good educational games for 5 year olds

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11 Great Games to Educate and Entertain Your Kids at Home

If you're stuck inside and your kids are climbing the walls, but you aren't yet ready to let them watch Netflix from dawn to dusk, well, I don't blame you. Here are some games that are sometimes called "edutaining." Think of them as fun games that also teach something, but in a way your kids probably won't notice.

I do suggest setting some screen time limits before handing your children a device, but with these options you can at least rest assured that your kids are learning something.

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Ages 6-12 ( Computer , iOS , Android )

Animal Jam is an online virtual world originally created in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. It teaches kids about zoology and ecology with games, adventures, and parties and online social elements. With 160 million registered users, this is one of the largest virtual worlds for kids. If the online play gives you pause, know that the parental controls are pretty good, allowing you to lock down the game if you desire.

Ages 5 and up on Nintendo Switch ( GameStop , Amazon )

By Christopher Null

By Christopher Solomon

By Adrienne So

By Julian Chokkattu

This is a great game that encourages spacial thinking and unique puzzle solving. Kids can pilot Toad through courses based on the Super Mario Odyssey game while hunting down treasures and solving puzzles.

This math-based role-playing game is free to play. Kids proceed through the game by answering skill-building math questions to earn rewards. There's an interactive element, too; they can go on quests with friends. The difficulty levels increase as your kids make progress in the game.

Ages 3-8 ( iOS , Android )

This physics puzzle game features rolling aliens that teach your kids about acceleration, buoyancy, gravity, and more. Like games of yesteryear, there are no ads, no in-app purchases, and it doesn't need an internet connection.

Ages 4 and Up ( Computer , iOS , Android )

Tinybop has dozens of learning-oriented apps and we've been fans for years . You can purchase them in bundles for iPhone or iPad (Android users there is one Tinybop bundle in the Play Store which has six games.) My kids love the Curiosity Kit ($16) , which includes apps about the human body, animal anatomy, and space. Tinybop is currently offering its Tinybop Schools subscription , which features ten science apps and classroom support, for free through the summer to help out parents and kids while schools are closed (no credit card required).

Ages 4 and Up ( iOS , Android )

Dragonbox games are primarily math-related, though they also partnered with chess champ Magnus Carlsen to create Magnus' Kingdom , a chess-learning game that's been very popular in my house. It uses an adventure-style approach to teach kids about different chess pieces and how to play. I strongly suggest picking up a real-world chess board (I like this no-stress chess board for beginners $18 ) as well. Your kids will ask for it. Trust me.

Ages 3 and Up ( Computer , iOS , Android )

It's time you let delightful animated monsters teach your kids everything from basic ABCs to complex sentences. It has puzzle games with talking letters and well-illustrated definitions to help your child learn to read. Originator, the publisher of Endless Alphabet , has many other games as well , including Endless Reader , which helps kids learn sight words, and Endless Spanish which helped my kids significantly improve their Spanish vocabulary.

Ages 4-6 ( Computer )

This language, arts, and music learning site has dozens of games and activities to help your kids learn to read, add, subtract, and identify shapes.

Ages 4-8 ( iOS , Android )

PBS Kids has dozens of apps, many of them related to the shows on PBS Kids. If your kids like a particular show, they'll probably really engage with its related game, as well.

Ages 4 and Up ( iOS )

Stop-motion animation is a fun form of art that teaches patience. This animation app will help your kids start creating their own little animated masterpieces. The interface is reasonably simple, but it might require the help of an adult the first time through.

All ages ( Apple Podcasts for iOS , Google Podcasts for Android )

Check out our guide to kids' podcasts for some ideas on great podcasts that will keep your kids entertained. If you're a podcast fan yourself, you should try using Pocket Casts (great app). I suggest getting a separate podcast app for your kids, so there's no way they'll accidentally end up listening to any adult content you don't want them to hear.

March 25, 9 am: This story was updated to add links to the Tinybop Android app bundle.

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20 Board Games for 5-Year-Olds of 2024

Are you wondering if your 5-year-old is old enough to play board games and if so, what games are best? Are you curious about the benefits of board games?

You’ve come to the right place.

We asked 5-year-olds which board games they like to play and why they like to play them. Then we spoke with families about their board game experiences and picked the brains of child development experts and board games aficionados. Finally, we added a big helping of personal experience to create this list of the 20 best board games for 5-year-olds.

• Our Top Picks

• Short game time
• Easy to learn
• Strategy game

• Fun and interactive
• Develops patience & memory
• Award-winning

• Educational game
• Fun & entertaining
• Combines strategy & luck

• Beautifully design
• Combo of skill & luck
• Multiple play modes

• Encourages collaboration
• Develops reasoning skills
• Can be played solo

• Simple to learn
• Add extra bugs for more fun

• Can be played without adults
• Younger siblings can play
• Can be adapted for teams

• Strengthens memory
• Different experience every round
• No reading required

• Straightforward gameplay
• Highly engaging

• Physical & dynamic
• Good party game
• Can be played outdoors
• Product Reviews & Ratings

Product Comparison Chart

Can 5-year-olds play board games, benefits of board games for 5-year-olds, how to choose the best board games for 5-year-olds, take the bored out of board games, the best board games for 5-year-olds of 2024.

When curating this list of games, I’ve considered the advice above and thought about the board games my kids have loved and loathed. Plus, I picked the brain of my oldest daughter who, rather conveniently for me, runs a board game store and has lots of knowledge and experience.

Best Stacking Board Game for 5-Year-Olds

In Rhino Hero, players take turns to place walls and lay roof cards to build a collaborative tower. At specific, random points, you help the rhino climb the tower without demolishing it.

The winner is the first to use all of their cards, or if the tower tumbles, you all win. Or lose.

Some roof cards have additional symbols to indicate a change of play direction or that the next player skips a turn. This adds an element of strategy which keeps it interesting.

Also, for 5-year-olds, Rhino Hero Super Battle has more cards, additional animal heroes, and evil monkeys to contend with. This is an excellent choice for an upgrade if you enjoy the basic game.

• Short game time.
• Easy to learn.
• Affordable.
• Cards can become bent.

Product Specs

Our Ratings

User experience, gotrovo the family treasure hunt game, best treasure hunt board game for 5-year-olds.

You and your kids can never go wrong with this award-winning board game as it is interactive and encourages great scavenger hunt adventure.

Boredom has no space in your house as you can be sure that no two trails are ever the same.

Now you can be sure that they can still have fun without the use of gadgets which may strain their eye.

• Fun and interactive.
• Develops patience & memory.
• Award-winning.
• Some people complained that the map cannot be flattened but this is a minor issue and can be solved by using heavy books.

Personal Perspective

Ticket to ride first journey, best map-based board game for 5-year-olds.

This version of Ticket to Ride has a map that includes the U.S. and a sliver of Southern Canada.

Players have “tickets” for different cities and connect them on the map by placing their trains and claiming the routes.

Kids learn the basics of U.S. geography, which you can expand on outside the game. Meanwhile, the cartoon graphics and cute plastic trains are appealing to kids, but not so childlike that they’ll be off-putting for the target age-range.

There’s another children’s version with the same gameplay but a map of Europe and multiple adult versions to move to as your kids grow.

• Educational.
• Entertaining.
• Combines strategy and luck.
• Less entertaining for older family members.

Community Feedback

Dragon's breath, best dexterity board game for 5-year-olds.

To play Dragon’s Breath, players take turns to remove rings from the ice column, releasing gems. Gems that fall in certain areas are taken out of play, and the remaining gems are divided among players according to color. The player with the most gems after the last ring is removed wins.

This sounds overly simple, but there are enough variables to make it fun and exciting.

As a bonus, the game is played on a platform on the box, and gems go into the box as you play. That makes clean-up a cinch.

• Beautifully made.
• Combo of skill and luck.
• Multiple play modes.
• Small gems, which makes them easier to lose.

First-Hand Impression

Best cooperative board game for 5-year-olds.

Find out where Mr. Fox’s hiding! Players start by traveling the grid in any direction. Simultaneously, the fox begins at one end and moves along the path. A throw of the dice determines whether the player or the fox moves.

Land on a clue space and you can put a token into the “decoder” and reveal the clue. Clues are shared among all players, and you work together to solve the mystery before the fox makes it across the board.

• Encourages collaboration.
• Develops reasoning skills.
• Can be played solo.
• Off-putting instructions.

Bugs in the Kitchen

Best action board game for 5-year-olds.

Bugs in the Kitchen is played within the box. At each end, there are two “bug traps.” Barriers are set into the board, and these barriers, which are shaped like knives and forks, can be turned in different directions.

To begin, you release the robotic HexBug. The bug runs around the maze, and on your turn, you throw the dice to discover whether to turn a knife or fork. The aim of the game is to turn the utensils and guide the bug into one of the traps.

The owner of the trap receives a bug token, and the first to five bugs wins.

• Fast-paced.
• Simple to learn.
• Add extra bugs for more fun.
• Too intense for some younger kids.
• Can become frenetic.

Learning Resources Sum Swamp Game

Best multiplayer board game for 5-year-olds.

This board game is not only fun to play with but it’s educational.

Honing mathematical skills particularly basic addition and subtraction can be achieved at a younger age by playing this board game. I know moms can just hand a mobile phone or tablet to their toddlers and let them explore the world of numbers. But wouldn’t it be better for them to have a hands-on practical learning experience thru playing board games without straining their eye?

• Can be played without adults.
• Younger siblings can play.
• Can be adapted for teams.
• Limited to addition and subtraction.

Enchanted Forest

Best memory board game for 5-year-olds.

All players begin in the “village” area at one end of the board. Each of the 13 trees has a picture on the base and is placed next to the 13 blue squares. If you land on a blue square, peek under the tree next to it and remember which picture is where.

At the other end of the board is the king’s castle area, where the treasure cards sit. A card is turned over to reveal a treasure. If you can remember which tree you saw the treasure under, race to the castle and be the first to reveal its location.

• Strengthens memory.
• Different every time.
• No reading required.
• Longer playtime.

Best Strategy Board Game for 5-Year-Olds

Blokus is a square grid onto which shaped pieces are placed. Each player gets the same 21 pieces, all of which are between one and five squares in different configurations.

Players take turns to place one piece on the board at a time. You begin in your corner and work outwards. Pieces must touch another of the same color, but they can only touch at the corner.

The game ends when someone has laid all of their pieces or when no more pieces can be laid. The winner is the first to lay all their pieces or the one with the fewest squares left.

It sounds overly simple, but it keeps the adults in our house playing for hours.

• Straightforward gameplay.
• Highly engaging.
• Requires focus.
• Works best with four players

The Floor Is Lava

Best physical activity board game for 5-year-olds.

Stepping “stones” of different colors are scattered across the floor. One player spins the arrow to choose a color, and players must jump onto a tile of that color. The spinner determines who was last to land on a tile and removes the stepping stone from which they jumped.

If you can’t find a stone of the correct color to jump to, or if you touch the ground between the stones, you’re out. The last player in the game wins.

Some stepping stones have actions on them, such as “dance like a ballerina.” If you land on one of these tiles, you must perform the action, but this element can be left out if you prefer.

• Good party game .
• Can be played outside.
• Needs plenty of room.
• Eliminated kids get bored.

Best Nature-Based Board Game for 5-Year-Olds

Wildcraft is a collaborative game in which you climb a mountain by moving around the board. On the way, players must collect 26 edible and medicinal plant cards to cure 31 ailments. Then they must return to grandma’s house before nightfall.

To ensure everyone has an objective and feels included, each player also has to collect two huckleberries while at the top of the mountain.

There’s no need for prior knowledge, and everything you need to know is within the game. Kids can also take the cards out and about and use them to identify the plants they find.

• 100 percent recycled materials and vegetable inks.
• Printable downloads available.
• Learning resource.
• Not everyone’s ideal subject matter.
• Long play time.

Scrabble Junior

Best spelling board game for 5-year-olds.

The newest incarnation of Scrabble Junior is two word games in one.

On the “easy” side of the board, there’s a grid with pre-printed words and a numbered pathway around the outside. Players take letter tiles in the same way as traditional Scrabble. Instead of making words, they match their tiles to letters in a word on the board.

You earn points for different letters and completing a word. You move your figure around the outer pathway, and first to the finish wins.

On the reverse side, you play Scrabble in the traditional way, but without the premium squares such as double letter scores.

• No need to spell.
• Aids letter recognition.
• Two games in one.
• No tile stands.
• Cardboard letter tiles.

Brain Freeze

Best two-player board game for 5-year-olds.

Brain Freeze consists of two draw-on/wipe-off game boards. Each board has two pieces, which clip together easily to form an L-shape. The larger section has a 10×10 grid with a picture of a frozen treat printed in each square.

First, players choose a target square and mark the color, picture, and square location on their board’s vertical section. They then take turns to ask each other questions to work out the treat, the color, and the location the other player has chosen.

Think of it as a simple Guess Who meets Battleship, with ice-creams and lollipops.

• Lightweight and portable.
• No pieces to lose.
• Promotes logical thinking.
• Challenging for “younger 5-year-olds.”
• Takes time to learn logical thinking processes.

Gamewright Hisss

Best card-based board game for 5-year-olds.

The aim of the game is to create snakes that are as long as possible. Every snake must have a head, a tail, and at least one body section, and the longer you can make your snake, the better.

Players take a card, turn it over, and try to match it to a card already laid to lengthen or complete a snake. If you can’t match your card, it’s placed on the table, and another snake is started.

If you complete a snake, you take the cards. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

• Quickly outgrown.

Clue Junior

Best deduction board game for 5-year-olds.

Two different Clue Junior sets are available — The Case of the Broken Toy and The Case of the Missing Cake . Rules and gameplay are the same for both — the only difference is the mystery you’re solving.

Players must discover the “who,” “what,” and “when” of the mystery by moving around the board to view picture clues. Clue cards are laid face-down on the board, and when you view a clue, you mark it off on your pre-printed detective pad.

When you have eliminated all but one possibility for who, what, and when you can solve the mystery. Players can move any character, making it easy to play with any number, but puzzle-solving is not collaborative.

• Teaches deductive reasoning.
• A non-violent mystery.
• It can be played with only two people or up to six.
• Instructions are unclear.
• Games can take a long time.

The Game of Life Junior

Best family board game for 5-year-olds.

The aim of the game is to move around the board, visiting locations such as the zoo or water park.

The in-board spinner tells you how many spaces to move. Land on an attraction and you pay an entry fee. Land on a yellow square and you take an action card and perform the action on the card, such as “act like a lion.”

If your child can’t read, you need at least three players for a game, or the charades part doesn’t work. You receive a star for each attraction you visit, and for every action, the other players correctly guess. The first player to ten stars wins.

• Good for active kids.
• Bearable for adults.
• Easy to learn how to play.
• Requires basic reading.

Sums In Space

Best counting board game for 5-year-olds.

In Sums In Space, players race around the board, move past the black hole, escape the planet, and get back home. They do this by solving single-digit addition and subtraction equations.

Players roll the three dice and get two numbers between 0 and 9 and either an addition or subtraction sign. They arrange the die to form an equation, solve the equation, and move the squares’ resulting number on the board. First, one to the end wins.

When a player rolls a zero in collaborative mode, the rocket is moved one square down the countdown ladder. If everyone gets to the end before the rocket reaches zero, everyone wins. If the rocket reaches zero, the game is over.

• Develops basic math.
• Collaborative or competitive.
• A good pick for kids who love space.
• Feels basic.

Monopoly Junior

Best budget board game for 5-year-olds.

Monopoly Junior is similar to the adult version but has 24 squares on the board instead of 40. Houses, hotels, Community Chest, utilities, railroads, and tax squares are all eliminated, and rather than specific places, the properties are things like the zoo and boardwalk.

Players move around the board buying properties, avoiding jail, and picking up Chance cards. If you land on a property owned by another player, you pay rent.

Players who cannot pay their bills are eliminated. The remaining players sell their properties back to the bank, count their money, and the player with the most cash wins.

• Excellent value.
• Teaches math skills.
• Fun for adults.
• The only money denomination is $1 bills, which limits the math lessons.

Best Electronic Board Game for 5-Year-Olds

The traditional Operation from your childhood is alive and well, slightly updated for kids of today.

Cavity Sam lays on his hospital bed, and budding doctors must use a steady hand to remove those pesky plastic pieces from his body. If the attached plastic-coated metal tweezers touch his body, then, bbbzzzzzzzz, your turn is over.

The only difference between the traditional version and this updated one is that the cards are of better quality and have modern graphics and colors.

Operation: Pet Scan mixes things up a little by having a maze to move the game pieces through, and special theme editions are also available, including Operation Star Wars The Mandalorian Edition , Operation Disney-Pixar Finding Dory , and Operation Star Wars Chewbacca Edition .

• Improves fine motor skills.
• It’s a fun game for kids.
• Unrealistic body parts.
• Small pieces.

Risk Junior

Best determined by chance board game for 5-year-olds.

In Risk Junior, players move their pirate ships around the map to find treasure and take control of the islands.

Unlike regular Risk, which island is attacked and who wins is determined by a roll of the dice. It’s entirely down to chance. While this takes the strategy element out of the game, it does prevent anyone from being ganged up on by other players.

The chance element means the game can be over in as little as ten minutes but can run to well past an hour, which becomes grueling and rather dull.

• Fun pirate theme.
• Quirky counters.
• It can be played with only two players.
• Inconsistent game length.
• Incorrect compass on the board.
• Can become tedious.

