Best Board Games for Toddlers to Nurture Strategy Skills

Top 14 Best Board Games for Toddlers 2023

1. Best Overall Board Game For Toddlers: The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2-4

Duration of Game: 20 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Competitive

Possible choking hazard? Yes

In the Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game, kids race to be the first to help their squirrel fill up their log with acorns. On their turns, players use the spinner to determine what color acorn to collect. After they know their color, they must grab a matching acorn with the Squirrel Squeezer and place it into their log. There are also spaces on the spinner that allow them to pick any color or steal an acorn from another player. There’s also a space that makes them lose an acorn.

Our favorite thing about the Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game is the included Squirrel Squeezer. The Squeezer works like a pair of tongs and is perfectly suited for little hands. It also looks adorable and makes picking up the acorns a little more difficult without being too frustrating. We also liked the brightly colored acorns but they are definitely a choking hazard for younger toddlers.

Skills Required: To play the Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game, kids only need to be able to match colors and be able to use the Squirrel Squeezer.

What they will learn: This game reinforces color matching, promotes motor skills and rewards basic strategy. The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game also teaches good sportsmanship as it can be particularly frustrating when players get unlucky and have their acorns lost or stolen.

2. Best Bingo Game for Toddlers: Zingo

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2-6

Duration of Game: Under 5 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Competitive

Possible choking hazard? Yes

Described as “Bingo with a Zing”, Zingo challenges two or more players to race against each other to fill all nine squares on their board first. Rather than the numbers found in bingo, spaces on Zingo cards are filled with simple words and illustrations. There are more advanced versions of Zingo for older kids as well.

The reason this game is so much fun to play is the included “Zinger” device. This is the device that dispenses the tiles players use to cover spaces on their Zingo board. With a quick sliding motion, the Zinger spits out two tiles face-up on the tray below where they can be grabbed by the fastest player with a matching space on their board.

Skills Required: In order to play Zingo, players must be able to match the images and words on the tiles dispensed by the Zinger to the same images and words on the card in front of them.

What they will learn: Toddlers who play Zingo will improve their language skills, concentration, and recognition of words and images.

3. Best Strategy Game for Toddlers: My First Castle Panic

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 1-4

Duration of Game: 20 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Cooperative

Possible choking hazard? No

In My First Castle Panic, the castle is under attack and all players need to work together to save it! This cooperative game is simple enough for toddlers but has enough strategy that older kids will be happy to join in the fun as well. The simple game board represents the path to the castle. As monsters approach, players must play cards with matching symbols in order to capture them. Some of the monsters have special abilities that make them harder to catch.

My First Castle Rush is a great cooperative game for kids with older siblings. The rules encourage lots of communication and the best strategy for winning is for players to share cards with each other at the right times. The players won’t always win the game, but everyone will have fun and the whole group will win or lose together.

Skills Required: With very few skills required, My First Castle Panic is a fantastic board game for any toddler who can learn a few simple rules and match shapes. This is the most advanced cooperative game we reviewed, but toddlers should have no problem playing all by themselves.

What they will learn: Toddlers playing My First Castle Panic will improve their teamwork, shape matching ability and communication. The game also develops strategic planning and teaches kids to win or lose as a team.

4. Best Matching Game for Toddlers: Disney Matching Game

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 1+

Duration of Game: 15 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Both

Possible choking hazard? Yes

Disney characters are a great subject for a memory matching game. This is because these are the same characters known and loved by children around the world already, it’s much easier for kids to focus on remembering where the tiles are. Parents of Frozen obsessed toddlers will be happy to know that Anna and Elsa are included as well.

We were impressed by the quality of the game tiles, which are made from sturdy, recycled cardboard. The illustrations on the tiles are bright and high-quality as you would expect from Disney. One small issue with the game is that the background colors of some tiles can be seen even when the card is face down allowing players to narrow down which characters it could be. This is very difficult to notice, however, and requires getting very close to the tile in order to see it.

Skills Required: There is no reading or math needed to play the Disney Matching Game. Players will improve as their memory develops.

What they will learn: While this game is mostly focused on improving memory, players also develop focus and critical thinking skills.

5. Best First Competitive Board Game for Toddlers: Candy Land

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2-4

Duration of Game: 15 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Competitive

Possible choking hazard? No

In Candy Land, up to four players race to be the first to reach King Kandy’s castle. Each player controls one of the four brightly colored gingerbread man pieces as it moves along the illustrated board. While traveling through Candy Land, players will pass landmarks like the Gumdrop Mountains and the Lollipop Woods while avoiding perils like getting stuck in licorice or the Molasses Swamp.

We like that instead of a spinner or dice, players draw cards from a pile to determine how far their piece will move. Rather than telling players how many spaces they can move, each card reveals either one or two blocks of color. The player then moves their token to the next one or two squares of that color. There is also a handful of cards with pictures of the residents of Candy Land mixed in that let players move to special spaces.

