Tag: fine motor

Categories
Gifts Holiday Kindergarten Age Learning Parenting Toys and Games

12 of The Best Board Games for Kids: Meaningful Gift Ideas

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , best games for kids

I don’t know about you, but I start my Christmas shopping in August. With five kids, it’s essential to begin early and to make sure all my gift plans are in place. My kids love games, so I have been researching the best games for kids.

While I know some of the games they would enjoy, there are so many games out there that I have never heard of. I like to buy games for kids that help develop their skills, and all of the games in this post are ones that do just that.

This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.

Best Games for Kids

1. Race to the Treasure

I love this game because instead of playing against one another, the kids work together to beat an ogre to a treasure. While playing Race to the Treasure, kids will learn strategy, math concepts, making decisions as a team, and cooperation.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old, Race to the Treasure game for kids, board game for kids

2. 5 Second Rule Jr.

This is a family-friendly version of the 5 Second Rule adult game. When playing 5 Second Rule Jr., kids will read a card and give an answer within 5 seconds. Since it involves quick thinking, funny answers are bound to happen.

With good laughs and light-hearted fun, this game is perfect for family bonding time. If the child can’t quite read yet, playing on teams is fun, too.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old, 5 second rule jr., board games for kids

3. Pie Face Showdown

Pie Face is such a fun game, even if it is a little messy. The original game involved players passing the whipped cream covered hand around the table and turning the crank, hoping to not get hit in the face with whipped cream.

Pie Face Showdown is an upgraded version of the original. This one requires two players to both have their faces in front of a whipped cream covered hand. The players have to push their buttons faster to make the whipped cream hit their opponent.

4. Guess Who?

Guess Who is a classic, and it’s one of my favorites. Each player has a card with a person on it, and their opponent has to figure out which character the other one has. The first to figure out their opponent’s character wins the game.

The way you eliminate characters is by asking descriptive questions. These questions can be “Is your person wearing a hat?”, “Does your person have a mustache?”, or anything else that can help eliminate characters and lead you to your opponent’s character.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old, Guess Who, Board Games for kids

5. Buggaloop

This game features a Hexbug that crawls underneath the “backyard” (the game board). It can climb vertically, horizontally, turn corners, and go through loops and tubes. You have to try and get your game piece all the way across the board before the Hexbug appears and takes you out.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old, BuggaLoop board game, Hexbug game for kids

6. Uno

This simple classic card game is perfect for kids because it teaches so many things at once. Color and number matching, taking turns, and paying attention are all skills they can develop while playing.

I play this game often with my 3 and 4-year-old, as well. The only change I make is that we can see each other’s cards so that I can help as needed.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , card games for kids, Uno

7. Rush Hour Jr.

To play this game, kids will shift vehicles out of the way to clear a path to the exit. There are 40 levels, allowing for endless fun and brain stimulation. Rush Hour Jr. can help improve logical and spatial reasoning, planning skills, and problem-solving.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , logic games for kids, Rush Hour Jr

8. Operation

Another classic, the game of Operation has stood the test of time. Kids love this game, no matter which era they were born in.

It helps develop fine motor skills as kids use tweezers to remove ailments from the patient’s body. If the child misses and hits the side of the opening, the game buzzes, and the patient’s nose lights up. The player who can remove the most ailments wins.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , games to develop fine motor skills, operation

9. Ravensburger Labyrinth

I am so excited to get this game for my son for Christmas. The game changes each time you play it because the tiles move. This ensure that the child won’t get bored with it, since it’s pretty much a different game each time.

They will move their piece around the board, working their way to a treasure. On each turn, the child will also have the chance to change the path of the maze. It’s the perfect game to teach strategy.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , board games for kids, Labyrinth

10. No Stress Chess

This game offers a chance to teach kids how to play chess with little frustration on their part. It comes with a deck of cards that teach the rules of the game and strategies that should be used.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , teach kids to play chess, no stress chess, chess for kids

11. Skillmatics Educational Game: Brain Games

This is a game that is fun for the whole family, as the age range is from 6-99 years. It teaches thinking and reasoning, plus logic and problem-solving skills. As the game is played, the boards can be wiped off and done again.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , brain games for kids

12. SpringFlower Sight Word Game

My son isn’t a huge fan of working on his sight words the traditional way. I’m always looking for new activities to help him learn them. When I found this game, I was so excited. I only wish I had come across it sooner!

