear all the marbles on their side of the board before their opponent, which is easier said than done.
- Ticket to Ride: Ages 8+, 2–5 players, Board Game – History, trains, geography—Ticket to Ride has it all! This board game has your child try to build train lines across iconic American cities while having to navigate around other players’ trains. With a few ways to win, it’s a great way for kids to strengthen their strategy skills while having a blast.
- Clue: Ages 8+, 2–6 players, Board Game – There may not be a more iconic board game than Clue. In this murder mystery game, kids will go full detective mode to pick up clues and be the first to find out the killer’s identity. To make things even more fun, you can watch the 1985 movie “Clue” after playing.
- Settlers of Catan: Ages 10+, 3–4 players, Board Game – A great way for older kids to practice their strategy and communication skills, Settlers of Catan has players barter for resources with each other to build their settlements. It’s a fan favorite with kids and adults alike!
Language & Communication
- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza: Ages 7+, 2–8 players, Card Game – Take Slapburger and add saying the words, “Taco,” “Cat,” “Goat,” “Cheese,” and “Pizza” and you get this fun game. This is a great way for kids to connect visual and verbal cues as they wait for the word that’s said to match what’s on the card being put down.
- Mad Libs: Ages 8+, 2+ players, Board Game – A game that’s great on-the-go, Mad Libs gets kids familiar with English grammar without feeling like they’re in class. These silly fill-in-the-blank stories have them share adjectives, nouns, exclamations, and more and become even more hilarious when read out loud.
- Bananagrams: Ages 10+, 2+ players, Board Game – For any Scrabble families out there, this fun twist removes the board and ups the stakes! Your child will flex their vocabulary as they try to be the first to create words in a Scrabble-like way using all their tiles.
- Apples to Apples: Ages 12+, 4–8 players, Card Game – This fill-in-the-blanks game has every player pick a card that best matches a specific description card. Answers range from silly to serious to downright outrageous. This game helps kids find and make connections between cards and is also perfect for Family Game Night and parties alike.
Math
- Hi Ho Cherry-O: Ages 3+, 2–4 players, Board Game – Another classic board game, Hi Ho Cherry-O teaches kids how to count, add, and subtract by picking cherries and other fruits on this colorful board.
- Sums in Space: Ages 5+, 2–4 players, Board Game – Created specifically to help kids practice essential math skills, this game has them add, subtract, learn evens and odds, and compare numbers (greater than, less than, equal to), all while on a whimsical space adventure.
- Shut the Box: Ages 6+, 1+ players, Board Game – Using the board is half the fun of this game, where your child will roll dice, add up the numbers, and then put down the board pieces in different ways to match the numbers they get. It’s a fun and interactive way to learn the multiple ways to add and subtract to get the same number.
- Cribbage: Ages 8+, 2–4 players, Card Game – A classic card game in Wisconsin and Minnesota that mixes strategy and chance, this game has kids find all the combinations of 15 in their hand. They’ll also get good counting exercise as they add up cards and tally the score, which can be done on an iconic cribbage board or using an online app.
Creativity
- Pictionary: Ages 8+, 2+ players, Board Game – A fun way for kids to strengthen their drawing and communication skills, everyone takes turns drawing objects and having their teammates guess what they are. From stick figures to 3D drawings, anything goes in this hilarious game!
- Telestrations: Ages 8+, 4–12 players, Board Game – This game combines Pictionary and Telephone in a game that will quickly become a family favorite. Everyone takes turns drawing an object and then describing the drawing until it makes its way back around the circle. It’s great for all ages, and sharing the results is sure to make everyone laugh.
Your Family’s New Favorite Game
While this list isn’t exhaustive, there are plenty of options to help make your next Family Game Night both fun and educational. Whether your kids are more into drawing, spelling, sleuthing, or check mate-ing, you can be sure that there’s a game out there that will quickly become their (and your) new favorite. Happy playing!
Tags: educational games, Family Fun, family game night