Skills Required: In order to play Candy Land, toddlers must be able to match colors from the cards they draw to the colors of the squares on the game board.

What they will learn: In addition to teaching color matching, Candy Land is a perfect introduction to board games for a toddler.

6. Best Active Board Game for Toddlers: The Family Treasure Hunt Game

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 1+

Duration of Game: 1 hour

Competitive or Cooperative? Cooperative

Possible choking hazard? Yes

When most parents think of board games, they think of a group of kids huddled around a table and not getting any exercise. The Family Treasure Hunt Game by Gotrovo is an exception to that rule. Featuring a treasure map puzzle board, each game requires an adult or older child to hide 10 gold coins and a gold treasure bar box.

Rather than just picking random hiding locations, the person hiding the treasure is assisted by 100 reusable clue cards. Not only do they provide great ideas for hiding spots, but they also add a really fun puzzle-solving element to the game.

Because there is no limit to the number of players, The Family Treasure Hunt Game is a great choice for parents hosting a party full of toddlers. While the magnetic gold bar treasure box is large enough to hold all kinds of goodies to reward a successful treasure hunt, a prize is not a necessity for having a great time.

Skills Required: While the help of an older kid or an adult will usually be needed to figure out some of the clues. Kids of any ability level can join in and contribute to the team by helping search for the treasure.

What they will learn: The Family Treasure Hunt Game teaches kids to cooperate, communicate and solve problems together.

7. Best Board Game for Early Readers: The Ladybug Game

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2+

Duration of Game: 20 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Cooperative

Possible choking hazard? Yes

Kylie Copenhagen was only six years old when she invented The Ladybug Game as a 1st-grade assignment. The game has since sold over a million copies, won several awards and received praise from groups such as the Parent’s Choice Foundation. Our favorite part of the Ladybug Game is how it takes rules and game mechanics that are usually not found in toddler-friendly games and presents them in such a way that even any toddler with basic reading and counting ability can learn how to play very quickly.

The first thing we noticed about The Ladybug Game was the long, colorful board with large, easy-to-read text and a clearly defined path with large spaces. Each card included with the game includes simply worded directions using big, colorful letters and numbers. We heard from lots of parents who praised this clear presentation, saying that it greatly improved their little one’s confidence in reading and math in a short amount of time.

Skills Required: The Ladybug Game requires some reading and counting, however, it is a very friendly game for younger toddlers who are a struggling with either skill.

What they will learn: Toddlers will develop language skills, math skills, pattern recognition, and symbol matching while playing The Ladybug Game. They will also learn a lot about ladybugs!

8. Best Competitive Counting Game for Toddlers: Hi Ho! Cherry-O

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2-4

Duration of Game: 20 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Competitive

Possible choking hazard? Yes

The goal of Hi Ho! Cherry-O is simple, pick all the cherries off of your tree before your opponents do the same to theirs. It’s a charming game that was originally published in the 60s. A 2015 update adds a lot to the classic game, introducing 4 different colored fruit pieces as well as new rules for a cooperative variation of the game.

Despite the improvements, the rules remain as easy-to-understand as ever. On each player’s turn, they flick the spinner and then place the indicated number of cherries into their basket. There are also spaces requiring players to take the cherries out of their basket and return them to the tree. The worst result on the spinner is the dreaded spilled bucket, forcing players to remove all the cherries from their buckets and begin all over again.

Skills Required: Hi Ho! Cherry-O only requires players are able to count to four.

What they will learn: Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a great game that will teach toddlers counting and sorting.

9. Best Cooperative Game for Unsupervised Play: Count Your Chickens

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2-4

Duration of Game: 15 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Cooperative

Possible choking hazard? Yes

In Count Your Chickens, players work together to round up a group of baby chicks who have flown the coop. In order to return to the babies to Mama Hen, players will have to cooperate and take turns counting after each spin. The simple rules make this game easy to play for any toddler who has started to learn how to count.

Count Your Chickens is a great game for parents who want a game to play with very young children. Parents we talked to liked how easy this game was for multiple toddlers to play together without adult help, but some noted that the simplicity of the game makes it a little too boring for older siblings to join in the fun.

Skills Required: This game requires no skills to play with a parent or older siblings. To play Count Your Chickens by themselves, toddlers need basic counting ability. Finding out if you win at the end requires being able to count to 40.

What they will learn: Count Your Chickens teaches counting up to 40. It also teaches teamwork and taking turns.

10. Best Word Game for Toddlers: Boggle Junior

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 1-2

Duration of Game: 10-15 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Competitive

Possible choking hazard? Yes

With two-difficulty levels, Boggle Junior is a fun word-building game that can help teach your child letters and how to spell. Boggle Junior comes with the same letter-filled dice as the famous adult version but instead of having to use the letters on the dice to build their own words, kids use the dice to match the words and images printed in the card.