Yes, 5-year-olds can play age-appropriate board games. Games geared toward this age group usually have fewer rules, are less complicated, and have a shorter playtime than games for older children and adults.

Play board games with a 5-year-old, and you’ll be:

• Boosting communication skills: You and your child will discuss the rules and gameplay, and speak with each other during and after the games. They’ll also develop listening skills and vocabulary (1) .
• Enhancing social skills: Playing board games teaches a child to take turns, wait patiently, lose gracefully, and have empathy for the feelings of others.
• Developing focus: Playing board games helps your child sit still, focus, and pay attention to what is happening — an essential skill for school.
• Strengthening relationships: Playing board games not only provides an activity you can share right now but also builds memories you can share in the future.

With so many options, how do you choose an appropriate board game for a 5-year-old?

Child’s Preferences

Think about the things your child enjoys and find a board game that aligns with those interests. You can do this by choosing a game related to their interests, such as animals or fairy tales.

Also, consider how your child likes to play. Are they extremely active? If so, a game with a physical element and/or a short playtime might be best.

Alternatively, if you have a quiet child, something more subdued will be more appropriate.

Number of Players

The recommended number of players is an element often overlooked when choosing a board game for 5-year-olds.

If the number of players you have will vary, look for games that can be played with a flexible number of players and avoid those that only work with three, four, or any other number of specific participants.

Educational Benefits

While not every game has to be an academic learning experience, an educational element can be a big benefit of playtime . This is especially true if you have a child who avoids anything that looks like learning.

If you’re not sure how your child will respond to board games, choose sets at the lower end of the price range. That way, if board games aren’t their “thing,” you won’t be wasting money.

If it turns out they do enjoy board games, then it is worth investing a bit more for a high-quality game that will grow with your child.

Games may have flat boards or be 3D games with multi-layers or building elements. Some don’t have a traditional board but have cards instead — an excellent option for travel or when space is at a premium.

You can also find board games with virtual versions or that have smart or online elements to enhance gameplay. If you’re trying to limit your child’s screen time , then skip the electronic version in favor of an old-fashioned board game.

Some people have fond memories of playing board games, while others only remember being bored or put off by overly competitive adults. This is a shame because board games are a fabulous way to spend time with each other, learn a thing or two, and have fun.

To create this list of the best board games for 5-year-olds, we tried to find games to suit a range of interests, game styles, and family dynamics. Hopefully, there’s something on the list to suit your 5-year-old and those who play board games with them.

About the Author

Patricia Barnes

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The Best Board Games for 5 Year Olds (2024)

Your kids are gonna love it..

Five is a complicated age for board games. Five-year-olds are just about old enough to play a game by themselves so long as it’s simple, and they’re often fascinated by the idea of structured play that a board game represents. But at the same time, they can still find losing difficult to deal with and have very short attention spans.

To make matters worse, a lot of games you’ll find on shelves have worthy educational themes to entice parents, but kids will spot them as tiresome teaching tricks a mile off and demand something more fun. Finding the best board games for kids is no easy task. So here’s a selection of competitive and cooperative games that are easy enough for 5-year-old children to play by themselves where the learning elements are well hidden. And often you’ll find them fun enough to join in yourself, too.

TL;DR: The Best Board Games for 5 Year Olds

Catapult feud, the fuzzies, stomp the plank, my first carcassonne, concept kids: animals, magic maze kids, animal upon animal, hoot owl hoot.

The best games for younger children thrive on a mixture of simple rules and compelling premise, and what fits both better than chucking rubber balls to knock down walls of plastic bricks? Each player constructs a castle in whatever shape they like and places a number of troop models about it. Then it’s down to hot, catapult-pinging action as they take turns trying to knock out each other’s troops to win. That’s easily enough to be entertaining for most five-year-olds by itself, especially with the fun toy aspect of the castles and catapults. But for older or smarter children, there’s also a simple action card system for some basic strategy.

A great way for kids to get into hobby games is to take a concept they’re familiar with - in this case, dominoes - and give it a fresh new twist. Here, the dominoes show different kinds of terrain. Players choose from four such face-up pieces and fit them into a growing landscape, trying to match the terrain on one or both ends with existing pieces. For each such match they get an egg, which is either worth a point or gives them the right to pick from the piece selection next turn. Fast playing with a cute them and very simple to teach and learn, it’s appealing for children while teaching them turn-taking and simple strategy.

Most kids love nothing more than knocking over stacks of things, so the classic Jenga has obvious appeal. However, Jenga has various problems for younger children, in particular the time and care needed to stack the bricks, and a problem for adults - the noise! All of these are solved with an added dash of silliness by this game, in which the “tower” is a stack of fuzzy balls, easily set up by squishing them together in the supplied storage tube. A card draw tells players which colour fuzzy they need to pull and stick atop the tower. But make any fall, and you’ll flip the card for a daft penalty, like holding a hand over one eye, for your next pull, and it’s game over if you collapse the tower.

Children may be briefly disappointed by the lack of actual stomping in this otherwise delightful game featuring miniature pirate elephants, but that will soon evaporate among the sheer glee it generates. Your goal is to draw a full set of non-identical cards, and you can keep drawing as long as you like. The catch? As soon as you draw a duplicate, your elephant moves one space along its magnetic plank that’s balancing perilously on the box edge. If you stop early, though, you’ll get to add discs to the end of everyone else’s plank, multiplying their peril exponentially. A hilarious push your luck affair, this has been known to win a few adult fans, too.

At five, cooperative games where no one has to suffer the ignominy of defeat are still a great way of avoiding family arguments. And they don’t come much better than Outfoxed, a game of memory and deduction where players have to find out which of an array of foxy suspects stole the chicken pie. It’s got a neat gizmo which determines whether a given clue, such as a cane or top hat, is something that identifies with the suspect’s picture or not. So by building up visual clues about the culprit your group can slowly eliminate suspects and hone in on the criminal. But each clue risks edging them closer to the edge of the board where they escape, pushing the excitement levels higher at every turn.

My First Carcassonne / Carcassonne Junior

The original Carcassonne is a fairly simple strategy game that’s good for older children and families, but it’s still a bit too much at five. Instead, you can introduce kids to the same concept with this fun junior version. Like the grown-up iteration, it involves placing randomly-drawn tiles to make a network of roads crisscrossing a pastoral scene. But it flips player piece placement on its head, as when a road is complete, players put down matching colour pieces from their stock. The first player to put down all their pieces wins. Visually attractive and simple to play, it’s a great way to learn basic strategy concepts.

HABA are a German company that makes great children’s games with bright, chunky wooden pieces and simple strategies to engage little imaginations. Monza is no exception, using basic concepts to create a fast, fun racing game. The track is divided into coloured spaces and on their turn, each player rolls six colour-spot dice. They then try to plot a course around other drivers and no-go spaces matching the colours they’ve rolled to board spaces. It’s intuitive to play and a great mix of luck, excitement and a little skill.

Concept is a clue-giving game for adults but it also comes in this cooperative kid-friendly version based on animals. The board is full of icons that depict things like colour, size, habitat and body shape. One player has a random animal card they can’t see but other players can, and those players have to use the board icons to help the guesser get their animal. It’s a nice level of difficulty for children, plus it has an educational element and is playable without text at a time when kids are still learning to read, making it a great all-around activity for the family or for kids to play on their own.

Yet another game based on a franchise for grown-ups (see the best board games for adults , btw), Magic Maze Kids ditches several aspects of the original that aren’t kid-friendly, such as silence and the thievery theme, in favour of animals collecting potion ingredients. It keeps the escalating tension of cooperating to try and move pieces around a board as a sand timer trickles down toward a group loss. All the players can move all the board pieces, but each player can only move them in certain directions: the goal is to get particular pieces to particular spots while navigating obstacles. With tutorials to teach them the game and lots of bright chunky pieces, Magic Maze Kids will provide them with an amazing time.

Another HABA game, this one leverages a popular kid-friendly mechanic, that they’re often better at than adults: dexterity. Faced with an array of cute but irregular animal pieces, the goal is to get rid of all your pieces by balancing them atop one another in the middle of the table. A dice roll dictates your options for the turn, and instead of stacking may see you extending the stack base or even giving an animal to another player, lending some extra excitement besides the risk of a toppling pile. Best of all, unlike many games on this list, Animal Upon Animal is just as much fun for grown ups.

As you might imagine from a publisher called Peaceable Kingdom, Hoot Owl Hoot is a cooperative game where the group win or lose together. Your aim is to get all the baby owls back to their nest before sunup by moving them along a track of coloured spaces. You can vary the difficulty level by changing the number of owls, which is a nice touch. Each player has a hand of cards which can move an owl to the next space of the matching colour, leapfrogging owls along the way by calling “hoot hoot”. But if you’re unlucky enough to draw a sun card, you have to play it and advance the timer toward the game end for some added excitement.

For older kids, take a look at the best board games for teens . And for more ideas, check out our roundup of all the best board games to play right now.

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Games for 5-Year-Olds

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Discover a World of Fun: Games for 5-Year-Olds!

Dive into our delightful collection of games designed especially for 5-Year-Olds, where interactive adventures and colorful journeys await! Our carefully curated selection ensures age-appropriate fun that stimulates creativity, enhances problem-solving skills, and nurtures a love for learning. From puzzles that challenge young minds to vibrant story-based games that spark imagination, there is something for every little explorer. Both online and soon-to-be-released web versions offer endless opportunities for fun, making it easy for kids to play and learn anytime, anywhere. Join us in a world where play and educational growth go hand in hand!

In an era where digital interaction is ubiquitous, discerning the right kind of screen time for children, especially for 5-year-olds, has become paramount for parents and educators alike. Amidst a sea of digital content, our games emerge as a beacon of developmental aid, learning, and fun for young learners. Designed specifically with the cognitive and emotional growth of 5-year-olds in mind, these games blend entertainment with educational value, making them a unique asset in a child's developmental journey.

The interactive nature of our games serves as the cornerstone of their effectiveness. For 5-year-olds, the world is a sprawling canvas of questions and curiosities. Our interactive games are crafted to tap into this innate curiosity, transforming every click, swipe, or command into a learning opportunity. This interactivity is not merely about receiving immediate responses from the game but is deeply integrated with educational objectives that cater to developing critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and basic literacy and numeracy.

Moreover, the adaptability of these games to individual learning paces is a game-changer. Each child is unique, with their strengths, weaknesses, and speed of learning. Our games for 5-year-olds are designed to recognize and adapt to this variability, offering a personalized learning experience. This ensures that every child feels both challenged and supported, promoting a healthy learning curve without the pressure of competition.

Social-emotional development is another critical area our games address. Through storylines that involve cooperation, empathy, and understanding diverse perspectives, children learn invaluable life skills. These interactive stories and scenarios encourage children to think about how their actions affect others, fostering empathy and emotional intelligence from a young age.

The imminent launch of our games on the web broadens their accessibility, ensuring that the developmental benefits they offer are not limited by device availability. This move towards web-based gaming is especially significant in today’s world, where equitable access to educational resources is a pressing need. By making these games available online, we are taking a step towards democratizing educational resources, making them accessible to a wider audience of 5-year-olds across different backgrounds.

Furthermore, the safety of digital spaces is a top priority. Our web-based games for 5-year-olds are designed with stringent safety measures to ensure a secure online environment. Parents and educators can have peace of mind knowing that children are not only learning in a fun and interactive way but are also protected from the potential pitfalls of the internet.

In conclusion, our games stand out as a valuable tool in the developmental arsenal for 5-year-olds. By seamlessly integrating education with entertainment, they offer a balanced approach to screen time, promoting cognitive development, emotional growth, and social skills. With the expansion into web-based gaming, we are excited to reach more young learners, providing them with a foundation of skills and knowledge through the medium they love most – games.

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27 Best Educational Games for Kids to Play Sorted by Subject

Written by Jordan Nisbet

Educators & Parents

Help kids discover their passion for math with our engaging, online math game!

• Parent Resources
• Mathematics
• Language arts
• Health and physical education
• Social studies

Educational games make a great alternative for children who don't learn best through pencil and paper instruction.

According to educational nonprofit EDUCAUSE , a growing body of research shows game-based learning platforms “can create an engaging dynamic that inspires students to develop competencies and skills as they focus on the activities of the game.”

Regardless of the subject, educational games for kids can help you instill a love of learning in your own child. This applies whether they're learning through homeschooling, online learning or traditional classroom setting.

Below, we’ve organized some of the best educational games for kids by subject! Interested in games for a certain subject? Click one below and jump right to it:

Mathematics games

Prodigy math.

Available : Apple App Store , Google Play , Amazon Appstore , Web

Age : 6 to 14

Cost : In-game educational content is free, Memberships  available

Prodigy Math is the engaging, fantasy-based math game used by over 100 million students, teachers and parents around the world. 

It’s curriculum-aligned and helps kids master math skills in every major topic from 1st grade to 8th grade, including fractions, geometry and more.

After creating their own personalized math wizard, your child will compete in math battles against in-game characters , just like how role-playing games like Pokémon work. To win, they must answer sets of math questions.

The game also adapts in difficulty to suit your child’s learning style and grade level, helping them build key math skills. In one school district, research showed that students who used Prodigy Math mastered 68% more math skills on average when they used Prodigy Math!

Create your free parent account  to follow your child's progress as they have fun learning math. You can also get a Membership to level up your Prodigy experience — packed with plenty of extra benefits for you and your child!

Are you an educator? 👩‍🏫

Get full access to Prodigy's teaching tools at no cost to you or your school!

Available : Web

Age : 8 to 14

Cost : $20 per month, $40 per quarter, $60 per year

This is a middle school math game aligned with the common core and TEKS curricula. Your child will be tasked with helping Alfred, an inventor, save Mathlantis —  a chaotic and disordered world — by restoring the population’s math knowledge.

On this adventure, they’ll time-travel and meet famous mathematicians, help them regain their lost knowledge, and transform Mathlantis back to its original state.

Twelve a Dozen

Available : Apple App Store

Cost : Free, in-app purchases

Developed by Touch Press Games, this educational math game helps children understand the beginning thought process of algebra and explore longer, more complex algebraic equations.

In Twelve a Dozen, your child will join the numeric hero, Twelve, on a journey through a universe of numbers. She’s on a mission to rescue her family and the crumbling world of Dozenopolis from the destructive Ultimate Prime. And they’ll use their skills and understanding of core math concepts to solve puzzles.

Looking for more amazing math games for kids? Check our list of the  13 best math apps for kids in elementary school!

Start with Art!

Available : Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore

Embark on a journey into the world of art, creativity, and visual learning with your personal Art Guides: Tickles, Furnace, and Ruby!

Start with Art! will walk your child through four foundational art lessons:

• Art as language
• Message in art

It also has engaging “Creativity Builders” art projects designed to foster creativity, encourage problem solving, and enhance critical thinking skills.

Each lesson is aligned to Creativity Express, a multi-award winning visual arts curriculum that professional educators and former Disney animators created!

Cost : Free

Tate is a family of four art galleries in London, Liverpool, and Cornwall. Its children-focused project, Tate Kids, lets children play free art-related games and quizzes, get help on art homework, and share their creations!

In addition to completing fun quizzes, kids can help robots save famous art in “Art Parts,” create their own landscapes in “My Imaginary City,” and more! 

No matter what area of art your child is into, they’ll find something engaging, educational, and creative!

Colorfy: Coloring Art Game

Available : Apple App Store, Google Play

No crayons? Run out of sketchbook pages? No worries! 

Colorfy is a digital coloring book for kids of all ages, filled with high-quality images. With over 1000 pictures to paint, your child will have the choice of florals, animals, patterns, gardens, mandalas, famous paintings, and other creative images.

This coloring game also includes a new AR virtual gallery that lets your child see what their art would look like in the real world!

Language arts games

Prodigy english.

Available: Web

Cost: Free to play, with optional Memberships for extra rewards

Prodigy English is a free educational game for kids that uses creative, sandbox gameplay to engage kids in English language skills. The game takes place on the player's very own village, where they'll collect resources and use them to build objects that can play in their own world.

Just like Prodigy Math, Prodigy English uses an adaptive algorithm that adjusts the questions students get based on their grade and ability. This can help them grow their reading and vocabulary skills – all while having fun!

Prodigy English covers Common Core reading and language skills from 1st grade to 6th grade, with more skills and game content coming!

Available : Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Web

Age : 4 to 18

Cost : 30-day free trial, then $9.99 per month

As outlined on HOMER’s website, their “mission is to provide the best educational start possible by offering personalized, fun, and proven learning products for children.” 

This early learning program has two products: Reading and Stories .

HOMER Reading combines a child’s current reading level and their passions, in order to create a personalized learn-to-read plan. Using that child’s same interests, HOMER Stories curates stories they’ll love — from classic to contemporary.

Vocabulary Spelling City

Available : Apple App Store, Google Play, Web

Cost : Free, $34.95 per year (family annual membership up to five students)

This program is a K-12 supplemental literacy tool designed to help children at every learning level learn spelling and hone grammar skills.

Plus, it helps them build vocabulary retention and reading comprehension.

You can try out 40+ free online spelling games which come with pre-populated word lists. They also offer a premium membership that gives your child access to all of Vocabulary Spelling City’s games with customized lists, homework practice, and more.

Wallykazam! Letter and Word Magic

Available : Apple App Store, Amazon Appstore

Cost : $1.99

Based on the children’s animated television series on Nickelodeon, Wallykazam! helps preschoolers learn early reading skills.

