Best Preschool Board Games of 2023

The Toys Shopping List game by Orchard has received stellar reviews from parents and is a blast. The game is suitable for preschoolers aged 3 to 7 years.

In the game, players must exercise their memory skills by collecting all the items on their shopping list. The one who finishes first wins. In the package, there are four grocery lists, two shopping baskets, two carts, and grocery cards.

Orchard made the game from 100 percent recycled cardboard material with a smooth finish that’s easy to keep clean.

If you’re looking for a fun, educational game, The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel is ideal. It puts a fun spin on color recognition, math, and sorting skills.

To play the game, children must turn the spinner to see which color they should pick. Then, they use the squirrel squeezer to place the matching acorn in the correct log. Users can choose to “pick,” “steal” and even lose an acorn to another player.

Although it’s suitable for 3 years and up, the acorns are quite small. Because of this, don’t let young children play unattended.

This preschool-friendly take on Bingo is a favorite among parents. The game is advertised for pre- to early readers and will exercise language and matching skills.

Up to seven people can play, trying to match the cards. In the box are clear instructions explaining the game.

It puts a fun twist on Bingo by including a Zinger dispenser, which distributes cards for the players to match on their board. Once one is complete, the player must yell “Zingo” to declare victory.

Calling all fans of Busytown, this board game is a great pick for you — I mean, your preschooler. It’s an Eye Found It game with a 6-foot board full of lovable characters, going about their busy lives.

Your preschooler must cooperate with other players as they race through the town to find the hidden objects. Spin the spinner, and every time it lands on Goldbug, players have to work together to search the entire board.

Hoot Owl Hoot is fantastic for those who want to incorporate a matching game into a board game. The set includes colors and matching, great for pre-readers who are getting ready for school.

With the Hoot Owl Hoot board game, your preschoolers must cooperate to help the little owls find their nest before sunrise. The game doesn’t pit players against each other — instead, everyone must work together.

Players will learn simple strategies, taking turns and following directions. There are two levels of play, allowing the game to grow with your child. Included are the instructions for both versions.

The Snail’s Pace Race is great for teaching team building and cooperation skills before attending school. Players must work to get the snails across the board to their respective colors. Each player can move any colored snail by rolling the color dice.

Rules are simple and easy to understand, plus the wooden snails are solid, so even excited children can join in. Completing the game will take around 15 minutes, a good duration for ages 3 and up.

The board and snails include bright colors that will delight children and fun-loving adults. Ravensburger received a Golden Seal award for this game, suggesting it’s well worth a look.

This child-friendly take on Sequence is excellent for preschoolers. It’s straightforward and doesn’t require any reading.

Players must play a card, and then place a chip on the correct character on the board. The first one with four in a row is the winner. This is the animal version, great for children aged 3 to 6 years.

For more excitement, there are also wild cards that players can pull. One example is the unicorn card, which allows a player to place a chip anywhere. The dragon, however, removes one of the opponent’s chips.

The Yoga Garden Game puts all the focus on yoga. The creator of the game is Jennifer Durand, a yoga teacher from San Francisco, who specializes in teaching children.

Much like other preschool board games, this one focuses on building team working skills by having players cooperate. As they move the bumblebee around the board, they learn about yoga poses and associated animals and plants.

Included in the bundle is a straightforward rule book. The illustrations are stunning and soothing, but perhaps some boys may dub it as too girly.

The Candy Land Kingdom of Sweet Adventures is a reinvention of the classic many of us played as kids. It’s an excellent, fun introduction to board games since it includes colors and candy.

Players must race to the castle to find King Kandy, who has been kidnapped. The cards will tell players where to move their gingerbread man on the board. Reading isn’t a requirement — each card shows a color, indicating their next move.

Parents love how easy the game is to play. The pieces are plastic, and up to four players can join in.

We all remember the Chutes and Ladders game. Hasbro is putting a preschooler-friendly touch on it by using vibrant colors and fun characters.

It’s all about reaching the 100 square. Players must spin the spinner for their next move, but watch out for those slides. Along the way, your child can practice number recognition and get a bit competitive.

This is one of those games where everyone wants to join in. Still, a few parents say that young children might have trouble concentrating for a whole game. This suggests it’s better suited for older preschoolers.

Hasbro’s Hi Ho Cherry-O game is an opportunity for hours of entertainment while sneaking in some math. It’s all about picking fruit and placing it in your basket. During the fun, players will count, add, and subtract — wonderful for developing math skills.

It’s quite interactive since there are various fruits to pick, touch, and then place gently. There are blueberries, apples, oranges, and cherries as well as fun Hasbro characters.

Eye Found It games are awesome for the preschool age, and this Disney-inspired version is simply amazing. The game board measures 6 feet, which means there’s a lot to discover.

We’re in love with this game. It takes you through various Disney realms. With more than 1,000 treasures to discover, you can play several times without getting bored.

During your race to Cinderella’s castle, you have to flip the Search Cards, which tell you what to look for. Players can help each other get to the finish line before midnight (the game’s version of midnight — you and your child don’t have to miss your bedtimes to play this game).

