I have twin 5 year old boys, and they're already pretty interested in all things geeky (comic books, superheroes, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, The Walking Dead, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc). They're pretty smart too and already reading on their own, doing math, etc.
I'm a huge board game fan and I'd love to start playing games with them. I'm just not sure where to begin. I have a lot of cooperative board games (Reiner Knizia's LOTR, Forbidden Island), as well as stuff like Deadwood, Elder Sign, Risk, Risk 2210 AD, Axis and Allies 1942, and Lords of Waterdeep. However, I feel like these are probably a little beyond them.
Does anyone have any similar experience with board games and children? I really don't want to resort to Candyland, Sorry, and Mouse Trap.
Haven't played them, but I notice that there is The Kids of Carcassonne, which is targeted to ages 4+, and Catan:Junior, which is targeted to ages 5+. I'm sure you've seen BoardGameGeek before, but may not yet be aware that you can advanced search by age as well.
I would still get a few of the classics. It's just that 5 is young for complexity. The smartest 5 year olds still have a low frustration level and games they can't grasp quickly and excel at will gather dust. So I would ask your sons what their exact interests are before buying anything. You're a nice parent to even want to play a board game. My mom was not into kid games and so I had to wait until someone came over to play them.
I honestly think that 7 is a better age to introduce board games with more than a handful of rules. By that age kids are more independent thinkers and while they will ask a lot of annoying questions they will also be less easily frustrated and less likely to cheat as a matter of course. One thing I've learned from working with kids is that cheating is a part of playing and once one person cheats everyone else starts to as well. Try playing Uno with a bunch of 2nd graders who keep inserting new "rules" that will help them win.
Yeah, you have to work hard and play hard or have to play (or you'll become or be dull). However, I recommend socialising them, getting them into not-so-geeky things, getting them into fitness (excuse my frankness but it is pretty shocking how many tykes are or quickly become tubby as hell these days), or allow them time to explore things for themselves (if it is still geeky or board games, fine).
I'm really not sure what to make of Erikson's theory of development, but it seems more palatable. Erikson suggested that kids should develop initiative during these formative years. Failing that, they will be saddled with guilt and lack of initiative.
From a completely pragmatic thing, socialising is important. Although some kids might be the sharpest tools in the shed, not having those inter- and intrapersonal skills can really stuff up a kid and, later, adult human being (or preclude him or her from realizing his or her full potential).
I can't strongly recommend a particular board game, geeky or not.
I think most "Geeky" board games are just way to complex for any 5 year old to enjoy. I would wait for them to get older. Once they are older they will be able to honestly tell you if they like playing or not. Forcing complex board games at a young age doesn't seem like a great idea.
While not a 'board game' per se, I might suggest looking into Munchkin. It'll take a little work to get them up to speed on the game, but it's very easy, can be very funny, and is incredibly geeky. It's an easy first step into things like Dungeons and Dragons, many people can play at once, and there's basically no age limit.
I introduced my uncle's family to the game about a year and a half ago, and his son was about 5-6 at the time. Their second game at home, he beat the rest of the family soundly.
King of Tokyo. It's Yahtzee, with giant monsters, bright colors, and a few extra rules. Seems perfect for younger kids.
Heh, I just watched the Tabletop episode of King of Tokyo after your suggestion. Looks pretty cool. I think I could definitely play that with them, if I just maybe eliminated the energy and extra cards for now, and incorporated them later. But yeah, definitely cool. Thanks, Ravnos!
Haven't played them, but I notice that there is The Kids of Carcassonne, which is targeted to ages 4+, and Catan:Junior, which is targeted to ages 5+. I'm sure you've seen BoardGameGeek before, but may not yet be aware that you can advanced search by age as well.
Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with BoardGameGeek but wasn't aware I could search by age. Pretty handy info. Also, Kids of Carcassonne and Catan:Junior both look pretty good. Thanks cme!
I would still get a few of the classics. It's just that 5 is young for complexity. The smartest 5 year olds still have a low frustration level and games they can't grasp quickly and excel at will gather dust. So I would ask your sons what their exact interests are before buying anything. You're a nice parent to even want to play a board game. My mom was not into kid games and so I had to wait until someone came over to play them.
I honestly think that 7 is a better age to introduce board games with more than a handful of rules. By that age kids are more independent thinkers and while they will ask a lot of annoying questions they will also be less easily frustrated and less likely to cheat as a matter of course. One thing I've learned from working with kids is that cheating is a part of playing and once one person cheats everyone else starts to as well. Try playing Uno with a bunch of 2nd graders who keep inserting new "rules" that will help them win.