Kids will join Wally Trollman, his pet dragon Norville, the mischievous Bobgoblin, Gina Giant, and Libby Light Sprite in magical and hilarious adventures! They’ll play games and learn letter recognition, letter tracing, and phonics.

Room Recess

Room Recess provides a wide variety of educational games for kids to play during recess. This includes ELA topics, like nouns, sight words and phonics. Each topic has a mini-game made for it, with easy gameplay designed to encourage engagement in the subject. The platform also includes games for skills like math and typing, from pre-k to 6th grade.

If you're a teacher, you may find Room Recess extra helpful for its worksheets, ideal if you're looking to reinforce some of the content seen in the platform's mini-games.

Health and physical education games

Age : 5 to 12

Cost : Free, premium version available

The purpose of GoNoodle is to help parents and teachers get kids moving, with the help of engaging video content. As their app description states: “make screen time active with 300+ videos that feature kids songs, dance, yoga, mindfulness, stretching, and more!”

Whether you want to throw your children a dance party to get them moving or make cleaning up around the house fun, GoNoodle has the perfect video.

Learning Games for Kids: Health

Age : 4 to 13

When it comes to health, it’s important that children learn about their bodies early to stay healthy. Although this website is outdated, there are 36 health-related games across four categories that will help children love to care about their health.From allergies and body parts to dental hygiene and staying fit, playing these games can introduce them to new concepts and help reinforce what they learn in school.

Disaster Master

Disaster Master is an educational game for kids designed to teach them about staying safe from environmental disasters. Players progress through different 8 levels, each centered on a particular disaster challenge, like hurricanes and wildfires.

Use this game to teach both younger and older kids about the importance of staying safe and what they can do to protect themselves in an environmental disaster.

Science games

Available : Apple App Store, Google Play, Microsoft

Cost : $2.99 per app, discounted bundles available

Tinybop can be summed up in three words: play, create, and learn. 

Using educational apps and digital games created for curious and creative minds, children can explore the awesome and invisible wonders of the world!

Children will develop foundational science literacy while engaging with educational games about the human body, plants, homes, weather, space, animals, states of matter, and other exciting topics.

Cost : Free with in-game purchases

Flowing from a belief that the power of play jumpstarts imagination, its games are open-ended, so children are encouraged to experiment and make new connections. The educational game developer Toca Boca creates digital toys from the kid perspective. 

Among Toca Boca’s products, science-related ones include Toca Lab: Elements and Toca Lab: Plants.

In Elements, children will explore the exciting world of science and meet all 118 elements from the periodic table, as they experiment with lab equipment!

And in Plants, they’ll have the opportunity to see how plants evolve, while collecting up to 35 different plant characters!

Camp Wonderopolis

Science for kids is a website packed with fun games for kids to channel their inner scientist. From learning about food chains to mastering melting points, each topic includes mini-games to help engage kids in biology, chemistry and physics.

The website also includes other educational activities for parents and teachers to try with kids, like experiment ideas, quizzes and more.

Technology games

Cost : Individual and Family Plans available, starting at $9 per month

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, said: “In fifteen years, we’ll be teaching programming just like reading and writing… and wondering why we didn’t do it sooner.” 

Recognizing its importance, Tynker has created award-winning coding courses that are fun and offer self-paced learning for all experience levels.

With over 3,700 fun modules, Tynker designed its lessons to motivate children to further advance their skills, while earning cool new badges! They’ll also have help along the way thanks to interactive explanations, how-to videos, mini-game previews, and more.

CodeSpark Academy

Cost : $9.99 USD/month, with discounts available for longer subscriptions.

This coding game for kids covers many different skills needed for programming, including creativity, logical thinking and problem-solving. It includes characters called the Foos, who guide players through puzzle games where they'll encounter and learn coding topics like sequencing.

Like many of the educational games listed in this article, you can access it via web or through a device running iOS or Android.

Gamestar Mechanic

Available : Web (App access required)

In partnership with E-Line Media and the Institute of Play, Gamestar Mechanic is an online game and community with the sole aim of helping children learn the guiding principles of game design in a highly engaging environment.

There are three components to Gamestar Mechanic: Play, Design , and Share .

Here’s a quick overview of how it works:

• Your child will start by going on an exciting single-player quest to learn about the principles of game design, while earning “sprites.”
• After exhibiting a certain level of mastery, they can use their sprites to design their own original games!
• Then, if your child wishes, they may publish their game in Game Alley as well as review and collaborate on other players’ games.

Have you thought about a STEM program?

If your child loves technology games, they might benefit from a STEM program. STEM programs help kids build key STEM skills – all while they have fun!

Social studies games

Pbs kids games.

Available : Web, Apple App Store, Google Play

Age : 2 to 11

Starring some of children’s favorite television characters, the social studies games on PBS Kids explore culture, different environments, identity, governance, science, and more.

Not sure there’s something for your child? PBS Kids offers a variety of styles of games — from Jet’s Planet Pinball to learn about our solar system to Fidgits to the Rescue! where they build structures to help victims of environmental disasters. There’s something for every type of learner.

In 2009, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor founded iCivics to reimagine civic education. Since its inception, her vision has been “to cultivate a new generation of students for thoughtful and active citizenship. Civic knowledge is a prerequisite for civic participation. Yet for decades, civic education had largely disappeared from school curricula and the repercussions are undeniable.”

Taking a game-based approach, iCivics transforms abstract concepts into problems that every child will face in real life. 

If it’s used in your child’s class, they’ll have a class code to sign in. If it isn’t, they can still make their own account to play engaging and educational games that will help make them better citizens!

One Globe Kids - Friends

Available : Apple App Store, Web

This social studies game allows children to “meet” other kids around the world through photo- and audio-based stories called “A Day in My Life.” Choose from places like Haiti, New York City, the Netherlands, or Indonesia to hear each storyteller’s language as well as learn geographic, cultural, and political facts about each country.

Depending how your child would like to explore each friend’s story, they can choose from three different approaches: Adventure, Start to Finish , and Conversations .

History games

Civilisations ar.

Age : All ages (However, children under 16 are advised to have an adult present.)

With this engaging app, Civilisations AR puts puts history in your hand with the BBC’s first ever Augmented Reality app. You and your child will discover things like ancient Egyptian secrets and reveal hidden layers beneath Renaissance masterpieces.

Whether at home or on a walk in the park, you can use Civilisations AR to bring realistic, to-scale artifacts to life. Become the explorer as you move, scale, and rotate the collection. And, if interested, use features like the “Spotlight” to reveal audio guides and special features, or the “X-Ray” to discover some of history’s greatest secrets.

History for Kids: All Civilizations Learning Games

Cost : Free, in-app purchases ($2.79 to $13.99)

Children will have fun discovering the ancient world and exploring through games and adventures. With vibrant colors and high-quality images, they’ll find themselves engaged with the history of 14 different civilizations.

Kids also get to create their own avatar! And when they do, playing the game will allow them to level it up so they can unlock some awesome prizes.

Geography games

National geographic kids.

Parents may remember the National Geographic Kids magazine. Now, children can engage with the same fun aspects of the magazine online.

To learn more about geography, head over to their website for some fact-filled, fast-paced fun! There are many educational quizzes, funny fill-ins, and action-adventure games to play.

Carmen Sandiego

Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

Your child will just have to hop on the internet to find out. In collaboration with education publishing company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Google Earth created a series of Carmen Sandiego games: The Crown Jewels Caper, Tutankhamun's Mask Caper, and The Keys to the Kremlin Caper.

Your child will help Carmen Sandiego track down burglars working for a global criminal organization called VILE. Flying from continent to continent, players interview characters to gain clues that help track down the burglars while testing their geography knowledge. 

Ready to see the impact educational video games for kids can have?

Gamification in education need not be limited to the classroom. Encouraging your child to spend their screen time playing educational video games for kids not only strengthens their skills in various subjects but can also help transform them into lifelong learners!

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Educational Games for Kids

Welcome to TurtleDiary! Our award winning educational website offers 1000+ learning activities that are both interactive and educational. The games support necessary skills while promoting fun. TurtleDiary activities are compatible with grade levels K-5 and provide opportunities to enhance material retention and increase success in the classroom.

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Introduce kids to new, exciting ways of learning with the help of fun online games, videos, experiments, puzzles, coloring sheets, and more! TurtleDiary activities pair with the appropriate grade level to enhance retention of material and increase success in the classroom.

Multiplayer Games

• Pronoun Games
• Assessments Tests
• Subtraction Games
• Addition Games

Typing Games

• Adverb Games
• Adjectives Games

Top Rated Games For Kids

Explore Quizzes

Turtle Diary offers a unique blend of education and entertainment to create the ideal interactive learning platform for your little ones. The kids' quizzes offered on our site enable children from first to fifth grade to become confident in applying learned concepts, and grant instant evaluations.

Free Educational Games

TurtleDiary offers 1000+ games that are interactive, educational, and that kids love to play. TurtleDiary includes multiple learning-based games for kids that support necessary skills while promoting fun.

From basic topics like Number Recognition, Simple Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division, to more complex topics like Geometry, kids can master Math basics and more.

Language and Art Games

Kids learn Sight Words, Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, and other Parts of Speech, developing grammar skills right in the app.

Nowadays, the skill of typing is undoubtedly essential. More activities are technology based and knowing how to type efficiently and successfully is key. TurtleDiary provides fun keyboarding games for kids that develop the necessary skills for typing success.

For kids who thrive on competition and challenge, we offer many fun multiplayer games. Kids can engage with their classmates, a friend (with an invite) and others in the world, in a safe environment.

Science Games

Our science games will develop your child's sense of curiosity. They build upon basic science concepts, reinforcing comprehension in an engaging, approachable, stimulating manner. Our program offers a collection of science games covering topics like the human body, weather, life cycles, animals, and much more.

Geography Games

In our map games, kids learn about US and World Geography. Students have access to maps of the world divided into different regions, so learning is simpler, and tasks feel less overwhelming.

Explore Worksheets & Quizzes

We have over 500+ Online quizzes enabling children from first to fifth grade to become more confident in applying learned concepts. They can also receive instant evaluations. Our fun quizzes give kids the opportunity to receive positive feedback as they master new skills and build their knowledge base.

Typing Lessons

The app offers 3 skill levels for typing - basic, intermediate, and advanced, that include multiple lessons in each. The basic level covers touch typing skills and introduction to the QWERTY keyboard. At the intermediate level, students learn to type basic words and simple sentences. The final advanced level progresses kids to more complex sentences and short paragraphs, all the while building solid typing skills. The program is comprehensive enough to ensure typing mastery and user friendly so your child can develop at an individualized pace.

Worksheets are a great learning tool for kids just learning to write or those who want additional practice at home. At TurtleDiary, we recognize the importance of practicing educational content online and offline. We offer 1000+ printable worksheets in subjects such as language arts, math, and science. Worksheets give students an opportunity to display their work in a written format and to receive feedback. Be sure to check out our fun and colorful worksheets for kids, available for download.

Geography Quizzes

Learn US states and Countries with their capital and their location.

Learn about World Currencies

Learn about Culture, Food and religion of the US and the World

Learn about Natural Wonders and Resources of the US and the World

Learn about important cities of US and the World

Math Quizzes

Foundational topics like Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division subdivided into smaller related subtopics, progressing from easy to hard, in a step-by-step manner.

Language and Art Quizzes

These quizzes will help kids learn Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Compound Words, Conjunctions. They are the building blocks of all reading and writing.

Educational Tools for Parents & Teachers

TurtleDiary offers assessment tools and detailed reports for teachers to track students’ activities and to report their progress. For example, we offer:

Worksheet Generator

Teachers can create their own worksheets, with customizable and unique content.

Printable Lessons

Teachers have the option to print from our 100+ lessons or review lessons online for inspiration and ideas.

Assessment Tests

We offer plenty of assessment tests, accessible anytime, to analyze student performance and identify areas of concern to address.

Assignments

In the app, teachers can create their own assignments, and send them right to students, with ease.

Teachers can view reports, including quiz scores and activity performance to closely track how students are progressing.

Google Drive Integration

Our app offers a seamless integration with Google drive. Teachers can access current or past google drive documents without leaving the program.

Google Classroom Integration

Teachers can login to TurtleDiary using their existing Google Account. They can use a simple process to import their existing google classrooms into TurtleDiary, saving time and teaching resources.

Student Management Tools

Our app offers several management features that simplify and streamline processes for administrators and educators in a top-down approach.

Account Creation

District Administrators: The app design allows District Administrators to invite multiple schools to join the program. Once School Administrators become established, teachers can receive individual invitations to create accounts.

School Administrators: School Administrators can invite multiple teachers to join the program. A teacher can then create classes and add students to the class.

Educator Account: A teacher can create classes and add students to the classes.

Account Login

There are a few ways to access TurtleDiary:

Using TurtleDiary Login Credentials: Teachers and students each receive their own accounts so sharing passwords is not necessary.

Using Your Existing Google Account: Teachers can login to TurtleDiary using their existing google account.

Our dashboard provides an easy-to-use interface to access the TurtleDiary program and all its offerings. From the dashboard, teachers can manage classes and update student details, easily adding students or creating classes, as needed.

Educational Games & Activities to Guide Kids in Elementary School

Turtle Diary offers a huge compendium of online educational games from K4 through 5th grade. These support the content kids are already learning in the classroom. Often students need just a little bit of extra help to master those concepts that are introduced in the classroom. With Turtle Diary they can have that...and so much more.

The games contain amazing graphics with age-appropriate content for each grade level in each subject. Students will enjoy playing the games while you know that behind the scenes, they’re practicing and reinforcing new skills.

With Turtle Diary, kids can try multiple games that all reinforce the same concept. This gives them a scaffolded and repetitive approach to mastery of a variety of subjects. Gone are the days of rote memorization and boring flash cards.

With our site, kids will be begging to come back and play some more games. Students can play by themselves, with classmates online, or with other kids logging on. It adds an element of positive peer experience, knowing that other kids are also practicing. And they can have a bit of competition if they want!

Instead of constant battles about working on learning skills, introduce your kids to Turtle Diary. Then, take a step back to watch the magic of learning happen!

Award-Winning Learning Games Created by Top Educators

Put away your flashcards and workbooks and log on to see the new way to master educational skills! Top educators worked exclusively with Turtle Diary to create game after game with superior content and maximum fun for every child.

The concepts reviewed parallel those taught in the everyday classroom for grades K4 through 5th grade. Students focus on mastering the concept on their own with consistent and repetitive review. They won’t even realize they’re reviewing thanks to incredibly fun graphics, sounds, and interactive games.

These games will keep your kids coming back for more day after day. You can rest easy knowing they’re working towards their future.

With skills backed by top educators, parents know that Turtle Diary is giving their kids the best they have to offer. The games help to solidify the necessary skills needed for their specific grade levels.

Turtle Diary’s games are not only educational, but incredibly fun. They can even be a bit competitive at times when you choose a multiplayer option.

Students can also link up with kids in their classes and play games specifically recommended by their teacher. This helps them master the exact concepts they are working on in their classroom. The possibilities are endless, and the fun is never-ending.

Gamification of Education to Make Learning Fun & Exciting

Gamification isn’t just a new buzzword around education. The concept swirls in every educational endeavor that involves helping kids to master concepts by including games, rewards, and fun.

With Turtle Diary, concepts can be practiced in a variety of ways. But the kids will tell you they prefer the gamification features. They can see how well they’re doing in the games with the interactive scoring component.

Often, there is a countdown that occurs with each game. This encourages the students to beat their own best time on whatever concept they happen to be studying.

Who doesn’t love a good story or to be the hero in your own story? With Turtle Diary, students can play games where they must slay a dragon, or shoot hoops, or race a car. They answer questions that help them to practice and master important grade-level concepts.

Students will come back again and again for more competition as well. Turtle Diary’s multiplayer options allow students to pit themselves against kids from their own class. They can also play someone in the Turtle Diary platform. A bit of friendly competition often encourages students towards mastery in a way that nothing else quite can.

Worried about Grades in School? Try Our Learning Games for Kids to Find Success!

Sometimes grades in school don’t reflect a student’s true aptitude, and sometimes they do. Either way, students can benefit from time spent on Turtle Diary instead of in front of mindless video games.

Our platform takes the fun of video games and puts it into an educational context. This helps students learn more and enjoy the process while they’re playing. Students who don’t quite seem to be able to get a leg up in the classroom will love the opportunity to work on their skills by playing games. Those who excel can come and practice their processing and recall speeds, or work on something more challenging.

With a wide variety of great games in every subject, students will always find a place for them at Turtle Diary. Students will be empowered by the option to choose their own games. They can work towards the same goals established in their classroom in a fun and engaging way.

They often don’t realize that the games are actually helping them find success in a variety of subjects. They’re just having fun choosing their characters and working to get the next high score. Spend 15-20 minutes on Turtle Diary each day in problem areas and watch how quickly your child will improve!

Flexible Learning On-the-Go Boosts Kids Learning Potential on iPads & Tablets

Kids learning games that can travel with you wherever you may be are one of Turtle Diary’s most exciting features. As long as you have a stable WiFi connection, your student will always have access to Turtle Diary’s entire platform. Kids learning games are everywhere these days, so you want to have the right one at their fingertips at all times.

Turtle Diary promises to be an adventure in education that can travel with you wherever you may be. There’s nothing like learning on the go! Kids have this opportunity with the wide variety of games and materials available for parents.

