There is no better gift for a young child than a board game. Board games offer so many learning and developmental opportunities. Plus, they are just plain fun and make for great family time! What are good games for 3, 4 and 5 year olds? We have a great list below that includes some non-traditional board game ideas that are sure to please everyone! Make sure to also check out all our favorite kindergarten and preschool activities!

Best Kindergarten and Preschool Board Games for Kids Ages 3-8Pin

WHY ARE BOARD GAMES GOOD FOR PRESCHOOLERS?

Here you will find our list of what we think are the best board games for 3 year olds and 4 year olds. We own each of these games and have played them dozens of times together. They are tried, tested and true!

These board games are also great for playing with friends. Many of these are cooperative games where everyone works together, and everyone wins.

Board games have so much to teach young kids. Simple skills like turn-taking, good sportsmanship, problem-solving, and more occur when kids engage in games with adults or other kids. Help by being a good role model and playing many board games together!

IMPORTANT: The ages listed on games are not set in stone! You may find that you need older or younger games to suit your needs or the experience you want to have with your kids or students.

  • turn-taking
  • sportsmanship
  • teamwork
  • social interaction skills
  • fine motor skills
  • math and literacy skills

Most feature different levels of play, making them good toddler board games and providing challenges for the older child. Each game doesn’t take all that long and encourages a replay! Sometimes, we even play several of these board games in a row!

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10 BEST BOARD GAMES FOR 4 YEAR OLDS

This is by no means a comprehensive list for this age group, and you might find that you can also easily incorporate our next level of games into the mix. What you’ll find below is a few of our favorites. One of the criteria I look for in a game is its replayability! Do the adults enjoy the game too? When everyone is enjoying family board game time, you want to do it more!

Interested in games for older kids? Check out our list of games for Kindergarten! Or if you need to take a step back, our toddler board game list is fantastic!

TIP: I highly recommend the “My First” games of popular strategy games meany for older kids and adults. They are a fantastic introduction to the main concepts with a shorter gameplay. With that said, unless you have even younger kiddos getting ready to play games in the near future, the “My First” games may have a short lifespan depending on your kid’s ability level!

Tip: Collaborative games are another fun way to introduce playing board games and also work well if you have various ages playing together. Older kids can help younger kids!

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Monza

Monza: A racing game where players roll colored dice to move their cars along a track, promoting strategic thinking and color recognition.

My First Castle Panic

My First Castle Panic: This is a fun game for younger kiddos, especially if you want to introduce them to the world of fantasy games, monsters, and dragons and prepare them for the fantastic range of fantasy board games for older kids! Of course, we are a Dungeons and Dragons-loving family.

My First Carcassonne

My First Carcassonne: Another first beginnings game for a well-loved favorite! If you can’t wait to get the original version, you might as well get started with this one! Such a fun way to introduce strategy at a young age. Plus, this game may carry through age 6.

Race To The Treasure

Race To The Treasure: Work together to build a path and beat the ogre to collect the treasure. This may carry you through age 6!

Snug as a Bug

Snug as a Bug: Don’t let the stink bugs win! Cooperative game using numbers, shapes, colors and size to eliminate bugs on the board before the stink bugs take over. This is one of our go-to favorite preschool board games!

Mystery in the Forest

Mystery in the Forest: “Create a Story Cards involves recurring magical characters, locations, and props allowing the cards to be linked in endless combinations for fresh, new stories every time it is played. Encourage interactive and imaginative play.” ~ My son especially loves games where he can make up grand stories and lead the adventure, which is why 10 years later he loves Dungeons and Dragons.

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel: Help your squirrel collect each of the colored acorns but watch out… you might lose an acorn or have one stolen from you first!

Count Your Chickens

Count Your Chickens! : A cooperative counting game where players work together to help mother hen collect her chicks, reinforcing counting and teamwork.

Pop Up Pirate

Pop Up Pirate: This game was recommended by my son’s Occupational Therapist for developing fine motor skills. Simply push swords into the barrel in which a pirate sits. You never know which sword will do it and the pirate pops up! Surprise! This was great work for my son’s fingers but easy enough that it wasn’t frustrating.

I Never Forget A Face

I Never Forget a Face: This is a sweet game for learning about children from around the world! It is a little bit more difficult of a matching game but fun to see all the children from around the world!

Hoot Owl Hoot

Hoot Owl Hoot! : A cooperative color-matching game where players help owls get back to their nest before the sun comes up, promoting teamwork and basic strategy.

Dinosaur Escape

Dinosaur Escape: A cooperative game where players work together to help dinosaurs escape to safety, introducing teamwork and strategic thinking.

Labyrinth Junior

Labyrinth Junior: A junior version of the classic Labyrinth game, where players navigate through a maze to collect treasures.

What’s your favorite preschool board game?

More Favorite Board Games

More Fun Ideas For 4 Year Olds

Printable Preschool Theme Bundle

Get ready to explore this year with our growing Preschool STEM Bundle! Or grab the individual Preschool 5 Senses Pack.

What’s Included:

There are 10 fun preschool themes to get you started. This is an ” I can explore” series!

Each unit contains approximately 15 activities, with instructions and templates as needed. Hands-on activities are provided to keep it fun and exciting. This includes sensory bins, experiments, games, and more! Easy supplies keep it low cost and book suggestions add the learning time. 

14 Comments

  1. Thanks for this list – I’ve never seen these games before! The 1st three especially look like ones my daughter would like. 🙂

  2. wow! I love learning about new games! I’ve only heard of 1 of the games on your list & it was also on my list! hehe! Great list!

  3. Thanks! We are always looking around for unique games. Often going into a specialty toy store has interesting ones.

  4. Great! I am always glad to share what we like. Games are one thing that go over very very well here!

  5. Dominoes is my all time favourite and it will be. It is a fun game for adults as well.

  6. Great list! My husband and I really started to get into board games last year and are now always on the hunt for great games for the little ones. Pop up pirate is a classic and we also have Snails Pace Race but I haven’t heard of the others. Thanks!

  7. Thanks for sharing the list. I have never heard the names of over half of these games. I am sure my daughter would love some of the games you have mentioned.

  8. Great list! I’m literally just looking into all kinds of games for our preschooler so this is perfect! I really like the look of Busy Busy Airport – I’ve not heard of that one before.

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