The Best Introductory Board Games for ages 5-6

We continue our series of introductory games for different age groups. In our previous post we talked about introducing games at the very youngest age. At 2-4 years old all we can expect is an acclimation to the format of playing games: following rules, taking turns, etc. At ages 5-6 we can start to see the development of critical thinking reflected in game designs which provide opportunities for a child to improve in a game over several plays. Here are a few games that we believe would work well as an introduction to board games for ages 5 to 6.

Outfoxed – ages 5+

Outfoxed is a cooperative deduction game. No matter the age, I like to stick to cooperative games as much as possible when first introducing board games to kids. It allows us to hold their hand through the rules, teaching a game by leading, and easing the emotions of a loss (or win!).

“Mrs. Plumpert’s prized pot pie has gone missing, and now it’s a chicken chase to crack the case!” Can your group of chicken sleuths determine which fox stole the pie? Out of a list of supsects depicted on separate cards, one is chosen secretly and placed into a decoder. Players move around to collect clue about the culprit. Does he have a hat? If yes, remove all suspects without a hat. You have to narrow it down to one suspect before the fox travels to the end of the board.

Players will roll the dice to move their pawn or to search a clue spot they are currently on. The game uses a decoder which has you place the clue card in it, slide out a panel and a green coloured dot will indicate the suspect has that characteristic (in this case, a briefcase).

The game plays very similar to the popular Guess Who game, but the cooperative nature make it easier for young kids. It’s also more fun to have the tactile component of moving your piece around to explore, roll some dice yahtzee-style, and nervously watch the fox approach its destination.

The Magic Labyrinth – ages 6+

“The little magician apprentices have lost some magic objects inside the master’s maze. Now they try to collect them before the Master notices anything. However, in the maze there are invisible walls and only one of the missing objects is revealed at a time. So they have to make their way through the maze by means of good memory and skill.”

The Magic Labyrinth is a memory game with a spatial aspect. If you have trouble keeping directions and knowing your left from your right, your child will probably destroy you at this game. It uses a cleverly raised board that holds a magnetic pawn on the top and a metal ball underneath. The top is an image of a grid, but beneath the board are adjustable walls, so if your pawn’s ball hits a wall underneath you will hear the ball fall. Any time that happens, you move back to the beginning, but now you know there is a wall on that particular spot. Try again and navigate the invisible maze to collect a number of tokens to win.

It’s such a clever design. Turns are fast and distances are short so you don’t feel bad hitting a wall. Watching other players and where they hit a wall are also beneficial as you are collecting information to be able to go further down the path. The number of walls under the board can be scaled to make the game easier or harder for different age groups. I’ve even seen my daughter play this solo, just trying to collect as many tokens as possible.

Race to the Treasure – ages 5+

“The race is on! Can you beat the Ogre to the treasure? It’s your job to make a path from START to the treasure and collect the three keys that will open the treasure’s locks before the Ogre gets there. Strategize, cooperate, and build the path together.”

Race to the Treasure is another cooperative game, but this time we are laying tiles to build a path (a good first step for those of you who like the popular game Carcassonne).  Tiles are drawn at random and as a team you have to make a path to collect keys on the grid and take them to the treasure at the end. However, Ogre tiles are randomly mixed in the pile of tiles, so if enough Ogres are selected to reach the treasure first, we all lose.

Gameplay is simple enough for my 3 year old to play along her 5 year old sister. The critical thinking comes in how you lay your path. Since the keys are in different areas you want to lay your paths to branch in different directions, however kids tend to think linearly and create a direct path to one key even if it makes the path to the subsequent key more difficult. As a parent we have to show them how to keep their options open and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Monza – ages 5+

Monza is a car race game whereby the race cars move around the colourful circuit via dice. It’s a simple roll and move … with a smart twist. Players roll 6 multicoloured dice matching the spots on the track. To move to the next coloured spot you will need a die of that colour. You can also change lanes to increase your options.

As mentioned earlier, children think linearly. They want to move their car ahead so they look for the first colour in front of them, even if they don’t have the next colour after that. We want them to find the best option, even if it’s not obvious. We want them to realize they could move laterally to another lane, then ahead a couple of steps, then maybe change lanes again, etc; whichever colour combo gets them the furthest. Consider the situation depicted below, they could move forward with a white, then red, but be stuck with no green. Or they can change lanes to the blue, then yellow, then purple, then yellow, to get much further.

At first they will physical lay out each die on a spot to plan out their route. However, it is really interesting to see their progression to visualizing the route in their head without the need to touch the dice. The game does a great job at encouraging colour recognition, spatial reasoning and tactical thinking. With such simple concepts, a child as young as 3 can play too, however avoid playing with too many players. It can easily bottleneck, blocking the paths of players in the back, which can be frustrating for young players. We have house-ruled the “tire” spots to be wild-colour spots instead of blocked spots, making the game slightly easier for younger kids.

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At this age there are many great games that are pure simple fun, however, for now, we want to focus on games that best exemplify the cognitive benefits of board games that we previously discussed. Definitely keep an eye out for future posts recommending more games at this age range.  We look forward to showing you more wonderful ways to play with your kids! Up next talk about ages 7-9!