Can your 4 year old play board games?

[Dreaming]

Like Candyland or Hi-Ho Cherry-O or Chutes and Ladders?

Mine is nearly 5 (in Feb) and does not play any of them. I tried explaining Hi-Ho Cherry-O yesterday, but he just wanted to collect the cherries in a bucket and push them around pretending they were going for a ride.

Once he played about 1/2 a game of Candyland and seemed to grasp the rules, but then wandered off to go do something else.

Just curious. My DS has shown delays in several areas, so I'm assuming this is a part of that.

[lyterae]

DD will be 5 in February and she can play memory and candyland, she can play chutes and ladders but she needs help making sure she goes the right way up the board (she tries to go straight up, etc. instead of following the numbers.) I should say that it's only been the past couple of months that she has made it through an entire game without getting sidetracked.

[pianojazzgirl]

My dd could play boardgames at that age, but wasn't always that interested (she had a lot of trouble not being the winner, or even temporarily not being in the lead).

I wonder if your ds would prefer a more "active" game like Hungry Hungry Hippos or the like.  Go Away Monsters is another fun, goofy, short-and-sweet game that even not-quite-2 yr olds can play - he might like that one.  Different people like different types of games (even adults!) and he might just not (now, or ever... who knows) gravitate towards the "roll the dice and move around the board" kind of games.

[GardenStream]

He can but he doesn't.  He is entirely capable of playing them and we have had a good 5 minute game on all the ones you mentioned, once .  He doesn't enjoy sitting and playing them and will leave within a couple minutes of starting the game.  It's definitely a case of there not being enough action to keep his attention.

He will play hungry hippos for 10 to 15 minutes. 

[Qbear'smama]

She can and does (she'll be 5 in April.) but honestly maybe it's partly that candyland isn't all that much fun, at least we were kinda disappointed by it...DD likes board games but that one didn't hold her interest, either. She likes Shopping Cart (by Orchard games) (quite fun) and memory, not that you asked, but maybe he'd like Orchard by Haba, that involves collecting super cute fruit in baskets before the raven eats it, simple premise but really fun. We've never played hi-ho Cherry-o.

[LuckyMommaToo]

I agree that those ones aren't great choices. Zingo or Orchard are good choices for first games.

[Dreaming]

Thanks for the new game suggestions! I'll try them.  Hungry Hungry Hippos is nice and rowdy. I forgot all about that one.  I think he'd like Elefun ( I think that's what it's called) where it blows "butterflies" up in the air to be caught with little nets. He's definitely into movement. DH reminded me that DS is able to play several levels in video games like Jak and Daxter without assistance. He clearly knows how to problem solve. His speech delay has really thrown me because we sometimes struggle with communication (getting there).

I appreciate the input!

[odenata]

I recommend Four First Games.  I had them when I was a kid and liked them, and my DD likes them and has been playing since she was 3 or 4.  We also like Orchard, and another one she likes is Sorry!

[crowcaw]

I have 5 yo twins.  One loves board games and has been playing the ones you mentioned and some pretty complicated others for quite  a while now.  The other is unable to play.  I don't know if it's lack of interest, inability to sit still, or just doesn't get the rules, but she wants to make random movements and animate all the pieces.  The only games she'll play are Hyper Dash (running around) and Can You See What I See, a very simple game of finding objects in pictures. 

[JayGee]

DD is 4 1/2 and really started enjoying board games over the last few months.  She loves Uno (and Uno Moo ~ the preschool version of Uno), Chutes and Ladders, and an adding game we have called Sum Swamp.  She's told me that she plays Hi Ho Cherry O at preschool, but we don't have it here.  All of my kids loved Elefun (but the nets broke when they played dog catcher with them!)  They also all enjoyed Sequence for Kids. 

[GardenStream]

Our nets broke as well.  The blower on the elephant is also losing it.  I've replaced the batteries, but it doesn't have enough power to blow the butterflies out anymore.  The boys did like it when it was working.

Originally Posted by JayGee All of my kids loved Elefun (but the nets broke when they played dog catcher with them!)  

[Alyantavid]

My 4.5 year old loves board games.  We stick with the simpler ones, Candyland and Memory mostly because that's what he likes.  He's really starting to figure out Tic Tac Toe and enjoys that one too.  He wanted to play checkers yesterday and we got almost done with the game but it came down to having to jump someone and he gave up so he wouldn't lose.

