I sway back and forth on the spectrum of how strict I am on screen time, but as a general rule I try to limit it. One way to keep my kids away from the screens when its dark out is to incorporate board games. Games are great for math skills, taking turns, teamwork, focus, and how to be gracious loser. The difficult part is finding games that work for little kids. We started incorporating games in as young as three years old and now at four RT is playing even more. Here are our favorite in no particular order.
As a kid my dad and I played Chutes and Ladders over... and over... and over. Its marked ages three and up and super easy to play. All kids need to be able to do is count to six.
A counting game where you take or give fruits,
Hi Ho Cherry-o is a staple game for this age. One of my friends had this as a kid and we spent many weekend afternoons playing it sprawled out on her living room floor.
Of course no list would be complete with everybody's favorite, Candy Land. Easy, colorful, fun, and full of sweets.
We were gifted Break The Ice from a coworker leaving the classroom, and it could not have come at a better time for us. The object of the game is to use the little ice picks and knock out ice cubes without making the penguin in the middle fall. I can't tell you the number of times we have played this game. Ours spent years in a classroom and now is around lots of three and four year old boys and is still holding up. Seriously. Buy this game!
We love the Goodnight, Goodnight Construction site book series, and
this matching game for ages 2-4 is great too. The illustrations in this entire series are so fun. Matching games are great because you can take out sets of cards to make it easier or use the full set to make it more difficult. It's a game that can grow as the kids do.
With cold weather coming, these will be on rotation in our house! They make great gifts too. Enjoy!