No matter where you are or when you’re there, Turtle Diary will always be there. Kids can master both problem areas and areas needed to challenge kids. Wouldn’t you rather have the kids be mesmerized by the games than pull teeth as they actively protest their schoolwork?

Simply download the app on your tablet, iPad, or iPad. Your kids will be able to join in on the ultimate fun of Turtle Diary. No matter what your busy situation is, kids can always have Turtle Diary with them. They can master their current subjects with a high quotient of fun and gamification.

Build On, Gear Up, and Test for Mastery of Common Core Subjects

With Turtle Diary, we’ve done the hard work for you. Common Core Standards used in their classrooms will be reinforced with our games, lessons, and quizzes.

All of the fun we offer on our site is aligned with the newer vision of mathematics and other subjects. By sticking with Turtle Diary, you can let us handle the hard work of explaining Common Core. Sometimes this method may seem foreign to you if you’ve learned with “old math.” In fact, you might just learn along with your student!

Students have the necessary skills to be able to compete in a competitive world with an increased focus on STEM. Cognitive demand reigns higher than rote learning, and students are able to quickly visualize and manipulate numbers. They can “see” the inner workings of the problems, especially in math, and learn to mentally work the numbers.

Turtle Diary helps students to learn and practice these concepts, especially if they aren’t quite grasping it in the classroom. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your student picks up the new concepts. Just remember that they’ve never learned it the “old” way. The Common Core way is THE way for their learning journey.

Get Access to Unlimited Fun and Learning for Free

24/7 access to great games while still building a foundation for learning? Welcome to Turtle Diary, where you can have it all! Edutainment at its finest is alive and well here.

Students can access our platform from wherever they go on whatever device they have. All you need is an internet connection.

Once you enter Turtle Diary, the world is yours to explore. From learning videos to quizzes to entertaining games and multiplayer challenges, students will never be bored. Turtle Diary offers students amazing graphics, sounds, and intense gaming. This allows students a chance to breathe while learning in a stress-free environment.

With new games being added all the time, your student will never get bored with Turtle Diary. And since our games align with Common Core, the more they play, the more they’ll learn. The more they learn, the better their classroom experience will be because the information will click with repeated exposure.

Even though there may seem to be an overwhelming amount of games, the idea is to give students the choice. All of the games in a grade level reinforce the same necessary concepts, but just in a different way. Students will be practicing the same ideas over and over again as they choose from one fun game to another. We dare them to be bored!

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40+ Best Online Educational Games for Every Grade in 2023

Make screen time meaningful and fun!

Kids are always asking for more screen time, and parents and teachers are always looking for ways to make that screen time more worthwhile. Fortunately, there are endless free online games for kids that teach language arts, math, science, art, and STEM. If you’re not quite sure where to get started, try this list of our favorite teacher-approved online educational games. You’ll find educational games for students in every subject and every grade.

Preschool and Elementary Online Educational Games

Middle and high school online educational games.

Offering a full curriculum for children ages 2 to 8, this site includes fun and interactive games, songs, and puzzles for reading, math, science, and art. (Free for teachers and classrooms; subscription available for home use)

Adventure Academy

From the same company as ABCMouse, Adventure Academy takes kids ages 8 to 13 on a knowledge quest through language arts, math, science, and social studies. (First month free, then monthly subscription fee)

Looking to improve outcomes in a way that kids will enjoy? This educational game takes K-12 students on a time-traveling adventure to meet some of the most influential mathematicians in history. (Monthly or annual subscription plans for families; schools request price quote)

Duck Duck Moose Reading

Based on Common Core State Standards, this app teaches phonics including the letter sounds for all consonants, short vowels, and long vowels. Kids will also practice spelling consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. If you like this one, check out Duck Duck Moose’s whole collection of school games online. (Apps are free to download and play.)

Test your knowledge while earning rice for those in need! Each time you play, you’re helping the United Nations World Food Programme provide food to those around the world who need it. The game offers a variety of subjects and difficulty levels. (Free)

Dive into a coral reef or be a star climber on this great site that features a wide assortment of free online games for kids. These educational games focus mainly on reading and math, but you’ll find lots of fun activities here with options for pre-K through grade 8. (Free)

Gamestar Mechanic

Do you have gamers in your class? This site helps kids ages 7 through 14 learn how to design their very own video games through game-based quests and courses. (Free)

Whether they’re jetpacking through the stars in Zapp Von Doubler’s Space Race or clearing weeds in the garden in Om Petalhead’s Flower Power, kids will enjoy this collection of fun educational games that get them up and moving! (Free)

KUBO Play – Coding for Kids

KUBO Play is an interactive online platform that teaches coding and computational thinking to early learners. Its three activity modes (Free Play, Practice, and Story) include more than 100 coding tasks combined. You can even customize your students’ learning pathways. (Contact for pricing)

Learning Games for Kids: Health Games

Kids in grades K-5 can learn about a range of health topics, from body parts to staying fit, with these interactive online games. They’re perfect for science learning enrichment. (Free)

Little Alchemy 2

This deceptively simple game is actually a lot of fun. Kids (and teachers!) can experiment with combining different elements, such as fire or dirt, to create something entirely new. It encourages creative thinking as well as knowledge of the world around us. (Free)

Minecraft: Education Edition

Kids love the regular Minecraft video game, but this education-focused version takes learning to the next level. With lessons, STEM curriculum, and project-based challenges, this immersive digital environment promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. (Priced per user, per year)

Moose Math engages kids in a mathematical adventure and teaches counting, addition, subtraction, sorting, geometry, and more. While playing five multi-level activities in the Moose Juice Store, Puck’s Pet Shop, and Lost & Found, kids can earn rewards to help build their own city and decorate buildings. (Free)

Multiplication.com

Need to master your multiplication facts? This is the site to try! Fun games and memory-building strategies will help students tackle this key skill. (Free, with Premium membership available for extra features)

National Geographic Kids

Head out on the trail with Captain John Smith, explore Ancient Greece with Zeus the Mighty, or just take a quiz about sharks on this robust site filled with great educational games for students. (Free)

PBS Kids Games

You’ll find everything from social studies to teamwork and feelings in this incredible collection of games that vary in degree of difficulty. The website is truly filled with some of the very best educational games centering on science, social studies, history, and art. (Free)

Prodigy Math

Looking for personalized math lessons for your students? Kids in grades 1-8 take a Prodigy placement test that generates games tailored to their strengths and weaknesses. They’ll build confidence by solving math challenges to progress in the game. (Free)

RoomRecess.com

Access over 140 online educational games for kids in grades K-6 on this site, which was developed by an elementary school teacher with a focus on reinforcing fundamental learning concepts in math, reading, spelling, language arts, typing, and problem-solving. (Free)

Roy: Tale of a Singing Zebra

Kids pre-K to grade 2 will enjoy the punctuation, reading, and spelling games on this cute, simple site. You’ll also find online guided-reading stories and lesson plans for teachers. (Free)

Starfall activities are research-based and align with individual and Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics. There are engaging and interactive games for students in grades K-3. (Some free content with subscriptions available)

Teachers love this great site that offers personalized math and spelling practice for kids ages 5 through 13 through adaptive learning and multi-player games. This is definitely one of the best online educational game sites out there! (Monthly subscription fee)

How good are your airbrush skills? Which famous artist should design your bedroom? Are you a master of street art? Kids can explore these questions and more with the cool quizzes and games on this art-focused site from the Tate Gallery. (Free)

Toy Theater

How would your students like to learn multiplication while shooting hoops? They can do that and more at Toy Theater, which teaches early math concepts through game-based learning. (Free)

Turtle Diary

Introduce kids to new, exciting ways of learning with the help of fun online games, videos, experiments, puzzles, coloring sheets, and more! Turtle Diary activities pair with the appropriate grade level to enhance retention of material and increase success in the classroom. (Free)

The games and challenges on Tynker give kids ages 5 and up a fun and easy way to build coding skills. This is one of the top online educational games for young coders— see more of our favorites here . (Subscription required)

Vocabulary A-Z

Dive into engaging learning activities and games for kids in first through sixth grades, designed to promote vocabulary, spelling, phonics, and language arts. (Free basic access; Premium membership unlocks complete library)

Algebraic Reasoning Sweet Shop

Who doesn’t like candy? Buy and sell sweet treats in this game that helps students grasp concepts related to price and purchasing. (Free)

Boat Coordinates

Use this fun boating game to learn and practice concepts related to grids and quadrants. Race along the X and Y axes to get to the finish line as fast as you can! (Free)

Cells Alive

This information website provides all sorts of interactive ways to learn about cells! Interactive models, puzzles, and more all help tell the story of this building block of life. (Free)

This guessing game uses maps and photos from around the world to educate kids on world locations as well as historical landmarks and famous cities. User-made quizzes add to the guessing fun! (Free)

Get the Math

Explore all the ways you really do use algebra in the real world. Students see how professionals use math in music, fashion, video games, restaurants, basketball, and special effects. Then take on interactive challenges related to those careers. (Free)

Created by a high school student, this interactive review game is something kids can play on their own devices, earning in-game money for correct answers that they can use to buy upgrades and power-ups! (Free, with Pro subscriptions available)

High-Stakes Heist

Kids use their knowledge of the order of operations to crack the safes and help hero Kit Foxtail return the townspeoples’ money that was stolen by the evil Duke von Wolfington. They’ll have to think fast as they try to solve equations in the correct order before time runs out! (Free)

Help kids learn the foundations of civics and government with this collection of highly interactive games including Court Quest, Newsfeed Defenders, and Do I Have the Right? (Free)

Kids Environment Kids Health

Through a wide assortment of puzzles, riddles, brainteasers, and more, kids can learn about their own health and the health of the environment on this website from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. (Free)

NASA STEM Engagement

With a variety of games, activities, and educational options to choose from, the NASA Stem Engagement site offers options for all grades. Learn, discover, and play online educational games related to space technology and exploration. (Free)

Physicsgames.net

This website offers dozens of different simple games to choose from that help educate kids on the mechanics of physics. Whether they are shooting pigs, knocking down walls, or trying to balance a building, they’ll learn and have fun at the same time. (Free)

Science Vocabulary Hangman

Use the clues to guess the scientific term before the cellular hangman disappears. Choose from literally hundreds of subject sets that include grade-specific vocab, state-level standardized tests, and more. (Free)

smokeSCREEN

As part of their #BeTheFirst Initiative, smokeSCREEN was developed by the play2PREVENT Lab, 1stPlayable, and Schell Games and funded by the NIH/FDA and the CVS Health Foundation. The game addresses the range of challenges that young teens face, with a dedicated focus on youth decision-making around smoking and vaping and strategies for both smoking prevention and cessation. Educators can request free access to the web-based game here . (Free)

Sortify: Angles

Learning about angles can be tricky, but this game uses cue cards and sorting bins to help students learn to properly classify angles into different categories. Make sure they’re all correct and then submit the responses to earn the most points. (Free)

Though Quizlet is known for its huge array of digital flash cards, this educational site offers much more for students. AI tutors help kids learn more about tricky subjects, plus transform their own notes into interactive learning activities. (Free; Quizlet Plus has more features available for a subscription fee)

Trigonometry Minigolf

Trigonometry has never been more fun than in this game that uses correct answers to power your golf swing as you aim for a hole in one! Miss an answer? The game will let you know what you did wrong and give you another shot. (Free)

Wrecks Factor

S.O.S.! Ships are sailing into your harbor and you need to help keep them from sinking! Solve the quadratic equations to keep the boats afloat and clear the board … if you take too long, boats start to sink and you lose a life. (Free)

Did we miss one of your favorite online educational games? Share in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, 28 online interactive math games kids will love ..

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28 Online Interactive Math Games Kids Will Love

K through 12 ... it all adds up to fun! Continue Reading

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21 fun games for 5-year-olds (no screens required!)

Experts share their favorite entertaining and educational games for 5-year-olds, perfect for learning while having fun.

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Keeping kids in the 5-year-old set entertained isn’t always easy, but games are a great way to engage kids and encourage all kinds of learning. Games for 5-year-olds don’t have to be on screens — in fact, there are plenty of fun, engaging games that will support their development without involving a phone or tablet at all. 

“Play is integral for child development, and games facilitate play at all ages,” says Dr. Puji Jonnalagadda, a board-certified developmental-behavioral pediatrician at Pediatrix Developmental Medicine of San Antonio. “Games grow imaginations, cognitive skills, teach how to be social with others and can even help with language skills,” she adds. 

“Until 2 to 3 years of age, children are mostly playing by themselves or alongside other kids while they explore toys and the world around them,” explains Jonnalagadda. “After that age, they start to engage in more elaborate and back-and-forth play,” she says, highlighting the importance of finding age-appropriate games as they hit age 5. 

Fun games for many 5-year-olds can be anything from classic board games to exciting new math and learning-based games. Here are 21 fun game recommendations from child development experts, preschool teachers and pediatricians that can be perfect for kids at age 5 (give or take). 

“Games grow imaginations, cognitive skills, teach how to be social with others and can even help with language skills.” — Dr. Puji Jonnalagadda, developmental-behavioral pediatrician

Board games for 5-year-olds 

1. chutes and ladders .

“This is a great age to introduce simple board games,” says Jonnalagadda. “These introduce concepts of turn taking, help increase attention span and make counting fun,” she explains. 

Where to buy: Chutes and Ladders ($9, Target) 

2. Candy Land 

This 5-year-old favorite seems simple, but Candy Land can teach important early math skills, like matching colors. Plus, it’s another chance to practice turn-taking, counting and strengthening attention spans. 

Where to buy: Candy Land ($20, Walmart)

3. Sequence for Kids

Recommended by Mimosa Jones Tunney, founder and president of The School House, a private elementary school in New York City, this popular animal-matching game is fun for all animal-loving 5-year-olds. It also teaches matching skills and logical strategizing. 

Where to buy: Sequence For Kids ($22, Amazon) 

4. Story Time Chess 

Think 5-year-olds are too young to play chess? Think again! “Kids can learn the basics of chess and strategy through engaging stories,” says John Bianchette, vice president of education and training at Mathnasium in Los Angeles. He recommends Story Time Chess as an engaging introduction to the game. “Students as young as 4 or 5 can learn the basics of the board and how the pieces move,” he says. 

Where to buy: Story Time Chess ($85 for 3-pack, Amazon) 

Educational games for 5-year-olds 

5. abc trinkets .

Learn the ABCs with this adorable game, recommended by Tunney. Kids can place tiny objects in bags, based on the starting letter of the object name, strengthening their phonic skills. 

Where to buy: ABC Trinkets ($30+, LearnandPlayBoutique/Etsy) 

6. Memory Matching Game 

Practice memory and matching with this cute wooden game, recommended by Tunney. “This one is great because it isolates difficulty, meaning that it doesn’t combine different colors with different patterns,” she explains. 

Where to buy: Memory Matching Game ($23, Smiling Tree Toys)

7. Wooden Reading Blocks

Five-year-olds can practice spelling and reading simple words with this game, another recommendation from Tunney. Start by spelling a word for them, helping them as they learn to recognize the word and match it to the correct picture. When they’re ready , kids can start writing words themselves.

Where to buy: Wooden Reading Blocks ($20, Amazon) 

8. Small object matching 

Matching objects or little toys is a great way to introduce an early math concept. “Kids this age love small objects,” says Tunney. You can use any tiny objects you have around the house — as long as you have a pair, you can hide one and have kiddos find the matching object. Animal figurines or erasers work great for this game, too! 

9. Ladybug’s Garden Memory Game 

A garden-themed option for teaching important memory skills, recommended by Tunney.  

Where to buy: Ladybug’s Garden Memory Game ($20, Fat Brain Toys)

10. 52 Essential Life Skills 

This game was designed by Harvard-trained educator and former Montessori preschool director Dr. Jenny Woo in Irvine, California, in order to “help preschoolers learn practical life skills while boosting confidence through playing,” says Woo. The cards can be used to play classic card games like “Go Fish” or as a chore chart, encouraging important life skills, like taking care of others and eating healthy foods. 

Where to buy: 52 Essential Life Skills ($25, Amazon)

11. Sight Word Bingo 

Five-year-olds who are learning to read can practice sight words with a game of word bingo, as recommended by Jonnalagadda. “They can make practicing speech sounds, alphabets and writing skills fun,” says Jonnalagadda. 

Where to buy: Sight Word Bingo   ($15, Target) 

12. The Kid’s  Bingo (with pictures)

Not ready for word bingo? Try picture bingo! Instead of reading practice, picture bingo gives 5-year-olds the chance to work on matching pictures together. 

Where to buy: The Kid’s Bingo ($13, Amazon)

Math games for 5-year-olds 

13. zingo 1-2-3.

Zingo! 1-2-3, another game recommendation from Bianchette, incorporates number recognition, counting and matching. “Early exposure to math-focused games fosters numeracy skills, promoting fluency in basic arithmetic operations and a love for learning and exploration,” he explains. 

Where to buy: Zingo! 1-2-3 ($24, Think Fun)

14. Coin play 

Playing with real or pretend coins is a great way to teach early math skills. For 5-year-olds who love pretending to shop, set up a mini grocery store and use coins to simulate purchasing food! Or, Bianchette suggests, “combining coins, comparing values, and adding and subtracting money” as a way of incorporating math into playing with coins. 

