I have been a fan of board games since I was a kid. What else did we have to do in the days before video games and iPads? But I have never come across cooperative board games as a kid and I think I would enjoy them a lot more!
Lexi displayed interest in board games very early on, but was too young to play anything traditional. So we picked up Scotchi games which I wrote about and are a good precursor to more traditional board games. But I couldn’t wait until she was old enough to play more serious board games. About a year ago when she was 3, almost four we started on the GAME OF LIFE. She loved the concept and the fact that you get a husband and a baby, but in her 3 year old fashion wanted things to happen her way and was not happy when she wouldn’t land on any baby spots.
So when I found Peaceable Kingdom games, I felt like a kid in a candy store for several reasons. One: because, to be completely honest, I freaking love board games. Two: the games are so colorful, fun, and most importantly for me unusual. I am not a traditional person, I love new and different. Not that it’s about me clearly, but hey I would have to be playing with her as well, so let’s take that into account.
The most amazing difference between Peaceable Kingdom games and traditional board games is that the former are COOPERATIVE BOARD GAMES in nature. There are no losers or winners, you play against a villain and you all lose or win. For ages 3-6 being able to play a board game that is cooperative is incredibly important because their sense of mastery is rooted in winning. (So note: if you’re playing traditional games, it’s ok for you to let them win).
So to try some out we picked out the following games with the help of Lexi:
Table of Contents
4 FAVORITE COOPERATIVE BOARD GAMES
Friends and Neighbors – cooperative board game
Teaches empathy, cooperation and compassion.
The Fairy Game – cooperative board game
Board/Card Game where the goal is to collect enough matching fairy cards
Cauldron Quest – cooperative board game
Our favorite of all the cooperative board games, it’s a combination of magic spells, dice throwing and secret ingredients. Much more complicated than others but also the most fun one of all the cooperative games we tried.
Cheese Quest – cooperative board game
Simple and easy fun racing against the cat to try and get to the cheese.
You can view our first Facebook LIVE broadcast going over these games together, if you’d like to hear about them in detail.
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IMPORTANCE OF BOARD GAMES IN A NUTSHELL:
Cooperative board games are highly beneficial to us all, especially to young kids. Not only do you have the benefit of just spending some screen-free, distraction-free time as a family, there are a lot of other good things that kids get when they play board games.
- improved logical reasoning
- healthy competition
- number and shape recognition
- letter recognition, improve reading skills
- eye-hand coordination improved
- social skills like sharing, taking turns, enjoying time with others
- lengthen your child’s attention span
Reference: The Benefits of Board Games
