At what age did your kids enjoy board games? (bday gift question)

[crunchy_mommy]

I have a gift for a kid who is turning 2 but now I am thinking maybe he won't like it... What age did your kids like games? My DS just turned 2 and we play games for about an hour a day because he loves them but then again, he seems to not be interested in the same things as other kids so maybe it's a stupid gift...

[ellemenope]

I think it sounds like an awesome birthday present for a two-year-old.  I don't think 2 years is too early to introduce a simple board game, and not many people think of that.  Way to go!

[Nicole730]

My almost 3 year old cannot handle playing games very well yet.  He does have quite a few different versions of Memory, due to them being gifts, and we've only recently started playing "match" with them where he actually gets that we are going to find partners.  I haven't turned the pieces face down yet :)  We also "play" Candyland and he just finds the colors that match the people and puts them together.  That said, I think getting a preschool game for a two year old is a great gift and even if the child can't play it right away, it will get used!  (And it's not a noisy toy, so always a plus in my book!)

[CatsCradle]

We got several spin board games for DD when she was two to three, but it turned mostly into her stories and fantasies about how the games should be played.  We went along with it - as she had a lot of fun with it.  She started playing Candy Land and Chutes & Ladders 'fairly' when she was about four.  I wouldn't get discouraged if the child doesn't want to play fair at first or plays by her own rules.  Eventually my DD got really competitive about it is and it actually a pleasure to play with her now (at 4.5).  One of the coolest things recently is a Bingo game that we got over the holidays.  DD is really, really into that, plus she's learning her numbers!

[physmom]

We made a board game for DD when she was under 2.  It was really simple.  I drew Dora on one end and the Cat in the Hat on the other end and then drew a pattern of shapes/colors that corresponded to a dice that we had gotten from another toy of hers.  We used Little People as the pieces.  She never played with the goal in mind to get to the other side but would roll and then stick on piece (or my piece) on a shape/color that is corresponded to.  She had a blast. 

We also have a Dr. Seuss memory game that we picked up at a consignment shop.   She loves it because she has little pictures of some of her favorite characters.  We haven't tried to play memory with it or anything but she'll get the pictures to talk to each other and passes them out to family members.

I guess my point is, is that even if the kid doesn't play by the rules there are tons of fun things to do with the games until they figure out how to do it.

[crunchy_mommy]

OK cool I guess I'm pretty safe with this game then!!! Thanks guys!!