What’s a gift that connects family and friends through laughter and play? If you guessed board games, give yourself a pat on the back!
No other gift can spark imagination, social bonding, and cooperation, quite like a board game can while providing hours of enjoyment for years to come. Whether you are shopping for young learners, a strategy-loving neighbor, or social “game-night” players, we’ve got a board game for everyone on your list this year!
Ready to create some memories? Game On!
Board Game Gift Guide: Young Learners
Give the gift of fun AND knowledge through gameplay. Whether you are shopping for your Pre-K kid or advanced student, we’ve got a game for every age and stage.
Pre-K Board Games
1. Rooby's ABCs: Come fly with Rooby Roo as you learn your upper and lowercase ABCs. Players take turns drawing one of the 26 letter tokens from the bag, they then place them on the alphabet boards with the matching letter. When a player completes a board, they collect a Rooby token, and the player with the most Rooby tokens when all the letters have been played wins the game. 1-4 players • Playtime: 10 minutes • Ages 3 & up.
2. Wake Up Stars: Find out what makes your friends happy or sad. Players collect stars and share stories about what makes them feel the emotions found on the faces of the stars. The player who collects the most stars wins! 2-4 players • Playtime: 10 minutes • Ages 3 & up.
3. Uncle Beary's Bedtime: Uncle Beary is trying to get the bear cubs to go to bed. Players are helping by taking turns rolling the die. The die roll determines if a players will move the bear cubs from a toy tile to their bed tile or from their bed tile back to a toy tile. The player with the most cubs on their bed tile at the end of the game wins this early counting game. 2-4 players • Playtime: 15 minutes • 3 & up
4. Buddy Puppets: For the Pre-K kid who loves performing. Gather SimplyFun’s Tibbar, Pickles & Digger to set the stage for a puppet party your little will never forget! 1 or more players • Ages 4 & up.
Early Elementary Board Games
1. Glow Spotters: The Glow Spotters Troop is on a nature adventure, trying to count fireflies to earn their Firefly badges. Each player has a set of firefly boards numbered 1 to 10. Players roll the die and collect various-shaped glow tiles to reach the sum of fireflies on their boards. The first player to complete all their boards wins the game and receives their Firefly badge. 1-4 players • Playtime: 20 minutes • 5 & up.
2. Is or Isn't: Play along with the adorable creatures that live in this game’s thesaurus. They will help you learn synonyms and antonyms. Players take turns moving their character pawn around the gameboard, landing on word cards or challenge spaces. When you identify the synonyms or antonyms on your bingo board, cover the squares with a token. Be the first player to complete a line of four tokens horizontally, vertically or diagonally and win the game. 2-5 players • Playtime 15 minutes • 6 & up.
3. Bee Alert: Find the matching-color bee under the hive in this fun memory game that builds fine motor skills and helps players learn to take turns. 2-5 players • Playtime: 15–20 minutes • Ages 5 & up.
4. Team Digger: Playing cooperatively, players create five-card sequences moving their dogs from one dig site to another, digging up what is buried there. Players win as a team when they find all four bones before they dig up five of the unwanted objects. This is a great game for teaching early coding skills. 2-4 Players • Playtime: 30 Minutes • Ages 6 and up.
Mid Elementary Board Games
1. BankIt!: This money management game teaches players to shop for a good bargain while saving money for a bike. This game is an introduction to financial education that covers important economical concepts like saving, interest and giving to help others. 1-4 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • Ages 8 & up.
2. Phantom Seas: Players take turns selecting navigation cards with compass instructions to direct their ships toward scattered treasures. Be watchful and navigate wisely, as other players have set sail for the very same treasures. The player with the largest bounty at the end of the game wins. A fun way to explore directional awareness and navigation. 2-4 players • Playtime: 30 min • 8 & up.
3. Shore Seekers: Practice addition and early multiplication as you roll the dice to move your turtles around the island. Collect cards to determine how many eggs will be in each nest. The player whose turtle has laid the most eggs when all the cards run out wins! 2-7 players • Playtime 30 min • 7 & up.
4. SavannaScapes: Learn about the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem with its amazing diversity of animal life. Players take turns moving around the play area choosing species tiles and placing them next to others to provide them with their needed habitats, creating an ecosystem. Point tokens are earned each time a player meets the needs of their animals or when an event tile is played. The player with the most points when all the rounds are complete wins. 2-5 players • Playtime: 30 min • 7 & up.
Upper Elementary- Teen Board Games
1. Chalk-A-Word: The more words you know the greater your chances. Use your letter cards to create new words or add to existing words in play. Spell as many words as you can and earn the most points before the chalkboard gets wiped clean. 2-5 players • Playtime 30 minutes • 8 & up.