15. Number-Bots 

Another Bianchette-recommended game, Number-Bots transforms robots into numbers! The set comes with 10 robots and 5 operations symbols, so kids can make their own equations. 

Where to buy: Number-Bots ($17, Lakeshore Learning) 

16. Clock 

Playing games with a toy or plain old analog clock is a great way to help kids grasp time-telling skills, according to Bianchette. Clocks can also be used to prepare kids for transitions and create routines . 

17. Magnet tiles 

From my experience as a nanny, I’ve found kids love nothing more than magnet tiles. These magnetic tiles come in squares, triangles and rectangles that kids can connect to create their own architectural masterpieces, building an excellent foundation for future geometry education. 

Where to buy: Magnetic Wonder Tiles Master Set ($120, Lakeshore Learning)

Physical games for 5-year-olds 

18. jenga .

Not only is Jenga a classic, but it’s also great practice with fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, both very important for physical development! 

Where to buy: Jenga ($16, Kohl’s) 

19. Hopscotch 

Helpful tip: Hopscotch is sure to tire out even the most energetic 5-year-old. Plus, they can practice counting along the way. According to Jonnalagadda, physical games like hopscotch “introduce the concept of rules and help with motor skills, coordination and balance.” All you need is a sidewalk and some chalk! 

Where to buy: Washable Sidewalk Chalk ($3, Target) 

20. Knobs and blocks 

For 5-year-olds working on their fine motor skills, Tunney suggests these knobs and blocks games. “Children are sensory-based during this period, so this gives them an introduction to weights and measures,” she says, suggesting that kids use just one tray at a time, taking them out and putting them back in themselves. 

Where to buy: Montessori Knobbed Cylinder Blocks – Set of 4 ($24, CanmomMontessori/Etsy) 

21. Twister 

Get 5-year-olds moving and giggling with another physical game suggested by Jonnalagadda — Twister! This game supports development of physical skills like coordination and balance while also incorporating color-matching practice. 

Where to buy: Twister ($12, Walmart) 

Tips for encouraging game play and participation

Follow the child’s lead .

When introducing games to 5-year-olds, try finding ways to tie games in with things they’re already interested in. Don’t stress about following the rules exactly — kids will sometimes make up their own ways to play. See what piques their interest and let them explore! 

“Games that are self-correcting are important,” says Tunney, highlighting the importance of children’s agency in the games they play. Let them make mistakes and see how they correct them. That’s what learning is anyways! 

Include kids in setup and cleanup  

Learning doesn’t start when gameplay starts — there are plenty of opportunities to learn in the process of choosing, setting up and cleaning up a game. 

“Make sure the setting up and putting away is done by the child,” suggests Tunney. “[Five-year-olds] are in the stage for cleaning up and order,” she says, referencing the learning that can occur through simple observations, like the order of events. Games are an excellent avenue for reinforcing the concepts of first, next and last. 

Remember it’s fun — with benefits

Game-inspired learning goes beyond educational foundations — 5-year-olds can learn so much about life from playing games. 

As Bianchette says, “Socially, play facilitates interaction and communication, allowing children to learn how to navigate relationships, cooperate and develop empathy.” He adds, “Emotionally, play provides a safe space for expression and regulation of feelings , nurturing resilience and self-confidence.”

Playing should be fun, but don’t forget about the important developmental advantages associated with meaningful play opportunities.

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Some of the Best Online Learning Games for Kids

By Courtney Schley

To find our favorite learning apps and games for kids, we spent more than 40 hours researching and testing 50-plus apps recommended by educators, experts, and parents. If your family has a tablet and you want it to be more than a game-playing and video-watching device, or if you’re trying to find apps for your smartphone that will do more than keep your kids occupied in a pinch, we have some great suggestions.

As with our guides to STEM and learning toys, we didn’t test scores of apps to try to find the “best” ones. Rather, most of the apps here have been chosen by teachers for their students in classrooms, used by Wirecutter parents and their kids, or recommended by the experts and educators we spoke with. (For details, read more about how we selected the apps in this guide.) The apps we cover in this guide are great learning apps not because they’re designed to make kids smarter, to drill facts, or to replace in-school learning, but because they each offer something fun, unique, and interesting for kids and adults.

The research

Our favorite math apps, our favorite coding apps, our favorite science and exploration apps, our favorite social and emotional learning apps, our favorite ebook app, how we picked and tested.

These math games don’t simply drill facts or make kids memorize but rather use visuals, narratives, and storylines to help kids discover math concepts and build their skills. We like these apps because they offer games and exercises tailored to different ages and skill levels and because they encourage adults and kids to play together.

A family math app: Bedtime Math

Bedtime Math (iOS and Android)

Bringing math home.

This free app makes math a part of daily family life, like a bedtime story. A peer-reviewed study showed that it not only helps improve kids’ math performance but also makes parents feel more comfortable with math.

Buying Options

How it works: Bedtime Math ( iOS and Android ) seeks to do for math what the bedtime story does for literacy, by turning math into an enjoyable bonding routine between child and caregiver.

The free app offers a daily word problem for children to solve together with an adult during bedtime or anytime. Each exercise centers on a short narrative or interesting fact and poses questions at four difficulty levels, from pre-K through elementary school.

Why it’s great: Bedtime Math is one of the few children’s educational apps that have been evaluated in a peer-reviewed study . This particular study demonstrated that students who used the app significantly boosted their math scores; it also showed that Bedtime Math can help parents mitigate their own math anxiety , a phenomenon that can negatively affect their children’s attitudes toward math and their ability in the subject. Teacher Jennifer Auten told us she liked that the questions were written at a middle-school reading level, meaning an adult must facilitate the discussion but you have a choice of four levels of difficulty based on the child’s age and math level.

Apps for visual math: DragonBox Numbers and DragonBox Big Numbers

DragonBox Numbers (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Visual numeracy.

Cute Nooms help kids visualize and conceptualize numbers and arithmetic operations.

DragonBox Big Numbers (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

More-complex arithmetic.

Kids follow characters called Nooms on adventures, solving long addition and subtraction equations in the process.

Ages: 4 to 8 and 6 to 9

How it works: DragonBox Numbers ( iOS , Android , and Amazon ), aimed at kids 4 through 8, introduces number sense, addition, and subtraction through cute characters called Nooms. (The characters are designed to resemble Cuisenaire rods , math learning aids that introduce kids to arithmetic operations in a hands-on way.) Kids feed, slice, and sort the Nooms, developing familiarity with addition, subtraction, fractions, and ranges. In DragonBox Big Numbers ( iOS , Android , and Amazon ), for kids 5 through 9, players follow the Nooms on more complex adventures, solving long addition and subtraction equations in order to gather and trade resources.

Why it’s great: The Nooms function as digital versions of what classroom teachers call math manipulatives , physical learning aids that help young children understand theoretical math concepts in a concrete way. For older kids, the DragonBox series continues on with algebra and Euclidean geometry.

Many great apps teach coding to kids as young as preschool and progressing through upper elementary grades. We’ve highlighted four of these apps because they’re particularly easy to get started with and don’t require reading or, for the child or the parent, a coding background. Regardless of what app they use, parents should think of coding apps as a family activity, said Pat Yongpradit of Code.org . “You will rarely have such a rich media experience as you can when coding with your kid,” he said.

Coding puzzles for beginners: Lightbot and Lightbot Jr

Lightbot (iOS and Android)

Coding puzzles.

The app’s simple puzzle challenges are easy to jump into for kids and adults with no previous coding experience.

Lightbot Jr (iOS and Android)

Coding puzzles for younger kids.

A slower-paced, easier set of puzzles for kids as young as preschool.

Ages: 9 and up (Lightbot); 4 to 8 (Lightbot Jr)

How it works: In Lightbot ( iOS and Android ), kids solve a series of simple puzzles by lining up commands that make a robot advance over obstacles and light up squares. As they master basic concepts, they add more-complex commands, such as conditionals, loops, and nested statements. Lightbot Jr ( iOS and Android ) follows a similar structure but at a slower pace and with simpler challenges that focus on reinforcing the basics. A minimal amount of reading is required, so pre-readers may need adult help at the beginning.

Why it’s great: Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nonprofit educational organization that promotes and develops STEM curricula and resources, told us, “The best apps for young students without previous experience are those that teach and help build logic and reasoning skills [and] critical thinking skills, and provide brain teasers.” PLTW’s curriculum writers like the Lightbot and Lightbot Jr apps as ways to get kids as young as 4 started with the basic concepts and logical structures of coding.

A creative coding app: ScratchJr

ScratchJr (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Visual programming.

Using graphical coding blocks, ScratchJr lets kids animate characters and create storylines.

Ages: 5 and up

How it works: In ScratchJr ( iOS , Android , Amazon ), kids select characters and backdrop scenes and drag graphical programming blocks, which snap together like puzzle pieces, to make animation sequences and storylines. Although the app has some written cues, the programming blocks largely use symbols (such as arrows and stop signs) to indicate what they do (such as move the character forward or make them stop). As kids become familiar with how to structure the code, they can create multi-scene stories.

Why it’s great: ScratchJr isn’t lesson-based (though you can consult a variety of curricula and tutorials for the app) but rather designed to give kids a sandbox in which to experiment, learn, and create through trial and error (the app offers sample animations as well). Pat Yongpradit of Code.org , which recommends ScratchJr among other coding apps and games, noted one particular benefit: “It’s very free-form; you’re not basically being directed down a particular path.” Younger kids will need an adult or older child to guide them as they get familiar with ScratchJr .

An app for hands-on coding: Osmo Coding Awbie

Osmo Coding (iOS)

Tangible coding.

The Osmo system uses physical game pieces in conjunction with the device’s screen, making scripting and coding tangible and accessible for pre-readers.

Ages: 5 to 12

How it works: Osmo Coding Awbie requires a base system—a stand and a mirror that attach to the device’s camera and that are compatible with other Osmo games —for the iPad , iPhone , and Amazon Fire . The system allows players to use physical pieces to interact with the screen-based game. Kids use bricks marked with commands, arrows, numbers, and loops to create scripts that direct a silly character through mazes and challenges, picking up prizes such as strawberries.

Why it’s great: Teacher Jennifer Auten, who uses Osmo Coding Awbie and other Osmo games in her classroom, said the fact that it combined an app with physical pieces made kids more patient and thoughtful as they worked through the challenges: “When something is purely on the screen, kids will sometimes end up just tapping as fast as they can, randomly guessing. With the manipulatives, it slows their thinking down.” Auten also noted that the physical pieces made it easier to play the game with multiple people, fostering discussion, collaboration, and group problem-solving. She also likes that Osmo Coding Awbie is open-ended: “Kids can explore and create their own paths.”

In this category we chose these three apps—focused on anatomy, the natural world, and space—because they offer kids unique, open-ended ways to explore science topics. Each app encourages kids to meander, linger, and dive deeper at their own pace.

An app to see what’s inside: The Human Body

The Human Body (iOS and Android)

Seeing what’s inside.

The Human Body offers a visually and aurally interesting way to wander through the body’s organs, systems, and functions.

How it works: In The Human Body ( iOS and Android ), kids explore anatomy by jumping around to different organs and systems—for example, watching a mouth chew food and swallow drink, sliding into a stomach breaking down food, and following flashing nerve signals as they race up to the brain.

Why it’s great: The Human Body focuses less on teaching kids specific anatomical lessons and more on sparking wonder and fascination toward the body and what it can do. The app’s engaging visuals are neither cartoonish nor graphic, and the thoughtful sound effects are as compelling and instructive as the animations: Gurgles, wooshes, creaks, and spurts give kids a visceral sense of what’s happening inside them. You can toggle on or off the text labels that identify the systems and organs, but no reading is required to get deep into the app, making it equally accessible to pre-readers.

An app for discovering nature: Toca Nature

Toca Nature (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Natural-world building.

Toca Nature is an open-ended building app—similar to Minecraft—where kids can explore and shape the terrain, collect resources, and observe wildlife.

Ages: 4 and up

How it works: In Toca Nature ( iOS , Android , Amazon ), kids start with a simple plot of land where they can raise or lower mountains, create lakes, clear or plant forests, and make deserts. They can zoom in to different areas of their terrain to collect and distribute resources (like mushrooms, fish, or berries). As they change and shape the environment, different kinds of animals, plants, and fish will appear, multiply, migrate, or disappear.

Why it’s great: Similar to popular narrative-less building games like Minecraft , Toca Nature harnesses the enjoyment kids get from open-ended creating, wandering, and exploring games, with a unique focus on the natural world. Common Sense Media senior editor Christine Elgersma said that an app like Toca Nature doesn’t have explicit learning goals—it’s not trying to teach kids the names of animals or types of terrain, for example—but rather is “an exploratory app with experiences that a kid really couldn’t have off screen.” By creating and manipulating the environment, and then observing how the plant and wildlife change as a result, kids can see how animals, resources, and the environment interact.

An app for exploring space: Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System

Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Cats in space.

Explore the solar system with a jet-propelled cat.

Ages: 8 to 12, or 6 and up with an adult

How it works: Kids explore the app much as they would read a book, delving into facts, illustrations, and animations about planets, moons, stars, and space exploration. At various points, quizzes and other challenges let you earn sardine treats for Professor Astro Cat.

Why it’s great: Jana Grcevich , an astronomer, science educator, and author , told us she enjoyed the Professor Astro Cat app ( iOS , Android , and Amazon ), along with the popular book series it’s based on, with her then 6-year-old niece. The app requires reading, but the entertaining storyline and fascinating facts make it fun for adults along with younger children.

Social and emotional learning , which includes self-awareness, empathy, communication skills, and building relationships, among other capacities, has increasingly been recognized as a critical component of children’s education. These three apps let young kids explore different aspects of self-expression, emotions, and social play.

An app for self-expression: Me: A Kid’s Diary

Me: A Kid's Diary (iOS)

A digital diary.

This app lets kids explore self-expression through drawing, writing, photos, and audio and video.

Ages: 7 and up

How it works: Kids create a digital diary of their lives by answering questions about themselves; making avatars for family members, friends, and other loved ones; and designing their own media. Kids navigate all these entries on their Me Map, a sort of multimedia landscape of their lives.

Why it’s great: Me: A Kid’s Diary helps kids creatively document their feelings, experiences, and loved ones through different media and modes of expression. In some ways, the app offers an experience akin to social media—uploading photos, making videos, writing reflections, and mapping personal connections—but in an entirely closed environment (there’s no actual communication or sharing within the app). This can create a space for kids to start to explore (and for parents to discuss) digital self-expression and sharing.

An app for emotions: Daniel Tiger’s Grr-ific Feelings

Daniel Tiger's Grr-ific Feelings (iOS, Android, and Amazon)

Exploring emotions.

The beloved PBS character helps young kids identify, act out, and explore their feelings through games, songs and creative activities.

Ages: 2 to 5

How it works: Kids explore the familiar world of the PBS Kids series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood ( iOS , Android , Amazon ) through simple games, songs, and art activities that focus on identifying and exploring feelings and emotions. It offers different ways for kids to practice, talk about, and experience emotions, such as by drawing a picture, taking a photo of themselves feeling angry or happy, or practicing a calming exercise with Daniel Tiger.

Why it’s great: The app is simple and accessible for very young kids, with frequent verbal cues and reminders to help them through the easily navigable interface. “Even without the Daniel tie-in, it could actually still be a pretty successful app for teaching a lot of social, emotional, and self-care skills,” said Harry Sawyers, Wirecutter senior editor and father of three. “But having the familiar characters and songs really helps jump-start their interest if, for example, they ‘have to go potty—stop, and go right awaaaaay!’”

An app for social play: Toca Tea Party

Toca Tea Party (iOS)

Tea for two (or more).

Toca Tea Party presents the elements of a tea party—drinks, desserts, and dishes—for unstructured imaginative play.

Ages: 2 and up

How it works: Toca Tea Party couldn’t be simpler: You set a tea table with plates, cups, drinks, and treats for three guests, and the rest is up to your imagination. There’s no objective beyond pouring drinks, munching treats, and wiping up spills, and the app has a built-in end point: Once you’ve finished the snacks and beverages, the table clears itself and the dishes drop into a sink, ending the party.

Why it’s great: Toca Tea Party isn’t so much a game as a scene for unstructured imaginative and social play for young children. Kids can play alone (perhaps by inviting dolls or stuffed animals as guests) or with one or two others—a unique feature for a tablet game to pull off well. My two daughters, now 4 and 5, haven’t tired of Toca Tea Party after two years, and their play centers on chatting, pretending, and sharing.

An app for reading: Epic! ebook subscription

Epic! e-book subscription

Endless ebooks.

This app allows young readers to choose from up to 35,000 different books for a low monthly cost.

How it works: For $8 a month, kids gain access to some 35,000 children’s books in an intuitively designed app. Epic’s library is updated regularly with new titles, including classics and the site’s original content. Many of the picture books have a “Read to me” function, where a narrator reads the text aloud and the pages turn automatically. The app also suggests books by age and based on what a child has previously read, allowing kids to easily discover new titles at their reading level. Epic! works on iOS, Android and Microsoft tablets and smartphones.

Why it’s great: While some subscription kids’ e-book apps tend to be populated with the kinds of uninteresting titles you’d find in a bookstore bargain bin, Epic! offers an impressive library of children’s books, including many of the beloved classics and award-winning authors you’d find in a well-curated children’s library. (The Wizard of Oz, with the original 1900 illustrations, was one memorable find that gave us many nights of rapt bedtime reading.) The app is simple enough to use that both of my daughters can independently browse books by the cover art and find what interests them—even though they are both pre-readers. Fairy tales abound, but I’ve also found them paging through books about geology, Ramadan, and coding.