The kids will use the fly swatters to smack the appropriate sight word when it is called out. It’ll help them recognize the word more quickly, and it’ll be fun, helping to commit it to memory.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , sight word game, how to teach sight words

Final Thoughts on 12 of The Best Games for Kids

With as much as my kids love games, I always want to choose the ones that they will love. The best games for kids are the ones that offer a learning opportunity or help develop skills.

What are some of the games your kids love? Do you have any games for kids that you want to buy as a Christmas gift this year? Leave me a comment and let me know! I’d love to hear about it.

gift ideas for a 6 year old boy, 6 year old boy gift guide, gifts for a 6 year old , best games for kids

Posts Related to the Best Games for Kids

Categories
Family Activities Free Activities Infant/Toddler Learning Toddler and Preschool Age Fun Toddler and Preschool Age Learning Toys

Rubber Band Character Rescue – Easy Fine Motor Activity

easy fine motor activity, rubber band character rescue, fine motor activity with rubber bands, PJ Masks character rescue, PJ Masks fine motor activity, dinosaur fine motor activity

This rubber band character rescue was a HIT with my kids. It kept them busy and having fun while fine tuning their fine motor skills. Some days, keeping them productively busy is hard to do when they just want to watch YouTube and Netflix or play video games.

I admit, my kids get a little too much screen time. I try to balance it out with activities that work their hands and minds at the same time. As a busy mom, that’s sometimes difficult when so many activities take just as much time preparing or cleaning up as your kids will spend doing the actual activity. Because of that, I’m always trying to find new ideas that don’t require much preparation, clean-up, or supplies.

easy fine motor activity, rubber band character rescue, fine motor activity with rubber bands, PJ Masks character rescue, PJ Masks fine motor activity, dinosaur fine motor activity

This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.

This easy fine motor activity was perfect because:

  1. It required less than 5 minutes of preparation.
  2. I was able to pick random toys that we already had and that I didn’t have to search for. You can literally use ANYTHING.
  3. My kids loved it.
  4. They spent quite a bit of time taking rubber bands off (rescuing) and putting them back on (re-trapping).
  5. They spent time sharing toys and trading fairly.
  6. Helped develop fine motor skills.
  7. This can be done anytime and anywhere. If you throw a pack of rubber bands in your diaper bag or purse you can always count it. I bought *these* rubber bands (click for link) because the rubber bands are sturdy, stretchy, and affordable).
easy fine motor activity, rubber band character rescue, fine motor activity with rubber bands, PJ Masks character rescue, PJ Masks fine motor activity, dinosaur fine motor activity

Fine Motor Rubber Band Character Rescue

Choose their favorite characters, or do a variety of different characters. I chose PJ Masks characters, a Paw Patrol, and a dinosaur… mostly because those toys were some of the first ones I found, but also because my kids love those ones and play with them daily.

This activity is so easy. You can just grab a couple characters that your child loves and throw some rubber bands on them. Be creative and add more fun by using multiple colors of rubber bands and wrapping the rubber bands different ways.

Your child will then get to rescue their favorite character from the rubber bands while fine tuning their fine motor skills.

easy fine motor activity, rubber band character rescue, fine motor activity with rubber bands, PJ Masks character rescue, PJ Masks fine motor activity, dinosaur fine motor activity

Take Activity a Step Further

Once your child has rescued their character from the rubber bands, challenge them to wrap the characters back up in the rubber bands.

My kids were excited when I told them that they had to tie the character back up so that we could see if I could rescue them, too.

easy fine motor activity, rubber band character rescue, fine motor activity with rubber bands, PJ Masks character rescue, PJ Masks fine motor activity, dinosaur fine motor activity

Final Thoughts On Rubber Band Character Rescue – An Easy Fine Motor Activity

I love doing fun developmental activities with my kids, but life gets so busy that it’s hard finding the time. It took me too long to figure out that fun stuff doesn’t have to require tons of prep or clean-up. A quick bit of time after work/school can make for just as much fun as the more complicated activities.

Since trying out different easy fine motor activities, this rubber band character rescue has become a favorite for my family. From “trapping” spider man to PJ Masks toys, we spend time rescuing pretty much everything.

**What character would your kids love to rescue?! Tell me about it in the comments! **

My kids love this one and ask to do it all the time. It’s become my go-to activity in the car, in restaurants, and during any other “boring” wait times. Give it a shot and tell me how it goes for your child!

Do you have a favorite easy activity for kids that you like to do when you don’t have much time? Let us know!