2. Nite Lights: Players light up the sky, stacking their firework cards and blocks on the board by creating and matching color patterns in this colorful strategy game that helps sharpen spatial reasoning. 2-4 players • Playtime: 45 minutes • Ages 10 & up.
3. Eagle Chase: Learn interesting geographical and historical facts about some of the most well-known (and not so well-known) locations in the United States. Players travel the country, visiting as many locations as they can by playing their cards and rolling the dice, while also trying to catch up with the Eagle to earn extra points. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. 2-5 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • 10 & up.
4. Owl Solve That!: Team up with the detectives from the Owl Solve That! Agency to find the answers. Players earn one point for each number card they use. Utilizing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, each player creates equations that match a solution card in their hand. To win, be the first player to reach 25 points on your score card. 2-4 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • 10 & up.
Board Game Gift Guide: Social Games
Liven up game night, date night or your next holiday gathering with these fun social games!
1. Eye to Eye: Ice-cream brands? Things that squeak? Write down three answers from the category card and see how well you know the other players. Be the player to see “Eye to Eye” the most to win the game! 3-6 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • Ages 10 & up.
2. Asymbol: Build it like an architect with Asymbol! In this hilarious and interactive board game, players take turns drawing category cards and creating the subject using any number of the 47 pieces in the game. Be the resourceful builder and correct guesser to score points and win! 3-6 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • Ages 8 & up.
3. Get 4 & Score: Pick a category, then list four words that begin with each of the four letter cards. Earn points for each letter you complete before the timer runs out. 2-8 players • Playtime: 20–30 minutes • 8 & up.
4. Take Your Pick: Early or late? Serious or silly? Which options will the other players choose to describe themselves? Match their pick in this fun way to get to know one another better. 3+ players • Playtime: 20 minutes • 8 & up.
Board Game Gift Guide: Strategy Games
Shopping for a tabletop gamer who loves a challenge? Then pick up a couple of our top-rated strategy games that will pique their interest!
1. Amalgam: Fill your cauldrons with an amalgam of ingredients to create the most potent potions. Use your memory to gather and collect as many of the same type of ingredients as you can for the strongest result. 2-4 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • Ages 10 & up.
2. Dish ’em Out: Rival diner owners hustle to seat and serve the morning rush of hungry customers that have arrived for breakfast. Different food types have longer cook times, so planning is everything in this fast-paced strategy game! 2-5 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • 8 & up.
3. Zone to Zone: Players roll the dice to strategically move across the gameboard while also blocking the movements of their opponents. The first player to move more than half their pieces to the starting positions in the opposite zone wins. 2-6 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • 12 & up.
4. Planet Voyagers: Journey through the Solar System as your strategize to play your hand by either advancing your rocket or researching other planets to gain more points. The first player to reach Neptune or earn 12 points wins! A fascinating astrology game that made the Seattle Times 2021 Holiday Gift Guide. 2-5 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • Ages 8 & up.
Family Games
Start your own family game night with these fun and educational games that are a hit with kids, teens, adults and everyone in-between.
1. Walk the Dogs: With 63 adorable dogs, this family game barks fun while reinforcing basic math skills. But be careful, the dog catcher could catch you first! A family-fun counting, multiplication and predicting game. 2-5 players • Playtime: 30 minutes • 8 & up.
2. Pelican Cove: Think fast to get your pelicans nested before time runs out in this fast-paced game. Each pelican has their own preferences. Can you make them all happy? Only time will tell! 1-5 players • Playtime: 30 min • Ages 8 & up.
3. Kilter: An irresistible family-fun game where players place as many blocks as they can before the seesaw tips. Got caught off-kilter? Collect the blocks that fell and reuse them on your next turn. The player to successfully place all of their blocks first, wins the game! 2-4 players • Play Time: 15-20 min • Ages 8 & up
4. Ice Tumble: Players take turns rolling the die and collecting ice blocks. Then they stack their blocks carefully to make an ice sculpture, without any tumbling off. The first player to successfully place all their ice blocks and their fox pawn on the sculpture wins the game. The blocks are slippery, so be careful or the sculpture may come tumbling down. 2-4 players • Playtime:15 minutes • 7 & up.
SimplyFun Games Make the Perfect Gift
SimplyFun games make the perfect gift because unlike trendy toys, gadgets, and trinkets, our board games enrich your most cherished relationships, and have great re-playability. So if you're looking to spice up game night, or give the gift of play, with nearly 150 educational board games you'll find the perfect board games for everyone on your gift list.
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