Since we began researching learning apps in 2016, we’ve spoken with a range of experts, including a classroom teacher, a child developmental psychologist, a pediatrician, an astronomer, education researchers, app developers, and others.

These have included Kathy Hirsh-Pasek , a professor of psychology at Temple University who has written about and conducted research studies on educational apps for young children; Jennifer Auten , an award-winning teacher in Cupertino, California, who has been using tablet and smartphone apps in her first- and second-grade curricula since the iPad was released in 2010; Christine Elgersma , senior editor, parent education, for Common Sense Media, an organization focused on children’s media; and Pat Yongpradit , chief academic officer at Code.org, a nonprofit that advocates for computer science education. Last, we’ve spoken with parents on our staff for recommendations of apps they and their kids love in categories such as science, music, and coding.

We read articles and reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and child developmental psychologists and educational researchers to learn about kids’ media use and about principles for designing learning apps. Finally, we read through reviews and ratings from well-regarded children’s media sites such as Common Sense Media .

Similar to what we found when researching learning toys , we discovered that developers and app stores often label apps as “educational” with little research or evidence, and few experts, to support those claims. In 2016, the AAP released a broad report on children’s use of digital media, calling for more-rigorous evaluation of apps that claim to be educational: “Unfortunately, very few of the commercially available apps found in the educational section of app stores have evidence-based design input with demonstrated learning effectiveness.” Similarly, in a 2015 article , Hirsh-Pasek writes that educational apps “present a significant opportunity for out-of-school, informal learning when designed in educationally appropriate ways” but notes later on that “[o]nly a handful of apps are designed with an eye toward how children actually learn.”

Experts are still studying what makes learning apps successful pedagogical tools, as well as fun and interesting activities for kids. But after speaking with experts, reading research, and trying out apps ourselves, we identified a few features that seem to be common among great learning apps.

• Offer unique experiences: Several of the experts we spoke to noted that a good educational app should offer children something they couldn’t simply do, learn, or explore in a classroom or the real world. If the app is “basically a worksheet on screen, [or] an experience that could be replicated off screen, then that’s not a good use of the screen,” Elgersma said. “You want it to be an experience that kids could really only have in that screen world.”
• Be open-ended, with limits: Most of the apps in this guide are open-ended in the sense that they encourage kids to independently explore, create, and navigate within the app. But researchers say it’s important to have built-in limits, as well. The AAP has pointed out that digital games have traditionally been designed with rewards and reinforcement designed to keep kids playing as long as possible. The organization recommends that learning apps instead have “automatic ‘stops’ as the default design to encourage children and caregivers to pause the game use and turn to the 3-dimensional world.”
• Be engaging but not distracting: Apps have great potential to engage children through interactive features, but some research has shown that too many bells and whistles can distract children or reduce their comprehension. A good learning app uses interactive, animated, and responsive features to engage kids or enhance their comprehension, not simply to entertain. Hirsh-Pasek has written that parents should evaluate an app’s interactive features and ask: “Do the enhancements actually add value and increase engagement, or do they cause distraction?”
• Encourage interaction: The AAP and other organizations say that learning apps that encourage real-life interaction among multiple people—adult and child, or child and peers—can be especially strong at facilitating learning. The apps in this guide are fun and interesting for kids and adults, and many foster conversation and play outside of the app itself.

As with our guide to learning toys , we focused primarily on apps aimed at kids 3 to 9 years old, though older kids can enjoy many of our recommendations, as well. We chose this age range because, as Hirsh-Pasek has written , “there are so many apps targeted toward [children in this range] that parents and educators do not know how to navigate the marketplace of possibilities.”

All the apps we recommend in this guide adhere to the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act . Among other things, COPPA requires that websites and apps directed at children under age 13 obtain permission from parents before collecting or sharing personal information from children, or targeting them with behavioral advertising. None of the apps in this guide require children to enter personal information in order to use the app’s functions, and none offer social media sharing or connectivity.

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, et al., Putting Education in “Educational” Apps: Lessons From the Science of Learning , Psychological Science in the Public Interest , April 20, 2015

Yolanda (Linda) Reid Chassiakos, et al., Children and Adolescents and Digital Media , Pediatrics , October 1, 2016

Jana Grcevich, PhD, astronomer, science educator, author , phone interview , December 1, 2016

Jennifer Auten, first- and second-grade teacher, Cupertino, California , phone interview , November 8, 2016

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD, professor of psychology, Temple University , phone interview , January 8, 2019

Christine Elgersma, senior editor, parent education, Common Sense Media , phone interview , March 12, 2019

Pat Yongpradit, chief academic officer, Code.org , phone interview , April 18, 2019

Meet your guide

Courtney Schley

Courtney Schley, a senior editor covering sleep and appliances, has been at Wirecutter since 2014. She has held several roles at Wirecutter, including research editor, as well as supervising editor of baby and kid coverage.

Further reading

Kids Exercise Videos to Help Keep Your Family Moving (and Sane)

by Ingrid Skjong

Free online exercise videos can help everyone from toddlers to teenagers stay active and calm during a coronavirus self-quarantine. These are our favorites.

How to Set Up a Remote Learning Space for Your Kids

by Melanie Pinola

With many schools closed this fall, it’s time to set up a remote schoolwork area for kids that’ll make learning a little easier.

These Four Video Games Are Fun for the Whole Family

by Haley Perry

If you’re looking for a video game for your next family game night, these are the games we recommend for all ages and skill levels.

8 Time-Tested Sidewalk Games We Love

by Dan Koeppel

Old-school games from the sidewalks of New York are still surprisingly fun—and require not much more than chalk.

Every product is independently selected by (obsessive) editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.

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The Best Board Games for Kids, According to Experts

Whether you’ve got antsy kids at home or in the classroom, a good board game can keep the little ones entertained for hours — not to mention help strengthen their critical-thinking skills. So while we’ve written before about all sorts of games and activities in the past — including the best four-player board games , two-player board games , and board games for adults — here, we’ve rounded up the 21 best board games for kids.

Best strategy board game for kids

Ticket to Ride is an adventure-style game in which players attempt to cross the country and connect cities by building train routes. Suitable for ages 8 and up, it is easy to pick up “but also offers a level of strategy and tactics just deep enough for competitive gamers to return to time and again,” says Ian Ross, who runs the popular Instagram page Board Games As Art .

Best pick-and-pass-style card game for kids

For a lightning-quick, pick-and-pass-style card game, Lauren Bilanko, a co-owner of Twenty Sided Store , suggests Sushi Go! , which she says is very easy to learn but still fun enough to play over and over again. The gameplay is simple: collect cards to create collections of dishes for different point values, and whoever scores the most points wins.

Best farming-style board game for kids

Illustrator Stephen Walsh told us about this “really sweet” game about competitive panda husbandry that’s a favorite of his kids. It asks players to cultivate land plots and grow three species of bamboo for pandas. Walsh describes it as the “perfect Christmas Day game” to break out when you want something family-friendly and cheerful. The game takes about 45 minutes to play and is suitable for ages 8 and up.

Best building-focused board game for kids

Most ’90s kids will remember this classic, which is suitable for children ages 4 and up and can accommodate two to four players. “Nothing could beat being a kid and unboxing this game to build a wacky Rube Goldberg machine,” says board-game designer Rob Sparks .

Best family-friendly word-association board game

In our roundup of the best board games to break out during parties, five of our experts praised Just One . “Hands down, Just One is our favorite new party game,” says Kelsey Demers, who runs the board-game blog the Tabletop Family . “It’s simple to play, a breeze to teach, and utterly addictive.” The game won the prestigious 2019 Spiel des Jahres, or German Game of the Year, which evaluates board games based on their game concept, rule structure, layout, and design. The main objective, as the title suggests, is for players to help their teammates guess a word by suggesting “just one” word as a hint. Which sounds easy enough, but, as Matthews warns, “Watch out, duplicate words cancel each other out,” so you need to be creative. A right answer scores your team one point, while a wrong answer docks two points, with the ultimate goal being to get as many points out of 13 as possible. This game takes about 20 minutes to play and is suitable for up to seven players.

Best storytelling board game for kids

Walsh describes Dixit as “a great icebreaker of a game, fantastic for getting everyone interacting.” Great for kids with strong imaginations, it begins with one player being designated the storyteller; that player makes up a sentence based on the image on one of the cards in their hand. Then each player selects the card in their hand that best matches the sentence and gives it to the storyteller. The storyteller shuffles the cards and presents them to the other players, who place bets on which is the original card with the winners gaining points for correct guesses. As an added bonus, “the card artwork is beautiful, imaginative, and sometimes a little surreal,” Walsh says.

Best bingo-style board game for kids

Recommended by longtime Manhattan nanny Kasia Dabrowska, this bingo-esque game is easy to teach kids because the name of the game is speed-spotting familiar items like a dog, bird, or baseball bat. Strategist contributor and father of two Steven John also keeps it in rotation with his family.

Best whodunit-style board game for kids

“ Outfoxed has more replay value than I have ever experienced in a child’s board game,” says John. For months after first getting the game, his then-5-and-a-half-year-old requested a round nearly every single day, he adds. A classic whodunit, the game’s kids discover a series of clues and a group of suspects, zeroing in on the guilty fox through a process of elimination.

Best nostalgic board game for kids

Similar to Mousetrap , Operation was beloved by ’90s kids. Walsh told us that while he loved this game when he was young, he also enjoyed playing it when he was older with his friends after a night out. The whole family can sit down and operate on Cavity Sam to remove his various ailments — including his wishbone, charley horse, and Adam’s apple — without setting off the buzzer.

Best balancing board game for kids

For kids who love to build things, this game asks players to build a shifting tower by adding pieces. The game can accommodate up to four players, which encourages socialization and “very important” peer interaction, explains child therapist Glenda Stoller, co-founder of Village Parenting NYC .

Best board game kids can play with friends

Colleen Russo Johnson , a children’s-tech and media expert, recommends this remix of the original Connect 4 game, which requires a bit more strategy. In addition to placing their pieces in a slot, players must spin the corresponding column, which keeps gameplay interesting.

Best card-slash-board game for kids

“I was really surprised at how it held up,” says clinical child psychologist George Sachs . Fourth-grade teacher Courtney Caulfield adds that the kids in her class also love the throwback. “They like it because they can play with friends,” she says. “And it usually makes them think.”

Best active board game for kids

Anya Kamenetz , mother of two and author of The Art of Screen Time , recommends the fast-paced Exploding Kittens game Throw Throw Burrito , “which is a fun combination of goofiness and actual strategy.” Gameplay is only 15 minutes and can accommodate two to six players. Toy blogger and reviewer Lori Jepsen of Toysenberry is also a fan. “ “I mean, what’s not to love about throwing burritos at your siblings or parents or spouse?”

Best party game for kids

According to Strategist contributor and dad David Pogue , “this is the greatest game ” that all ages can play. The rules of this spy-themed favorite are very similar to the basic elements of charades, with players dividing into two teams with one designated spymaster, who provides clues. By guessing the words correctly, players unveil the other teams’ agents. The first to unmask all of its opponents’ spies wins. Pogue calls it “truly hilarious and satisfying,” and though the designer has it labeled for kids 10 and up, Pogue notes that “ Codenames is super-fun with younger kids because they make fantastically imaginative connections between the words.”

Best board game for kids who like breaking rules

This edition of Monopoly is designed for cheaters: The goal is to see how many rules you can bend or break in order to win. “Isn’t that the way every kid plays all the time anyway?” says Zibby Owens, mother of four and host of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books . The game “encourages secret bank thefts, secret property swipes, and serious consequences if caught,” Owens adds.

Best fast-paced game for kids

Ideal for kids ages 10 and up, this fast-paced board game’s main objective is to be the first to help all of your aliens escape into outer space via drone. Suitable for two to four players, “it’s the first game I’ve ever seen with a real flying drone,” says Adrienne Appell of the Toy Association , who recommends it because it “combines different kinds of play for a lot of fun.”

Best planning board game for kids

This farm-animal-themed board game “challenges kids to really think about each move,” says NAPPA Awards director Elena Epstein. The game’s main objective had kids create a layout for a series of cows, pigs, and other farm animals that must be kept separated using a limited number of fences, which tests a child’s logic, spatial reasoning, and planning skills. “Kids feel a lot of pride as they figure out each level,” Epstein says.

Best tic-tac-toe–inspired board game

This tic-tac-toe inspired board game is “visually appealing” and “complex,” according to Sophia W., a nanny for the New York–based SmartSitting agency. Even better, Sophia says, “It’s well suited for gifted and special-needs children, as the colors stimulate kids who think visually.”

Best 3-D board game for kids

This 3-D Tetris game, recommended by Ali Mierzejewski, the editor-in-chief of the Toy Insider, works much like the original version of the game except you’re competing against other players using one pot of physical pieces. “You have to be strategic about what pieces you need and try to predict what the other players will need while playing. It’s a really fun way to update the classic video game,” she says.

Best dice board game for kids

A tried-and-true for a reason, Yahtzee is “easy to teach, with minimal setup, and suitable for any number of players,” says Sparks. “This absolute classic will have players pushing their luck to roll high-scoring combinations of dice.” Most important, Yahtzee is fast-paced, so it will keep kids engaged throughout the gameplay.

Best cooperative survival-style board game for kids

Collaborative games are great because they teach kids teamwork skills as they work together toward a common objective. Caitlin Meister, founder of the Greer Meister Group , a private-tutoring and educational -consulting practice in Brooklyn, recommends Forbidden Island , in which players have to work together to get off an island before it sinks into the ocean. “You reassemble the board each time by laying out tiles, so it doesn’t get boring,” she says. It has plenty of replay value.

Best board game for little kids

If you’re struggling to find games for very little kids, try Monkey Around . “It’s like Twister for toddlers,” explains Holly Magelof, toy buyer for the Dolphin Bookshop , which she says is very popular among the toddler set. “You see the kids wiggling and giggling — it’s consistently a best seller.”

Best challenging board game for kids

“My 4-year-old, a huge fan of Richard Scarry books, loves playing this game,” says Strategist writer Lauren Ro, whose son Augie received the gift for his latest birthday. It’s sure to be a hit for any kids who demand a Scarry book before bed since it’s basically the board-game version of Busytown. The objective seems simple: Players work together to race to the island before the picnicking pigs eat all their food. But, Ro says, “it’s actually pretty challenging, even for adults” because, depending on what you spin, you either advance or go on a scavenger hunt to collect different objects on the highly detailed, six-foot board. “Augie relishes the challenge and gets really excited each time he plays,” she adds.

Best travel-size board game for kids

Spot It! is a matching card game in which kids try to find two identical images between two cards first. Since it’s small enough to fit in your hand, it’s a great game to keep in your purse for doctors’ waiting rooms or long car rides. This one is animal-themed, but the game comes in a bunch of different variations, including favorite IP like Frozen and Paw Patrol .

Best math-focused board game

For something more educational, try this math game that was featured in our gift guide for 8-year-olds. To win a card, players have to get to the center number by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing the five other numbers on the card (each number can be used only once). The first player to collect five cards is crowned the winner. While the game is designed for kids ages 8 to 12, each player starts the game by choosing their own level of difficulty, meaning kids of different skill sets can all play together.

The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best kids’ items , baby shower gifts , gifts for a 1-year-old , 2-year-old , 3-year-old , 4-year-old , 10-year-old , and patriarchy-defeating books . We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.

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Today’s Top Clicked

Rosie's Rules

Rosie robot planter maker.

Join Rosie and Gatita to create robot garden planters!

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

Build-a-boat.

"Look around and see what you can use," with a little imagination you can make your very own boat and then play with it at Jungle Beach.

Alma's Way

Alma on the case.

Think through mysteries just like Alma’s favorite detective: Carlotta Clues!

Wild Kratts

World rescue.

Help the Kratt Brothers stop Zachbots from changing the environment and destroying different habitats around the world. Activate Creature Powers to defeat the Zachbots and save the animals of the Arctic, African Savanna, and Amazon Rainforest!

Work It Out Wombats!

Story emporium.

It's story time! Join Ellie and the Wombats to create four different stories. See how many endings you can make.

Elinor Wonders Why

Elinor nature sights & sounds.

Make your own music nature scenes

Jelly, Ben & Pogo

Karaoke night.

Lola loves her karaoke machine, but she needs new tunes. Help Jelly, Ben and Pogo build some awesome jams, then join Lola for a rockin’ sing-along at karaoke night.

Lyla in the Loop

Vacuum hockey.

Lyla and Ev invented a new game! Try different vacuum nozzles, shoes and balls to get around obstacles and score points.

Step It Out

Help Malik, Zadie, and Zeke put the steps in order to make sandwiches, serve snacks, get ready for the beach, and build sand castles.

Riding with Rosie

Drive around & be a community helper with Rosie!

Team Hamster! & Ruff Ruffman

Team hamster splash dash.

Use tools to fix the water pipes and have a hamster pool party!

Let's Make Believe

Play make believe with Daniel and choose your own adventures!

Rosie's Slime Store

Make slime for customers in Rosie's Slime Shop!

Nature Walk

Join the Tiger family on a nature walk! Explore the sights and sounds in Daniel’s neighborhood, and in your neighborhood too!

Pinkalicious & Peterrific

Splashtastic beach day.

