When you have younger kids, or kids with a wider age gap, finding the perfect game to play as a family can be a little bit challenging. But it's possible! Today I am going to share with you the best family games to play with kids of all ages. These games we've played with my daughter when she was as young as three or four (with a few modifications). By the times she was five/six/seven she was able to join in as a regular player that could pretty much play the whole game as an individual. I also love these games because they are fun to play as an adult too. I'll start with my very favorite games, but know that if my child picked any of these games for a family game night, I'd be happy with their selection.
Silly Street | This game is one of my favorites to play as a family and is truly perfect for all ages. To play you puzzle together a large game board. The objective is to move your piece across the game board to the end. You do this by choosing cards that will give you a silly task to complete, things like "sing twinkle twinkle little star in a very high voice," "tell a silly story about a giraffe with a balloon," or "find an object in the room that you can wear as a hat." There are also nice challenges like having everyone go around in the circle as say something they like about the person to their right. At the end of the game the winner gets to choose a song and everyone dances to it together. Overall it's a super high vibe experience and a game that always contains a lot of laughter and silliness.
Sequence | I love playing this game as an adult and I think it is pretty easy to let kids play it too. To play you have five cards in your hand and a board with all the cards pictured on it. On your turn you play a card from your hand and put your colored tile on the same card on the board. There are two options for each card. The objective is to get 5 tiles in a row, twice. Once you get five in a row you have a sequence. This game is fun as an adult because you are trying to strategize which cards to play where to get the best chance at a sequence. This game works for kids because they can simply choose any card and play it anywhere and still win in the end. I'm not kidding my three year old won the game the first time we let her play with us. Maybe with younger kids you would want to shorten the game to one sequence, but if they have a good attention span, this is a great game to let them be a part of.
*There is also a specific Sequence board game for kids if that seems like a better fit for your family.
Cranium | I loved playing cranium as a kid and so when we got it for our family I had high hopes even though I didn't exactly remember how to play. Well my hopes were realized and it has been so fun to play as a family. I believe the idea is to play in teams which we sometimes do, but we have also played as a family. To play the game one person rolls a colored dice and then draws a card. They have to accomplish the activity on the card that matches the color of their roll. It can be a trivia question, acting something out, drawing a picture with your eyes closed, making something out of clay, etc. You work as a team or with the whole family to complete the activity. If you can do it in the right amount of time, you get to move on a board. First one to the finish wins. It is a game that fosters a lot of creativity and is very fun because you are pretty much constantly doing new activities. It get's you working together and I would say that with a bit of flexibility or some slight modifications, your youngest could find a way to participate as well.
Gnoming Around | We got this game for Christmas one year and then promptly spent the month of January playing it almost every night. It is so fun and even our youngest daughter would join in for a round or two when she was 4-5. Basically you have nine cards face down and you spend the game flipping them over. You want to get the least amount of points (negative points) like in golf. Some cards give you negative points but you can also get negative points by getting three of the same cards in a row. It's a pretty simple game which makes it perfect for family, but also takes some strategy and forward thinking. And sometimes you get really lucky as well. We talked our youngest through the strategy of the game the first few times she played and now she can handle a full on game on her own (she only needs help tallying up her score). Anyways we are big fans of this game over here so I would definitely recommend.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and Moose Match Mayhem | Made by the same creators, our family loves both of these card games. They are super simple to play and have some silly twists that keep everyone laughing. Both games have been easily picked up by our younger kids and seem easy enough for them to play along. We also recently just got the game Bing Bang Boom from the same creators and it is also a hit in our family. If your looking for a quick card game, these are good options. We also love them cause they are easy to pack along for family vacations or camping trips.
Dixit Disney Edition | We love playing the original Dixit game but I think we love the Disney edition even more. This game is more fun with the full six players but we love playing it as a family of four as well. Basically everyone has cards in their hand that have really detailed and intricate pictures on them. One person chooses a card and tries to give a pretty general one word or short phrase clue about their card. Everyone else tries to pick a card that would match that word. They are secretly shuffled and then laid out and everyone votes on what card they think is the original card. If you are the original clue giver you want some people to choose your card but not everyone. Everyone else gets more points if people choose their card. Overall it's a very fun game that sparks creativity and requires some thoughtful imagination.
Hues and Cues | I'm super biased because I love this game so much. It's a big board with a lot of colors. Each round someone gets a color from the board and then they gives a one word clue to try to get players to put their pieces on or close to that color. Then they get a two word clue. Everyone can get points if they can get their guesses close enough to the right color. It's challenging to think of the right words, but a very simple game to pick up. It can be really exciting when everyone is on the same wavelength and kind of funny when people are not.
Clue Junior | I really love solving a mystery games, and this one is just better for kids. Much like the original game you are trying to solve who, what, and where but this time for kids. The big question is who set off the volcano with what ingredients when they were suppose to be in which class? My kids have liked playing as well. As a bonus on the other side of the game board is a cooperative mystery game where you are trying to figure out who took something from the playground and what they took. It's a fun game for even younger kids.
Ticket to Ride First Journey | The original Ticket to Ride game is so fun to play, but can be pretty long and get kind of intense. This kids version has the same fun made much easier and shorter, so you can play with kids. Like ticket to ride you are trying to connect cities by train and you get points for all the connections you can make. It's a great game to play to kind of have or gain some foundational board game savvy.
Eye Found It Disney Hidden Picture Game | This is a fun cooperative game where everyone is trying to make it to the end of the game board before the clock strikes midnight. You can move when you spin and get a certain number, or you might land on a red or blue space. If you do that you pick a card and everyone tries to find as many of that cards items on the board. For example you might pick an Apple Card, then everyone gets to search the board for a minute. If you find 8 apples everyone gets to move 8 spaces. It's a really great game to play together and it's kind of fun to have a game where you win if everyone wins.
There you go, 11 games I think are perfect for families with young kids and older kids as well. Games that can truly bring everyone to the table and allow everyone to participate. Below I'll give a few quick honorable mentions for games that are more geared towards a younger audience, but let me know in the comments if there are any board or card games you love to play with your family!
Outfoxed | A Cooperative Whodunnit Mystery Game
Enchanted Cupcake Party | Who doesn't want to create princess inspired cupcakes!
Connect 4 | Classic, Simple, Fun, Quick
Don't Break the Ice | Memorable Childhood Game
Pengoloo | A cute and simple matching game.
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