The included cards offer 60 four-letter sight words for kids to spell. The cards sit in a holder with spaces for 4 dice. Players must arrange the dice in the holders so that the word on the card is spelled out. The word is spelled out on the card so younger players will only have to match the letters. As your kids get more advanced at spelling, the holder can be adjusted to conceal the written words, showing only the pictures.

Skills Required: To play the basic Boggle Junior game, players need to be able to match the letters on the dice to the letters written on the cards. For the advanced game, children must be able to spell common sight words.

What they will learn: Boggle Junior teaches and reinforces the reading and spelling of many common words.

11. Best Classic Board Game for Toddlers: Chutes and Ladders

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2-4

Duration of Game: 20 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Competitive

Possible choking hazard? Yes

A classic game of chance, Chutes and Ladders has taught counting and sportsmanship since it was originally brought to the USA in the 1940s. The game is a localization of Moksha Patam, an ancient Indian game created in the 13th century.

The gameplay of Chutes and Ladders is simple and totally luck-based, meaning there is no strategy whatsoever. The board is comprised of 100 numbered spaces and each player takes turns flicking the spinner and then advancing their token the number of spaces indicated. When a player lands on a space with a ladder, their piece climbs the ladder to the higher number, advancing them closer to the finish line. Landing at the top of a chute, however, sends their piece plummeting down to the lower number, making it harder to reach the finish.

Skills Required: Basic counting ability is all that is required to play Chutes and Ladders.

What they will learn: While kids do not make any decisions that have an impact on the result of the game, Chutes and Ladders delivers a timeless lesson about the ups and downs of life.

12. Best Shape Recognition Game for Toddlers: Frankie's Food Truck Fiasco

Recommended Ages: 4+

Number of Players: 2-4

Duration of Game: 10-15 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Competitive

Possible choking hazard? Yes

It’s lunchtime and Frankie the cat has a big line of customers waiting to be fed. Unfortunately, the food has gotten totally mixed up! It’s up to players to help find all 5 courses on today’s menu and save the day.

In Frankie’s Food Truck Fiasco, players take turns matching shapes in order to collect food that matches their menu. On their turn, players flick a spinner with several outcomes. If the spinner lands on a shape, the player must pick up a food item from the truck with a matching symbol. There are also spaces like “Yuck! A Fly in My Soup!” that forces players to return a food item from their mat and “That Looks Delicious!” which allows players to snag food from other players’ mats.

There is more strategy to Frankie’s Food Truck Fiasco than first meets the eye, once players realize that some of the shapes are rarer than others, the competition for those pieces becomes more intense. We also really liked the addition of the included tongs that adds an extra element to the game and helps build motor skills.

Skills Required: To play Frankie’s Food Truck Fiasco, players need to be able to match simple shapes.

What they will learn: Toddlers playing Frankie’s Food Truck Fiasco will learn to recognize geometric shapes like crescents and stars. The game also teaches strategic thinking.

13. Best Hidden Object Game for Toddlers: VATOS Match Board Game

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2+

Duration of Game: 10-15 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Both

Possible choking hazard? Yes

Lots of board games we looked at had colorful illustrations to complement the game, but with the VATOS Match Board Game, the illustrations are the game itself. The VATOS Match Board is a large circular board divided into 4 sections. Printed on the board are 180 drawings of a wide variety of objects ranging from animals to household objects. This board can then be used for several games that challenge your toddler to find the answer on the board.

While the instructions provided are not in perfect English and can be somewhat confusing, there are lots of great games that can be played with the board, the included cards and game pieces. At the heart of all of the games is the fun of frantically searching the board for a picture that matches the clue, There are more ways to play with the VATOS Match Board than any other board game we tested.

Skills Required: This game is good for toddlers of any skill level. Basic reading is required for some of the more advanced games in the package.

What they will learn: The VATOS Match Board Game teaches toddlers observational skills, critical thinking, and concentration.

14. Best Stacking Game for Toddlers: Stack Up!

Recommended Ages: 3+

Number of Players: 2-6

Duration of Game: 15 minutes

Competitive or Cooperative? Cooperative

Possible choking hazard? Yes

Stack Up! is a cooperative block building game where players team up to build a block tower 12 blocks high before the Stack Smasher comes and knocks it down. Instead of stacking the blocks by hand, advanced players are challenged to use stack sticks that make placing the block more difficult. The stack sticks can be held in two different ways for different levels of difficulty.

Stack Up! Was the only cooperative game we reviewed in which every player gets to choose their own level of difficulty. This means that the game can be equally challenging for kids with big age gaps, which enhances the teamwork element. We also liked that knocking over the tower just once does not end the game. Instead, every time the blocks fall, the monster called the Stack Smasher moves one space closer to to the end of the game board. If the Smasher reaches the end, it’s game over and one of the players uses him to topple the tower.

Skills Required: To play using the easiest difficulty, toddlers only need to be able to build a block tower using their hands. As motor skills improve, they can begin playing using the stack sticks.

What they will learn: Stack Up! teaches toddlers to work together and is helpful for the development of fine motor skills for kids of any age.