In the Outfoxed! game, players must put their investigator hat on to solve the ongoing mystery. The case revolves around Mrs. Plumpert’s pot pie that has suddenly vanished, and now players must crack the whodunit.

During the game, players will find new clues that they must use to solve the case. However, they’re fighting against the clock as the guilty fox is rushing toward the exit. If they don’t crack the case, they’re “Outfoxed.”

Outfoxed is suitable for ages 5 years and up. It’s great for game night, and we’re positive parents will love it, too.

If you want to get your preschooler interested in geographical sites, Carcassonne is a winner. With this board game, they get to discover the fortified city one tile at a time.

Players have to build and claim roads, monasteries, and fields, while, at the same time, they get to build on the city to discover every corner. There’s minimal competitiveness as you get to work together in different teams.

Here’s another Chutes and Ladders game, but with a Spidey twist. This one is all decked out in Spider-Man attire, something my little one would love.

Each player can choose a different character — they can play as a villain or hero. You may see your child’s selection of their character change with their moods.

Players will spin the spinner and get ready to race to the 100 square. When you land on a ladder, you get to skip a few steps ahead of the others. Watch out, though — those chutes bring you right back.

For dinosaur-loving children, we found a game that’s a roaring good time. Dinosaur Escape is about helping yourself, and other players, flee the rumbling Jurassic Island before the volcano erupts. It touches on logic, memory, and a little bit of luck.

Players must cooperate to move the dinosaurs around the course. Then, they’ll uncover dinosaurs under the tokens and get them to safety to complete the game. The game is for ages 3 and up.

Pete the Cat’s cupcakes are missing, and the players will help retrieve them from Grumpy Toad. During the game, you’re met with different challenges to complete, such as singing, dancing, or identifying an object or animal. It’s fantastic if you want to incorporate some physical activity into game night without having to turn on the Wii.

There are 14 cupcakes to bring back from Grumpy Toad’s tray, as he stole them all from Pete’s birthday table. Spin the spinner to know your next move. Up to four players can play, and there are 20 birthday present cards with various activities.

If your little one loves ladybugs as much as mine do, then they’ll love this game too. Before we get into details, the creator of the game is a first-grader named Kylie Copenhagen, and she did an amazing job. It’s an award-winning game, voted by the Parent’s Choice Foundation as one of the best board games for kids.

The Ladybug Game takes children through a magical board to bring Ladybug home to the Rose Garden. The board is large, with vibrant colors and cute bugs hiding in the grass. It’s straightforward, so children will even be able to play independently with friends.

Family Treasure Hunt is an award-winning game that takes your youngster on a pirate scavenger hunt. It’s suitable for the whole family, down to 3 years of age, and it’s one you can play repeatedly.

You can play anytime, anywhere, even outside for more fun. Players have to follow the trails that can change with every game to find the gold coins. There are 100 clue cards with either pictures, riddles, or words.

In this game by Educational Insights, children get to play Frankie the food delivering cat. He must deliver all the food without being sabotaged by pesky flies or greedy guests.

Players must use the Frankie squeezer to collect items that match the corresponding shapes. The one who has all the five-course meal pieces first wins. The game lets your little one practice fine motor skills, math, and shape recognition.

Both jigsaws and board games are fun — combine the two, and you’ve got a winner. The Orchard Game does that. It’s suitable for ages 3 to 6 years.

In the game, children must pick the fruit before the hungry raven steals it. However, they have to be quick and get all the pieces before the raven jigsaw is complete. If they finish before the jigsaw, they win.

It’s an excellent game for kids and adults — up to eight people can play, making it great for game night. It requires some thinking, though it’s still considered a beginner’s game.

Here we have a Disney Princess version of the popular game, Candy Land. The package includes three characters that players can play as — Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Ariel.

Throughout the game, there are cards to guide players, and the one who reaches the castle first wins. There are 44 cards and easy-to-follow instructions.

Whether your little one loves Pete the Cat or buttons, they’ll likely adore this game.

Children must collect all the buttons to win. But, it isn’t as easy as it may seem.

Players can take buttons from each other or collect them from the pile. Once the pile is empty, the player with the most buttons wins.

It’s a fun game full of colors, counting, and decision making. The game is suitable for ages 3 and up.

Let your little ones practice the art of medicine as they help Cavity Sam feel better. The game is fully cooperative and challenging at the same time as players work together in the entire game.

Requiring great hand-coordination skills, your little one’s aim is to prevent touching the sides of the operation while still aiming for the goal of alleviating ailments of Cavity Sam. The board is simplistic, yet intriguing for preschoolers.

If you want to introduce your youngster to the world of programming and coding, you might like this game. The Robot Turtles board game is all about getting the turtle to the jewel for the win. To get there, players must interpret code cards — if they make a wrong move, use a bug card to go back.

In the package are clear instructions to get your preschooler ready to play. The game seems to be fun, interesting, and appropriately challenging.