I hear what you're saying. They have junior versions of most of the classics, so I might check those out as well. As far as kids making up rules, I know exactly what you're talking about. When the kids and I do game night every week and we're playing Chuggington, if they don't spin the wheel hard enough, they take it upon themselves to respin. Uno with a bunch of 8-year-olds sounds fun.
Yeah, you have to work hard and play hard or have to play (or you'll become or be dull). However, I recommend socialising them, getting them into not-so-geeky things, getting them into fitness (excuse my frankness but it is pretty shocking how many tykes are or quickly become tubby as hell these days), or allow them time to explore things for themselves (if it is still geeky or board games, fine).
I'm really not sure what to make of Erikson's theory of development, but it seems more palatable. Erikson suggested that kids should develop initiative during these formative years. Failing that, they will be saddled with guilt and lack of initiative.
From a completely pragmatic thing, socialising is important. Although some kids might be the sharpest tools in the shed, not having those inter- and intrapersonal skills can really stuff up a kid and, later, adult human being (or preclude him or her from realizing his or her full potential).
I can't strongly recommend a particular board game, geeky or not.
I didn't mean to paint a caricature of my kids, but they do have other interests as well. They love sports of all kinds and types, they're outside a lot, have friends in the neighborhood, love to play outdoor games, and love going to the beach. Like any well-rounded developing people, they like geeky stuff in addition to a lot of other interests. Plus, we don't play games very often, maybe once or twice a week as part of a family game night.
The reason I want to play games with them is to teach them how to be a gracious winner and a good loser. My kids have a strong competitive streak and do not take losing very well. I want to play games and have fun with them, of course, but there are lessons to be learned around the board game as well. Especially since I want to get them into organized sports eventually and want to make sure they can handle themselves after a loss.
I think most "Geeky" board games are just way to complex for any 5 year old to enjoy. I would wait for them to get older. Once they are older they will be able to honestly tell you if they like playing or not. Forcing complex board games at a young age doesn't seem like a great idea.
I wouldn't force anything recreational on my kids that they didn't like. They're already asking to play stuff like Lords of Waterdeep and Catan. But yeah, scaling the age they play to the complexity of the game is a good idea.
While not a 'board game' per se, I might suggest looking into Munchkin. It'll take a little work to get them up to speed on the game, but it's very easy, can be very funny, and is incredibly geeky. It's an easy first step into things like Dungeons and Dragons, many people can play at once, and there's basically no age limit.
I introduced my uncle's family to the game about a year and a half ago, and his son was about 5-6 at the time. Their second game at home, he beat the rest of the family soundly.
Huh, I didn't even consider Munchkin. I just got the deluxe version for my birthday earlier this year. Definitely a possibility!
Also nothing wrong with outside time. Encouraging them to try things they aren't immediately interested in is good for stretching them. They will find nerdy stuff on their own if they're into it.
You could try Forbidden Island although it may be a bit advanced for 5 year olds.
It's a game where you work together, so it's good for promoting teamwork and co-operation instead of competition.
Nah give them Yggdrasil so they can learn cooperation and how to hate themselves, Shadows Over Camelot for cooperation and to hate each other, Battlestar Galactica or Call of Cthulu for cooperation and to hate setup.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Virtue, Jacques, is an excellent thing. Both good people and wicked people speak highly of it..."
Munchkin. Munchkin is so goddamn fun and easy. There are like 20 expansions that let you change it up from classic fantasy to sci-fi to gothic horror to pirates to ninjas to dinosaurs. it's a card game where you dungeon crawl in the form of deck drawing, and has teamwork and betrayal elements.
During our recent game night, I busted out Munchkin Deluxe and played with the boys. It was a blast! They loved it. With some of the more nuanced cards, I had to assist them, but overall it was a lot of fun. They loved kicking in the door, fighting the monsters, and getting the treasure.
Also, I went out and got a cheap "teach yourself" chess set. The pieces are big and in detail on the base are the legal moves and attacks for each piece. We played this as well during our game night. They're picking it up really quick, and are having a lot of fun.
I have Catan:Junior and King of Tokyo on order from Amazon, so I should have those for the next game night. Carcassonne for Kids was a little on the expensive side ($120-140!) so I'm refraining from getting that until it is reprinted.