Build sandcastles, dance with fish & more with Pinkalicious at the beach!

Elinor Soup's Up

Pick vegetables & make your own soup with Elinor!

Creature Power Suit Underwater Challenge

Help Chris search the sea to find lost parts for his creature power suit.

Scribbles and Ink

Scribbles and ink: in and out.

Draw along with Scribbles and Ink

Cyber Sound Quest

Go on a Cyber Sound Quest to stop noise pollution! Use cool tools and math skills to stop Hacker from causing noisy chaos around cyberspace.

Donkey Hodie

Cousin hodie playdate.

Let's play Dinko Doodle Disc Drop with Cousin Hodie and Donkey Hodie. Playing games with our pals can be a lot of fun and can also cause lots of big feelings. In this game, players can guess how Cousin Hodie is feeling while playing by paying attention to context clues, listening to him, and noticing body language.

Popular Games

Elinor Ari's Wonderful Ideas

Design your own animal-inspired vehicles!

Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum

All new heroes & items to create your avatar!

Hero Elementary

Push pull puzzles.

Fur Blur need help getting to her snack. Can you make a path for her?

• Summer Games

Sesame Street

Abby's sandbox search.

Help Abby find the objects hidden in the sand!

Super Seasons Snapshots

Observe and snap photographs of animals, plants, and more throughout the seasons.

Racing Rapids

Design and build a sturdy boat to race along the rapids with the Nature Cat crew.

Dinosaur Train

Race down the river and collect as many insects as you can!

• Reading Games

Xavier Story Creator

All new! Create a poem inspired by Maya Angelou & more!

The Big Dog Problem

Read a storybook with Peg and Cat!

The Election Problem

The chickens vote for someone to watch them while the farmer is away!

Storybook Builder

Create stories with Elmo, Abby Cadabby, and Cookie Monster!

Letter Dance Party

In this game, your child can practice letter recognition and dance with Big Bird and Snuffy.

• Nature Games

Elinor Hide & Seek

Hide and seek with Elinor & friends, play by yourself or with a friend!

AJs Recycle Rescue

AJ has a mission to to reuse litter in the park and clean it up for his friends to enjoy.

More Topics

• Space Games
• Friends & Neighbors Games
• Animals Games
• Winter Games
• Love Day Games
• Puppy Games
• Dress Up Games
• Engineering Games
• Play Together Games
• Feelings Games
• Music Games
• Create Games
• Adventure Games
• Storytelling Games
• Science Games
• Shapes Games
• Dinosaurs Games
• Rhyming Games
• Spanish Games
• Social Studies Games
• Measurement Games
• Vocabulary Games
• Routines Games
• Matching Games

Ready Jet Go!

Rover maker.

Build & drive your own rover on Earth, Moon and Mars!

Jet's Planet Pinball

Play pinball and collect all the planets!

Mindy's Constellation Exploration

Explore different constellations in the night sky with Mindy!

Space Scouts

Earn badges to become the ultimate Space Scout!

Jet's Bot Builder

Create a robot and travel the solar system!

Mission Control

Build a mission controller to control robots and spaceships.

Alma Train Game

All Aboard with Alma! Build your own subway system to drop off and pick up passengers!

Elinor's Nature Adventure

Use binoculars, magnifying glass & more to observe and discover Elinor's world!

Go Fetch With Bob Dog

Bob Dog is on a mission to become a top fetcher with his coach, Penguin Referee! Go Fetch! With Bob Dog is a fun, claw machine-style game from Donkey Hodie where players use classification, flexible thinking, and visual discrimination to help Bob Dog sort the toys he wants and toss the ones he doesn't as fast as they can. Everyone will dig it!

Nature Road Trip

Go on road trip with Nature Cat and the gang!

Lost and Found

Bad Dog Bart has stolen all the toys! Can you help find them?

Nature Art Box

Use your Nature Art Box to create art with natural materials!

The Cat in the Hat

Set up a campsite and roast s'mores with the Cat in the Hat!

Ruff's Cookie Creator

Create cookie recipes with Ruff!

Xavier's Museum Maker

New room unlocked! Build your own museum!

Fine Feathered Feast

Help Nature Cat feed the birds in the forest.

Dress Up Time

Play Dress-up with Elmo and Abby!

Pinkatastic Stickers

Draw your own stickers to create Pinkatastic scenes!

Make the Cake

Decorate birthday cakes with Peg and Cat!

Arthur's Puppet Theater: Cinderella

Put on a Cinderella show with Arthur and his friends!

Waldo Loves Muffy

Help Waldo reach Muffy!

Hal's Big Dig

Dig for fossils with Hal! What will you find?

Elmo's World

Welcome to Elmo's World! Play six different mini-games in Elmo's room.

Photoshoot Game

Travel through the world's different environments and snap photos of wildlife!

Animal Match

Match animals from different habitats!

Wild Kratts Baby Animal Rescue

Baby animals have been captured and it is up to you and the Kratts to save them!

Pinkamagine Fashion

Design and decorate clothes for Pinkalicious & friends!

A Job For Me

Explore the jobs that make up a community!​

Treehouse Trouble

Sara and Fur Blur need help fixing treehouses around City Town!

Hidden Heroes

Go through the Secret Museum to find the heroes!

Dive in with the dinosaurs!

Roarin Relay

Race with the dinosaurs!

Leaf Leader

Tug-of-war with dinosaurs!

Abby and Elmo's Potty Plan!

Help Abby and Elmo go potty!

Pinkamazing Family Game

Take turns drawing, acting, singing and dancing with Pinkalicious!

Builda-ma-loo

Build your own painting contraption with The Cat in the Hat!

Elmo's School Friends

Help Elmo make decisions that help his friends and play different games with friends at school.

Pinka-Perfect Band

Create an instrument then play music with Pinkalicious and her friends!

Pinkalicious Dance Game

It's time to dance! Learn some new Pinka moves with Pinkalicious or play freeze dance with Peterrific.

Monster Music

Make music with the Sesame Street friends!

Pinkcredible Story Maker

Celebrate fall & create new Pinkalicious stories!

Monster at the End of This Game

There is a monster at the end of this game and your furry and adorable pal Grover will do everything he can to stop you from playing!

Track Stars

Use geometric shapes to build train cars, decorate your train, add passengers, and watch it drive down the track!

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Half

How many ways can you make a half?

Clasificalo-todo

Ayuda Nick y Sally a ordenar las diferentes cosas en Toborrowland!

Join forces with Super Peg and Cat Guy to save Mathtropolis!

Dinocar Designer

​Design your own dinocar! What will yours look like?

Buddy's Big Campout Adventure

Practice being good friends by gathering items to get the campsite ready.

Grover's Winter Games

Go skiing, snow boarding and ice skating with Grover!

Oscar's Rotten Ride

Help Oscar collect all the rotten trash!

The Cookie Games

Compete in ring spin, hurdles, and archery with Cookie Monster!

Bridge Builder

Help build bridges so the dinosaurs can get around Troodon Town. Measure carefully!

Oh Noah! Curtain Up

Create your own game!

Curious George

Curious george busy day spanish.

Juega juegos de matemáticas con Curious George

Construir-a-ma-loo

Construye una máquina que hace obras de arte.

CITH Sonida-paluza

Construye un instrumento especial - un Sounda-pa-looza!

Puente-ramoso

Construye puentes con el Dragón para llegar a tiempo a la fiesta!

Sesame Street Super Salad Diner

Keep your customers happy in this restaurant game!

Help! These dinos are thirsty.

Help feed the dinosaurs by using a scale.

Grover's Rhyme Time

Travel around the world and make up dances with Grover.

Martha Speaks

Martha seeks.

Help the puppies dig for bones in the park by searching for clues.

Martha's Steaks

Help Martha and friends collect all the dog treats by learning new words to jump and fly around obstacles.

Socks in Space

Help Martha collect her socks... in space!

Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck

Find out where different foods come from to make apple pies, tacos, and more with Cookie Monster and Gonger!

Food Farmer

Grow giant vegetables on Earth, Moon and Mars.

Cooking School

Unlock all the recipes by designing kitchen contraptions!

Ernie's Dinosaur Day Care

Imagine you can go back in time and play with dinosaurs!

Spin and Sing

Spin the wheel and sing songs with Daniel!

Guess the Feeling

Daniel and his friends act out different feelings. Can you guess which is which?

Classroom Helpers

What job would you like to help with in Daniel's classroom?

Apps & More

Get PBS KIDS games, e-books & albums for your phone or tablet.

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Games for 5 Year Olds

Top Games for 5 Year Olds

Candy Match

This game for five year olds improves visual attention and counting skills

Spot the Difference

This development game for 5 year olds improves visual attention, visual scanning , and comparison skills

Musical Instruments Game

This free online games for 5 year olds improves visual memory , and decision-making skills

Track the Ball

This game for 5 year olds improves visual attention, sustained attention , and focusing skills

Face Memory Game

This game for 3-5 year olds improves visual scanning , planning , and spatial memory skills

This memory games for 5 year olds improves short-term memory , visual attention , and naming skills

Dwarf Giant

It’s designed for a five year old’s development! Improves reaction control , focusing , and divided attention

Card Matching Game

Educational activity game for 5 year olds! This educational game improves visual scanning and spatial memory skills

If you have 6-year-old children or older, you can also use technological and scientific learning games for them, too. Here are what you’re looking for: Learning Games for 6 Year Olds , Best Apps for 6 Year Olds & Learning Games for 7-8 Year Olds and Educational Toys for 6-7 Year Olds 🎮 🧮

Best Learning Games For 5 Year Olds

We have prepared a very informative article about the most popular learning games for 5-year-olds. Here, you can read about the contributions of these games to mental development, the average market prices, and what to be careful about.

In addition, you can find out about 3D, paper, and wooden educational toys for preschoolers , the learning games that can be played with family or technological devices, and games suitable for your child's learning style .

1. MentalUP Learning Games for 5-Year-Olds

There are plenty of online learning games for 5 year olds and educational activities for kids , but how do you know which one is the best? You can check out MentalUP Learning Games for 5 year olds! Also, it is important to remind you that MentalUP is among the best apps for 5 year olds that they can enjoy and learn at the same time.

It is a reliable and science-backed education platform with a pedagogical product certificate . There are hundreds of fun games, like spelling and word-finding! It is not just verbal intelligence games ; brain word games , math games , telling time games , attention games , memory games , and visual intelligence games are also on MentalUP.

What is in the MentalUP Daily Worksheets?

There are fun games, like spelling and word-finding! It is not just verbal intelligence games; math intelligence games, attention, memory and visual intelligence games are also on MentalUP.

MentalUP is designed by academicians , pedagogues , and game designers who are specialized in their fields and recommended for both preschool and school-age children for attention , memory , logic skills, and visual , verbal , and mathematical intelligence development. 🚀✨

Download MentalUP now, and your 5-year-old will thank you later! 🥳🙌

PLAY MENTALUP

2. Rubik’s Cube

In other words, the patience cube is a mechanical intelligence game that requires combining the same coloured squares on the same faces and consists of 6 differently-coloured faces. It is a totally mental agility test for kids!

This toy is suitable for over 3 year olds but is especially recommended as one of the best educational games for 5 year olds and older. Nevertheless, if your younger kids are interested, it is okay for them to play.

If you watch your kid while playing with the Rubik's Cube, you should keep a time record. As he/she is trying to shorten the time of solving the game, the decision-making mechanism of your kid will improve. On the other hand, it will also improve kids’ hand-eye coordination .

TIP: Rubik’s Cube, as one of the best selling toys in the world, is also very beneficial and attractive for adults.

Rubik’s Cube Price: $10 - $30

3. Tower of Hanoi Game

It is a mathematical intelligence game with simple rules but not as simple as it seems. It consists of 3 rods and 8 round disks of different sizes. Only 1 disc is moved per round and larger discs can not be placed on smaller discs.

The discs are initially stacked in increasing size on one of the three rods. The aim of Hanoi is to move the entire stack to another rod in the right order. The number of movements is important. Less movement is better. For more information, please visit the website of the game.

Hanoi Towers Game Price: $4 - $40 (price varies according to wood and plastic options)

Board Games for 5 Year Olds

We’ve already listed the best online educational games for 5 years old. But what about the board games that kids love so much? 😊 Some of them you may already know while some of them are new to you. So, without further due, let’s dive into these cool board games for 5 year olds!

These board games for 5 year olds that we picked carefully will entertain your children and vastly support their mental development.

1. Kerplunk Game

Finding family board games for 5 year olds for family nights can be difficult as children at that age can experience difficulties in understanding the game. At those times, Kerplunk is a lifesaver.

The instructions for the game are quite simple. The goal of the game is to remove the sticks from the tube while dropping the least number of marbles possible. The one who drops the most number of marbles loses the game.

This game can be played with 2 or more people and it has very simple techniques so that it may be suitable for younger kids too. HOWEVER, it is not recommended for kids who are under the age of 5 because it contains sticks which can be dangerous for them.

It is a good option among learning games for 5-year-olds, which improves attention and concentration. For the licensed product, check out Ker Plunk Game.

Kerplunk Prices: $15 - $50

2. Katamino

It is an intelligence game made of pieces called Pentominoes . Pentominoes are similar to the images in the Tetris game. The aim of the game is to design different shapes by combining Pentominoes together. Therefore, it can be said that it is one of the best cooperative board games for 5 year olds as it teaches to cooperate with the pieces in hand.

Katamino is a suitable and fun game for children over 3 years old. The reason why we recommend this game for 5 year olds is that your kid has the capacity to understand and evaluate the concept of the game clearly. Katamino game helps develop analytical thinking skills, visual intelligence, and concentration ability.

Katamino Prices: $15 - $50

There are hundreds of online learning games like Katamino on MentalUP! 🧩

If you want to discover the best educational online games for 5 year olds to support their mental development during kindergarten, MentalUP features the most beneficial learning games! 🧠✨

Plus, these games help children achieve academic success while having fun! 🏆👏

Tangrams are perfect board games for 5 year old girls who love creativity! Not only girls of course! Parents who are looking for board games for 5 year old boys should definitely try Tangram puzzles. Why?

Tangram puzzles are great for enhancing creativity, building proper motor skills, boosting strategic thinking skills, improving the attention span, and so much more!

It is very well-known in the game-toy category. The traditional version consists of 7 pieces that form a tangram triangle. By combining the geometric pieces in different patterns, you can form hundreds of objects. Check out our free tangram printable sheets to double the fun of the board games for kids 5 years old.

If you decide to buy a tangram game, make sure to have sample images contained in the box. When children try to do the same image as it appears in the sample images, they improve their visual intelligence and attention skills. Tangram games are available in wood, plastic, or paper materials. Tangram is a fun game and also provides mental development.

Don’t forget to play our free online Tangram!

Tangram Game Prices: $5 - $30 (changes according to size and quality of material)

Taboo is hands down one of the most exciting and educational games out there. You may think that Taboo should not be in learning games for 5 year olds list; however, the Taboo Junior edition may be all you need!

It’s not only one of the best learning board games for 5 year olds as it enhances children’s vocabulary, but it also forces the mind to be more creative and gives children the ability to think strategically.

And it is very easy to play. All you have to do is explain or describe the word written at the top of the card without using the words beneath it. If you do, it’ll be taboo and you’ll lose 😞

Taboo Game Prices: $20 - $50

5. Hungry Hungry Hippos

Here’s another rather fun board game for your play dates. The aim of the game is to eat as many marbles that you can with your hippo.

Soon after your children start playing this game you will not stop hearing their laughter 😊

Hungry Hungry Hippos Game Prices: $20 - $60

Home Activities for 5-Year-Olds

Home activities can be quite enjoyable, too! All the parents need to do is search for simple educational games for 5 year olds that could support children's development in home.

If you are also looking for learning activities for 5-year-olds, let's take a look at the educational activities for 5 year olds we have listed for you. But before, if you have younger children, you can prefer to check out the best learning games for toddlers .

Kids don’t like stuck at home when there is rain outside. Try these fun games for kids of all ages. Play when bored indoors or just looking for family fun!

❱❱ 40 Games That Children Can Play With Family and Friends

MentalUP Home Activities and Events 5 Year Olds

Are you looking for the best online educational games for 5 year olds? MentalUP offers more than 200 games with different difficulty levels in the scope of educational games for 5-year-olds. MentalUP determines the player's intellectual potential and starts from the most appropriate game.

All these games are developed by pedagogues and academicians, and there is no need for any parental control because MentalUP is completely safe and ad-free!

There are more benefits that MentalUP can offer for 5-year-olds! 🤩✨

Events , tests , and fitness modules make MentalUP the number-one app with all these features besides educational games . 🧠📊👟

With MentalUP, kids enjoy their time at home by playing games, joining competitions, and doing fitness workouts! 💪🥳

DOWNLOAD NOW

5-Year-Old Art Activities: Toilet Roll Art

Did someone say recycling? Here is one of the best 5-year-old art activities that will boost fun and creativity! Let’s turn the toilet rolls you would normally throw away into works of art. At the same time, help your child develop fine motor skills.

All you have to do is prepare the toilet roles, a few colored papers, a pair of scissors and glue. Help your child cut the shapes you want from colored paper, and then stick them to toilet roles according to his own taste. Then let him create his own work of art by stacking the colorful toilet roles.

5 Years Old Science Activities: Bouncy Egg

Let's talk about one of the most enjoyable 5 years old science activities! You know that the kitchen is a great exploring and learning area for children. With these kinds of math games , it is possible to reinforce children's mathematics intelligence and color knowledge.