[Mommy2Austin]

My 4.5 year old has loved Memory, but actually enjoys card games more. His uncle taught him to play War with a regular set of cards (where the person with the higher card wins the hand and the cards) and we bought him Go fish which he also likes. I agree that if sit down games don't work for his attention span than games like Elefun and Hungry Hungry Hippos would probably keep him entertained and can be turned into a learning experience (count how many butterflies/marbles you've collected. Seperate them by color, etc)

[missnoodlesmom]

My 4 y/o does enjoy board games, but it's hard to get into them with her 2 y/o brother trying to destroy them usually.  Why he feels the need to do that is beyond me, but oh well.  :)

We recently got a Cat in the Hat game at Target and my kids LOVE it.  It's a "doing" game and they BOTH have fun with it.  "Go away Monsters" is under the tree for my son as we speak - I hope he gets into that as well.  My DD is excellent at the game Memory, same with Chutes and Ladders.

[LynnS6]

One child did and one child didn't at that age. I think it's really personality oriented. To this day, my child who liked board games early tends to like more traditional board games (Monopoly) and my child who didn't likes less traditional ones (Twister, Kids on Stage).

Two really good early games are:

1. Cranium Cariboo -- it looks like the newer version is different from ours, but it's a great game. My kids are 6 and 9 and still kind of like it even though it's WAY too easy.

2. Cranium Hullabaloo -- really active, so not a board game. But it does teach the turn-taking, listening and other good skills. Even I kind of like it.

Oh, and another good early game:

Zingo

[inkslinger]

dd1 could play board games until the end at that age, dd2 CAN play them, but she tends to lose interest pretty quickly.

[lonegirl]

We are a gaming family and DS started at 2ish playing in earnest starting with Thomas The Train Great Train Race http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3181133 

We have a huge closet full of games....varying in skill levels.  He loves Uno Moo, Various regular Uno, Kids of Carcassone, Hungry Hippo, Kerplunk, Buckaroo, Scrabble Junior, Connect 4, Dominoes, Sorry, Quirkle ....etc...

[travlr]

Originally Posted by LynnS6 

One child did and one child didn't at that age. I think it's really personality oriented. To this day, my child who liked board games early tends to like more traditional board games (Monopoly) and my child who didn't likes less traditional ones (Twister, Kids on Stage).

Two really good early games are:

1. Cranium Cariboo -- it looks like the newer version is different from ours, but it's a great game. My kids are 6 and 9 and still kind of like it even though it's WAY too easy.

2. Cranium Hullabaloo -- really active, so not a board game. But it does teach the turn-taking, listening and other good skills. Even I kind of like it.

Oh, and another good early game:

Zingo

I agree with LynnS6. My girls love Cariboo, Hullabaloo, and Zingo. They are all short games- 10 min or less- and fairly active. I don't particularly like Candyland or Chutes and Ladders because of the length of the games and the huge losses because of being sent back to the beginning of the board. My older DD is competitive by nature and she would cry often during these games.

Uno, Rat a Tat Cat, War, and Go Fish have been popular card games with my 6 and 4 year olds.

[redpajama]

My now-almost-6-year-old has LOVED board games for quite a while--but he never really loved Candyland or Chutes and Ladders (not that he had a lot of opportunity to love them, because I happen to hate both games and we don't have either).  But there are some really great games out there, and he has always loved to play them.  Memory is always good--if she has a hard time with it or loses interest quickly, try starting with fewer cards/tiles and see if that helps.  We also love: Uno (and its many variations), Moose in the House, Animal Upon Animal (this one is particularly simple and young-kid-friendly), Sleeping Queens, Kids of Carcassone...just to name a few.

It might partially be a personality thing, too--my son LOVES games, and my daughter (4) plays along but doesn't initiate games very often...she's just been getting dragged into his games since she was 2.5 or so. =)

[sunnygir1]

I love this thread for the great ideas of good games!

My dd will be 4 in February.  She loves to play Harvest Time, a cooperative game.  She also likes memory pretty well.  She always wants to play Candyland, but doesn't really want to play by the rules -- she just wants to play with the pieces and cards.

I'm excited to try some new games with her; I love to play games.  As a pp said, the younger brother (15m in our case) isn't much help with game-playing.