My 6 year old plays Small World on the iPad and after gathering dust for a couple of years we brought out the cardboard copy. It's a bit challenging for him, but I think that with some parental guidance it's a fair recommendation. Start digital though since piece management is pretty hard for kids on a game like Small World.
I've got a Five-year-old who's been gaming with us for 2 years. I would suggest looking at some age-appropriate games (I'm guessing ages 6-8, realistically, it works for my 5 year old). I've found stuff from Game Wright Games, who just so happen to make Forbidden Island. A lot of their games are really quite fun (even for adults), while still being great board games for their ages. The best part is they're designed to be shorter, while still engaging and learning.
The other game company I've found making great children's games is Blue Orange Games. They do some fantastic work as well. They're designed for some younger play in mind, but, again, they're easy to learn and great for the age group. Our son quite loves Pengaloo. It's a memory-style game, which isn't necessarily challenging for adults, but he gets a kick out of it.
Check 'em out for games that are age-appropriate, fun, and non-traditional.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Proud Owner of: Extremeicon's Hamster-balled soul Istanbul's Soul, Bidder of Myself votan's Linux-loving Soul grappler12's Poop-smithing Soul Sir Blakely's Fencing Soul CraZedMiKe's Soul Transferred Back at His Request HAWKEYE 7's Calvin and Hobbes Loving Soul Tanthalas' Greek Alliance Soul Avatar of Kokusho's Island-Hating Soul Salubrious' Rather-Belatedly Added Soul
We started with naughts and crosses (later with unlimited space and getting 5 in a row, instead of tic-tac-toe), which was a pretty big hit at schools when me and my wife were young. It's a great game in that it helps one grasp several other popular games from GO to checkers to chess. It also has one of the easiest set-ups and lot to learn and can be started even before kids learn to read.
As for board games, several good ones have been mentioned already, but just beware some xx Kids -versions. Several of them are toned down so much that the cool parts are left out. Carcassone kids is nice, but most fast games don't really need any changes to be playable by kids who can read.
With the caveat that I don't hold hope for getting a 5 year old to sit and play.
Dixit could be a good bet. You have a hand of storybook picture cards with Apples to Apples sort of play.
-Storyteller describes a card.
-Everyone secretly submits a card they think matches the description.
-Everyone except the storyteller vote on the options.
-Determine points.
The trick is you need at least one player to guess the Storyteller's card, and not be obvious enough that everyone guesses it. So it might take them a while to get that subtlety down.
Tsuro is another option. Simple enough for a 5 year old to play. Up to 8 people can play, and the gameplay is very different with a large vs a small group.
Ticket to Ride First Journey: both USA & Europe versions would be great in then next 1-3 years from my kids experience. Also the benefit On giving a little geography without “teaching”.
Games usually play in 10-20 minutes with my kids 7&9 picking up quickly.
I'm a huge board game fan and I'd love to start playing games with them. I'm just not sure where to begin. I have a lot of cooperative board games (Reiner Knizia's LOTR, Forbidden Island), as well as stuff like Deadwood, Elder Sign, Risk, Risk 2210 AD, Axis and Allies 1942, and Lords of Waterdeep. However, I feel like these are probably a little beyond them.
Does anyone have any similar experience with board games and children? I really don't want to resort to Candyland, Sorry, and Mouse Trap.
Any input would be awesome and welcome.
I honestly think that 7 is a better age to introduce board games with more than a handful of rules. By that age kids are more independent thinkers and while they will ask a lot of annoying questions they will also be less easily frustrated and less likely to cheat as a matter of course. One thing I've learned from working with kids is that cheating is a part of playing and once one person cheats everyone else starts to as well. Try playing Uno with a bunch of 2nd graders who keep inserting new "rules" that will help them win.
I'm really not sure what to make of Erikson's theory of development, but it seems more palatable. Erikson suggested that kids should develop initiative during these formative years. Failing that, they will be saddled with guilt and lack of initiative.
From a completely pragmatic thing, socialising is important. Although some kids might be the sharpest tools in the shed, not having those inter- and intrapersonal skills can really stuff up a kid and, later, adult human being (or preclude him or her from realizing his or her full potential).
I can't strongly recommend a particular board game, geeky or not.
I introduced my uncle's family to the game about a year and a half ago, and his son was about 5-6 at the time. Their second game at home, he beat the rest of the family soundly.
My helpdesk should you need me.
