Educational Board Games for 6 years Old
Today's children don't play board games anymore; everyone just taps away at gadgets... Personally, I see more kids playing board games than messing with gadgets, but let's see what they enjoy playing around the transition from kindergarten to school.
Written by
Máté Lencse
Educator, game designer,
founder of PlayWise
Why listen to him?
Máté has been regularly playing modern board games and classic abstract board games since 2013. He plays because he loves to. He plays because as an educator, it is his most important motivational and developmental tool. He plays because as a father, it is one of the highest quality times spent with his daughter. He plays because it adds to his marriage. He plays to get to know games and as a game designer, to be able to create new ones. Thus, it's not surprising that he often plays through 15-20 games weekly. Learn more about him and his background on his author page or follow him on social media:
Of course, no two 6-year-olds are alike, whether in terms of knowledge, motivation, or gaming culture, but there are still some general considerations when choosing games for children of this age.
I believe that short rules and short playtimes can work well. The advantage of games that are quick to understand is that not much time passes between sitting down at the table and starting to play. The short playtime is beneficial because if the game doesn't work out, we haven’t invested much time; if they lose but liked it, we can quickly play again where they might win; and if they love it, they can frequently experience the joy it brings.
For younger children, the game components are as important as they are for a seasoned collector with a serious gaming passion. It should fit into the child's everyday world, be truly toy-like, of good quality, and preferably with large, cute game elements.
As parents or educators choosing a game, we immediately think of developmental opportunities, but this should be secondary or cleverly integrated into the game, as our primary goal is to make them want to play, and the rest will follow naturally.
Three essential skills that board games can enhance in 6-year-olds include:
Now onto specific games for 6-year-olds
Magic Maze Kids
This is an engaging cooperative game adapted from the famous Magic Maze game but designed specifically for children.
Age, Playing Time, Players
Recommended for ages 5 and up, 15-25 min, 2-4 players
Tools
1 modular game board, 4 hero pawns, 4 action tiles per player, 1 sand timer, 1 instruction manual, and various tokens for objectives and challenges.
Skills
The game enhances cooperation, problem-solving, spatial awareness, and communication, as players must work together silently to guide their heroes through the maze.
Instructions
Players control different movement directions for all heroes and must cooperatively navigate the maze to complete objectives without speaking. The game introduces mechanics gradually, allowing children to learn step by step while fostering teamwork.
Animal Upon Animal
Animal Upon Animal is a delightful balancing game that calls for players to balance different wooden animals on top of one another.
Age, Playing Time, Players
Recommended for ages 4 and up, 15 min, 2-4 players
Tools
29 wooden animal figures, 1 wooden die, and a rulebook.
Skills
The game enhances fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, patience, and strategic thinking, as players carefully stack animals without toppling the tower.
Instructions
Players take turns rolling the die and stacking animals according to the result, aiming to place all their animals before their opponents. If the stack collapses, they must take back fallen pieces, adding a fun element of risk and balance.
Bugs in the Kitchen
Bugs in the Kitchen is a dynamic board game featuring a small, vibrating hexbug that players must guide into their traps by creatively turning cutleries set up in a maze.
Age, Playing Time, Players
Recommended for ages 6 and up, 15-20 min, 2-4 players
Tools
1 HEXBUG Nano robotic bug, 1 game board with rotating utensils, 24 utensil pieces, 18 bug tokens, 1 die, and a rulebook.
Skills
The game enhances problem-solving, strategic thinking, hand-eye coordination, and quick decision-making, as players must react and adjust paths in real-time.
Instructions
Players take turns rolling the die and turning utensils to guide the HEXBUG Nano toward their goal while preventing opponents from doing the same. The first player to collect five bug tokens wins the game.
Hoot Owl Hoot
A cooperative colour-coded board game where players work together to help the owls fly back to their nest before the sun comes up.
Age, Playing Time, Players
Recommended for ages 4 and up, 15 min, 2-4 players
Tools
1 game board, 6 owl tokens, 50 color-coded cards, and a rulebook.
Skills
The game enhances cooperation, color recognition, strategic thinking, and turn-taking skills, as players work together to get the owls home before sunrise.
Instructions
Players take turns playing color cards to move owls along paths of the same color, aiming to get all the owls to the nest before the sun rises. Since it’s a fully cooperative game, players strategize together, making it great for younger children learning teamwork.
Outfoxed!
This is a cooperative deduction board game where players work together to discover which fox stole Mrs Plumpert’s prized pot pie.
Age, Playing Time, Players
Recommended for ages 5 and up, 20 min, 2-4 players
Tools
1 game board, 16 suspect cards, 16 thief cards, 12 clue markers, 4 detective pawns, 1 evidence scanner, 3 custom dice, and a rulebook.
Skills
The game enhances logical reasoning, deduction, teamwork, and problem-solving skills, as players gather clues to identify the thief before they escape.
Instructions
Players roll dice to move around the board, gather clues, and use the evidence scanner to eliminate suspects. By working cooperatively, they must identify the thief before they escape to win the game.
Dragomino
Dragomino is an enchanting, kid-friendly adaptation of the popular game Kingdomino.
Age, Playing Time, Players
Recommended for ages 5 and up, 15 min, 2-4 players
Tools
28 domino-style terrain tiles, 69 dragon egg tokens, 4 starting tiles, 4 explorer pawns, and a rulebook.
Skills
The game enhances pattern recognition, spatial reasoning, decision-making, and basic strategic thinking, as players match terrain tiles to discover dragon eggs.
Instructions
Players take turns choosing and placing domino-style terrain tiles to create matching landscapes. For each match, they collect a dragon egg token, which may contain a baby dragon (points) or an empty shell (nothing). The player with the most baby dragons at the end wins.
Loopin' Louie
Loopin’ Louie is a fast-paced and energetic board game that requires players to protect their chicken chips from Louie’s swooping and loop-de-looping airplane.
Age, Playing Time, Players
Recommended for ages 4 and up, 10 min, 2-4 players
Tools
1 motorized airplane unit with Louie figure, 1 rotating arm, 4 player paddles, 12 chicken tokens, and a rulebook.
Skills
The game enhances hand-eye coordination, reaction speed, fine motor skills, and timing, as players must time their paddle presses to keep Louie away from their chickens.
Instructions
Louie flies around in his motorized airplane, trying to knock over players’ chicken tokens. Players must hit their paddles at the right moment to send him flying away from their chickens and towards opponents’. The last player with at least one chicken left wins the game.