Heh, I just watched the Tabletop episode of King of Tokyo after your suggestion. Looks pretty cool. I think I could definitely play that with them, if I just maybe eliminated the energy and extra cards for now, and incorporated them later. But yeah, definitely cool. Thanks, Ravnos!
Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with BoardGameGeek but wasn't aware I could search by age. Pretty handy info. Also, Kids of Carcassonne and Catan:Junior both look pretty good. Thanks cme!
I hear what you're saying. They have junior versions of most of the classics, so I might check those out as well. As far as kids making up rules, I know exactly what you're talking about. When the kids and I do game night every week and we're playing Chuggington, if they don't spin the wheel hard enough, they take it upon themselves to respin. Uno with a bunch of 8-year-olds sounds fun.
I didn't mean to paint a caricature of my kids, but they do have other interests as well. They love sports of all kinds and types, they're outside a lot, have friends in the neighborhood, love to play outdoor games, and love going to the beach. Like any well-rounded developing people, they like geeky stuff in addition to a lot of other interests. Plus, we don't play games very often, maybe once or twice a week as part of a family game night.
The reason I want to play games with them is to teach them how to be a gracious winner and a good loser. My kids have a strong competitive streak and do not take losing very well. I want to play games and have fun with them, of course, but there are lessons to be learned around the board game as well. Especially since I want to get them into organized sports eventually and want to make sure they can handle themselves after a loss.
I wouldn't force anything recreational on my kids that they didn't like. They're already asking to play stuff like Lords of Waterdeep and Catan. But yeah, scaling the age they play to the complexity of the game is a good idea.
Huh, I didn't even consider Munchkin. I just got the deluxe version for my birthday earlier this year. Definitely a possibility!
The big ones (5-8 in our circle) love dominion and the penny arcade card game (both pretty similar)
Also nothing wrong with outside time. Encouraging them to try things they aren't immediately interested in is good for stretching them. They will find nerdy stuff on their own if they're into it.
Grammar is the difference between knowing your ****, and knowing you're ****.
It's a game where you work together, so it's good for promoting teamwork and co-operation instead of competition.
Also, I went out and got a cheap "teach yourself" chess set. The pieces are big and in detail on the base are the legal moves and attacks for each piece. We played this as well during our game night. They're picking it up really quick, and are having a lot of fun.
I have Catan:Junior and King of Tokyo on order from Amazon, so I should have those for the next game night. Carcassonne for Kids was a little on the expensive side ($120-140!) so I'm refraining from getting that until it is reprinted.
Thanks again for everyone's suggestions!
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
This is exactly what I was going to suggest. Rules are pretty simple, games are fairly short.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
The other game company I've found making great children's games is Blue Orange Games. They do some fantastic work as well. They're designed for some younger play in mind, but, again, they're easy to learn and great for the age group. Our son quite loves Pengaloo. It's a memory-style game, which isn't necessarily challenging for adults, but he gets a kick out of it.
Check 'em out for games that are age-appropriate, fun, and non-traditional.
Proud Owner of:
Extremeicon's Hamster-balled soul
Istanbul's Soul, Bidder of Myself
votan's Linux-loving Soul
grappler12's Poop-smithing Soul
Sir Blakely's Fencing Soul
CraZedMiKe's Soul Transferred Back at His Request
HAWKEYE 7's Calvin and Hobbes Loving Soul
Tanthalas' Greek Alliance Soul
Avatar of Kokusho's Island-Hating Soul
Salubrious' Rather-Belatedly Added Soul
DCI Advanced Organizer
As for board games, several good ones have been mentioned already, but just beware some xx Kids -versions. Several of them are toned down so much that the cool parts are left out. Carcassone kids is nice, but most fast games don't really need any changes to be playable by kids who can read.
Set to default
Dixit could be a good bet. You have a hand of storybook picture cards with Apples to Apples sort of play.
-Storyteller describes a card.
-Everyone secretly submits a card they think matches the description.
-Everyone except the storyteller vote on the options.
-Determine points.
The trick is you need at least one player to guess the Storyteller's card, and not be obvious enough that everyone guesses it. So it might take them a while to get that subtlety down.
Tsuro is another option. Simple enough for a 5 year old to play. Up to 8 people can play, and the gameplay is very different with a large vs a small group.
Moderator Help Desk
Sales Thread
Games usually play in 10-20 minutes with my kids 7&9 picking up quickly.