Now have the following ready: half a glass of vinegar, 1 drinking glass and 1 egg. Pour the vinegar into the glass and gently place the egg in the vinegar. Leave the egg there for 2 days. After 2 days, you will see that the shell of the egg dissolves and when you drop it from the ground at a moderate distance, the egg will start bouncing.

This chemical reaction is called 'decalcification.' Vinegar, which is acid, reacted with calcium in the egg and generated this result. One of the best 5-year-old educational activities so far, isn’t it?

Math Activities for 5 Year Olds: Color recognition

By changing the rules of the UNO deck at home a little bit, you can make it one of the most hypnotizing math activities for 5 year olds. With these kinds of ice breaker games for kids , it is possible to reinforce children's mathematics intelligence, color knowledge, and also social skills.

Give 5 cards to each player and place them face up. Reveal the remaining cards, and then each player has one card in each hand. Put the pulled card on top of each other according to the color of the card you have. When the cards are run out, the player with the highest score wins!

5-Year-Old Writing Activities: Best Printables

Writing both improves children's fine motor skills and contributes to their verbal skills. Paper and pencil are needed to develop writing skills. The best way to practice writing skills is to get the kids to actually write and exploit some learning activities aimed at 5-year-olds.

Zigzags and circles, connecting dots, and even matching printables are great 5-year-old writing activities. Check out MentalUP printables to find the best colorful printable worksheets. You can discover lots of other useful activities for 5-year-old boys and girls among MentalUP printables.

Better yet, don’t forget to check out our free online educational games for 5 year olds!

Applications Raise Social Awareness

It is very important to teach your children to be sensitive to their environment even if they are younger. Here are a few application suggestions that will help them increase their social skills and awareness:

Avokkido Emotions

Welcome to the world of animals that teach your kids emotions! Your kids will experience a serious giggle when they meet shy sheep, a zany zebra, a cheerful giraffe and a modest deer! They can dress, feed, play and care for these cute animals. You will discover dozens of emotions in this colorful game world.

App Store | Amazon Store | Google Play Store | Website

Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame

You definitely remember Sesame Street. Nostalgia continues! In addition to learning how to keep calm and keep things going with this amazing application, your children will learn skills such as problem-solving, self-control, planning, and task persistence- and only by helping the cute Sesame Street Monster.

App Store | Google Play Store | Website

5 Year Old Development Checklist

We already talked about the best learning games for 5 year olds, but educational games are not enough to be completely sure about if your kids’ development is as it should be.

Answer "Yes" or "No" according to your child's performance to the development areas in the checklist below.

If two or more of the answers you give for each section about your child are "No", consider talking to a specialist.

Does your child have difficulty with:

Alphabet Games and Activities for Preschoolers

Games for 6-Year-Olds - Fun Home Activities

Cool Games for 10-Year-Olds - Home Activities & Learning

4 Year Olds Games > Learning and Attention Games for Preschoolers

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Best Apps for 5- and 6-Year Olds

The world of 5- and 6-year-olds is bustling with activity. In this selection, you'll find apps that make learning enjoyable and engaging, with a focus on educational content. Our curated selection of apps have been tried and tested, ensuring they are age-appropriate, safe, and beneficial for your child's development. These apps can complement a child's learning journey by introducing them to reading and math through interactive play.

Here is the list of the best apps for 5 year olds that make learning an adventure filled with joy and discovery.

• 1. Smart Tales

2. Magic Kids

• 4. LogicLike

5. Endless Alphabet

6. motion math, 7. mentalup educational games, 8. monkey word school adventure.

1. Smart Tales: Kids ABC Learning

Smart Tales helps kids learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) topics. It weaves the learning around child-friendly stories and builds in games and activities to encourage kids' engagement. Smart Tales introduces young kids to STEM topics, assists early literacy skills, and promotes social and emotional development.

Price : Free with in-app purchases

Devices : Android, iPhone, iPad

Magic Kids offers a cutting-edge, video game-style immersive learning experience tailored for children aged 5 to 8. Within the app, interactive and educational games unfold, featuring captivating characters, stunning locations, and engaging narratives. The 3D world hosts over 100 activities, updated monthly, to enhance skills in reading, spelling, logic, creativity, mathematics, social intelligence, and more.

Price : Free to try

Q-files is a web-based collection of 2000+ articles written for kids between 6 and 13. The articles cover many subjects, including math, history, science, and general interest. It forms an engaging, accurate, and good-value web-based encyclopaedia with all of its content verified by experts in the field. The articles include richly-drawn illustrations, photographs, and diagrams; some have accompanying quizzes and videos.

Price : 30-day free trial

Devices : Works on any devices with web browsers

4. LogicLike: Kids Learning App

LogicLike is a collection of brain training games for kids. It helps develop logical and problem-solving skills in a fun and engaging way. The games include math problems, spatial thinking games, logical problems, smart counting, memory, and other entertaining and engaging puzzles for kids.

Endless Alphabet is a popular app for 5 year olds to teach letter sounds, vocabulary and can be used as an excellent teaching tool. The child drags the correct letter into a word and the letter takes on a personality and makes the sound as the child drags it to it correct place in the word.

Price : Paid

Motion Math is a bundle of fun math games for 5-year olds and it is widely popular among educators. Kids can add and subtract in an underwater world where feeding fish involves math. Children can learn the underpinnings of addition, subtraction, and negative numbers in a highly intuitive fashion just by feeding little fish their desired diet.

Devices : iPhone

MentalUP Educational Games is a great activity for your children with more than 100 games and different difficulty levels in the scope of educational games for 5-year-olds. There are fun games, like spelling and word-finding! It is not just verbal intelligence games; math intelligence games, attention, memory and visual intelligence games are also on MentalUP.

Monkey Word School Adventure uses six early-reading games to help kids with reading skills through phonics and word groups. This app is also great for 5 year olds and above to help develop their phonics skills.

How to Choose the Best Apps for 5-6 Year Olds

Selecting the apps for your child involves various considerations to ensure they cater to their unique needs and learning stage. Here are some tips to help you make an informed choice:

Educational Value

Look for apps that offer educational value, such as those teaching basic math, language skills, colors, shapes, and logical thinking.

Select interactive apps with games, songs, and stories to make learning enjoyable and maintain your child's interest.

Safety and Privacy

Verify the app's safety and privacy policy to protect your child from inappropriate content and data misuse.

Dig into this curated list of highly rated apps for 5 and 6 year olds. There's a spread of content areas from maths to science to social studies to social-emotional learning.

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Best Apps for Kids Age 5–8

The best mobile apps for kindergartners and early elementary schoolers cover a spectrum of entertainment and educational offerings. At this age, socialization and creativity are key -- and believe it or not, there are several quality apps for that! When choosing apps for this age group, go beyond the usual arcade games (although those can be fun) to apps that help kids express their feelings and unleash their creativity . Check out the rest of our app tips for more advice on how to find and download the best picks for your kids.

Crazy Gears

Fun STEM-themed free play with easy offscreen connections.

DIY.org – Creative Challenges

How-to videos ignite curiosity and nurture key skills.

Kahoot! Algebra by DragonBox

Kids learn concepts of algebra in stellar game app.

Faces iMake - Right Brain Creativity

Kids make fanciful facial art using everyday objects.

GoNoodle Games

Jump, wave, and wiggle with fun immersive movement games.

GoNoodle - Kids Videos

Get hearts pumping with fun, kid-friendly movement videos.

The little line

Sweet animated story of friendship uses kids' own drawings.

LOOPIMAL by YATATOY

Create sound sequences with music blocks, cute creatures.

Marble Math Junior

Younger kids' version of great math app holds its own.

Monkey Word School Adventure

Cute monkey guides kids through six early-reading games.

Pango Build Park

Imagine, create, and play at custom theme parks.

Plum's Creaturizer

Make creatures and take pics outside for fantastic fun.

PuppetMaster

Create puppets, craft stories, co-play with cool tools.

Superhero Comic Book Maker

Engaging way to make stories with great graphics and audio.

Adorable physics platformer creates little problem-solvers.

Thinkrolls Play & Code

Delightful puzzles inspire innovation and problem-solving.

Toca Hair Salon 4

Free-play styling game grows, now with in-app purchases.

Creative challenges, social media for kids with purchases.

Interactive word-builder impresses with lots of options.

Barefoot World Atlas

Delightful way to learn about animals, people, and more.

Other great lists from our editors

• Apps for Elementary School
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• Spelling Apps
• 8 Ways to Save (and Spend) on "Free" Apps
• 5 Ways to Curb Kids' In-App Purchases on the iPhone
• 5 Teacher-Approved Apps to Boost Kindergarten Skills

Educational games for 5 year olds

At the age of 5, children have curious minds and their cognitive skills are developing at a rapid pace. This stage of their lives is crucial for absorbing knowledge and honing their abilities. To make learning fun and enjoyable, we have made a special set of entertaining educational games for 5 year olds.

We carefully make our games to grab children’s interest and help them review and practice what they’ve learned while having fun. Our games have cool pictures, interactive stuff, and fun things to do to keep kids excited and involved. Our games cover various subjects such as numbers, letters, science, and problem-solving, so kids can learn about different things while playing.

We know that kids learn best by playing and exploring, so our games encourage them to actively participate. They can count things, match shapes, and solve puzzles, which helps their brain grow. Each time they play, children reinforce what they’ve learned and get better at thinking and problem-solving.

Kids at the age of 5 are full of energy and curiosity. They love trying new things and learning. That’s why at SKIDOS, we have special educational games just for 5 year olds. These games not only teach important subjects like math, coding, and logic, but also help kids learn social skills like personal hygiene and making friends. When kids come home from school and feel tired or bored with homework, parents can play these fun learning games with them. It keeps kids interested in learning and shows them that studying and learning new things can be really fun and enjoyable. Let’s check out some of our educational games for 5 year olds!

Rabbit Rescue

Here’s a cool game that requires a little bit of logic and focus with a whole lot of fun. There’s a cute little rabbit who has to save all her bunnies and kids have got to play the game to rescue the bunnies. There are rows of bubbles of all colors and the top row has the bunnies that need to be saved. Your child has got to shoot a cluster of bubbles of the same color and work their way to the top row. Once the child reaches the top row, the bunnies will be rescued. It’s an adorable game with great animation and sounds. The child will learn to focus on finding the cluster of same-colored bubbles and apply basic reasoning in this game. The levels go from basic to complex and there are some fun math puzzles too that need to be solved after every level. Read more

Fantasy World

If there was one game that would allow your kids to explore their creativity and let their imagination run wild, this is the one. Fantasy World is a game in which there are many mysterious islands and each island has its own theme, characters, and puzzles that need to be solved. Your child can pick a land and start exploring it. There are magic potions, mythical characters like elves, fairies, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc., and secret rooms that have hidden keys. Doesn’t it sound exciting to engross your little ones with. All the lands have mini-games and puzzles that the child has to solve before continuing on the journey. The child can unlock multiple characters and power-ups, all while learning various math and coding concepts. Read more

If you are looking at ways to improve your child’s hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, this game can be your perfect pick. Just like the ping pong game where one needs to score goals, this one’s a similar game with a twist. Here, the child has to pick an animal that will be the main character. They can choose from a seal, penguin, reindeer, owl, and walrus. Now, all your child has to do is help their animal slide from one end to the other. They must be careful of the polar bears that are also moving around on the ice. The child has to focus and ensure that the polar bear doesn’t attack them. There are also multiple mini-games and puzzles focusing on math and coding skills that your child will enjoy solving and learning while having a gala time. Read more

Make Learning Fun for Kids with SKIDOS​

At SKIDOS, we offer an extensive selection of more than 40 learning games designed only for children between the ages of 2 and 11. These apps are tailored to meet the specific needs and abilities of kids within this age group. With a wide range of games available, each game presents a unique set of challenges and exercises that contribute to the development of academic and social skills in children.  Our learning games have different levels of difficulty, so there’s something for every child’s learning stage. Whether your child is just starting or wants more challenges, our apps adapt to their abilities. They cover a wide range of subjects like colors, shapes, numbers, language arts, math, and problem-solving.  By exploring our collection of games, you have the opportunity to find the perfect match for your child’s age and interests. By playing our interactive and well-designed activities, children can turn their screen time into a fun and educational experience. So why not start exploring our educational games today? You’ll find the ones that your child will love and that will help them learn and grow while sparking their love for learning.

What are the benefits of SKIDOS?

Develop Mathematics & 21st Century Skills

Perfect for kids aged 2-11, 45 learning games, new games added every month, personalized learning journey, 4 million kids playing, hear from parents and teachers.

My day is usually quite hectic. As a mom of three I worry a lot about their screen time. Since we have SKIDOS Games I feel calm that they are safe online and are actually learning while playing. SKIDOS helped me get more time for myself, and now I simply get more done.

- Anna Jørgenson

A great game with good math content where both of my kids (6 and 8 years old) can enjoy the game play and the math tasks. We have created 2 accounts and choose different grades, so both of my kids get math content adequate for their age. We really like Skidos games! Highly recommend!

- Emma Mint

I came across this fun math game which according to me is the best game for 7,8,9 year old kids. I am a teacher and introduced this game to the parents of my kids. So kids can now play and learn at the same time.

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15 Best Educational Video Games For Kids

1. Scratch (Year: 8+)

2. minecraft (year: 7+), 3. world rescue (years 7+), 4. zoombinis (years: 8+), 5. nancy drew mysteries (years: 9+), 6. national geographic challenge (years: 9+), 7. eloh (years: 10+), 8. wordscapes (years: 10+), 9. my word coach (years: 9+), 10. big brain academy (years: 4+).

When parents think about video games for kids, the first thought that comes to their mind is that it can have a negative impact on their child due to the captivating visuals and adrenaline rush it brings. However, many educational video games offer a learning curve and can be quite engaging and entertaining in a positive way for kids. 

These video games increase creative skills and help children acquire problem-solving skills that can help them with maths problems, language, and even social skills. Bet you aren’t thinking any longer about the violent video games that have the reverse effect! We promote educational games for kids that positively add to their life.

In this article, we will help you with a list of the 15 best educational video games for kids that your little one can benefit from. Before we begin, let’s first establish a clear ground on the pros and cons of video games. 

Pros and Cons of Video Games

• Educational video games can improve learning and help children apply what they have learned in real-life situations. There are simulation games that teach skills and strategies that help children become sharper and wiser.
• Many educational computer games are played in teams. This helps in learning the importance of teamwork in kids and participating in teamwork in schools. 
• Improve their creative skills. There are many educational games for kids that require them to be creative in order to complete the challenges and tasks in a game. Therefore, such games offer a window of creativity, helping kids nurture their creative nerves. 
• One of the major side effects of video games is that they can be highly addictive. However, with parental guidance and discipline, kids can avoid this possibility and make the best use of their time while learning new things. 
• Video games can often make kids antisocial and stay zoned into playing. This can have a negative impact. However, if parents can assign a fixed screen time then kids can play outdoor games as well as engage in interesting learning video games.

Now we will look at the list of 15 interesting educational video games you can introduce your kids to:

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11 Best Educational Video Games List for Kids

A fun-filled educational computer game to help kids learn coding with block coding concepts, Scratch has a simple interface, perfect for kids who wish to start with coding concepts early.  The game has captivating visuals and introduces kids to programming in an easy way. The game consists of different types of programming languages that kids can learn from and is highly engaging and entertaining. 

Who hasn’t heard of Minecraft? Whenever we hear about Minecraft, we think of colorful building blocks and the fascinating visuals that became a part of most of our childhood. A game that still holds its legacy, Minecraft taps into the creative skills of the players and helps them to team up and play with others in building shelters, crafting tools, and finding food. 

With no intrinsic need to win, each player can set goals and play the game as they like, working as a team. This team spirit helps children to work on group projects or be good at educational games on the computer.

A game revolving around real-world issues and natural imagery, World Rescue is one of the popular video games in the education genre. It helps your kids learn about global problems, geographical facts, healthy living, and activism as they help superheroes resolve issues such as drought and deforestation, pollution, disease, etc.

With the help of video games, children are educated about global problems and how they can be resolved. Highly engaging and informative, world rescues is a popular educational video game.

An intriguing pattern game for kids that helps in learning about patterns, and logic and exercise their problem-solving skills, Zoombinis introduces kids to an interesting virtual realm, where they have to save the small baby blue critters from Bloats’s clutches and send them home, which is in Zoombiniville. 

The game has 12 levels and gets competitively challenging with each stage, where kids have to use logic and patterns to win. This is the ideal video game for 8 year olds and has strong learning elements. 

Kids love solving mysteries with their curious instincts and eagerness to explore the world. Nancy Drew has been a childhood favorite for the ones who were born in the 90s, and even today, Nancy Drew’s video games are highly enticing and educational. 

This video game intrigues curiosity, helps children learn about foreign cultures, languages, and historical events, and boosts their problem-solving skills. 

A game that lives up to its name, this one helps your kids learn about historical figures and geographical regions, and strengthen their general knowledge. Highly exciting and packed with informative questionnaires, National Geographic Challenge helps kids to become competitive while learning about the world around them. 

Complemented with images and videos by National Geography, it is a visual treat for kids playing this game. 

The best part about education math games for Xbox one or android games is that it helps kids learn about complex educational concepts much earlier in simpler forms. Eloh is one such game that introduces kids to angles, trigonometry, and shapes in the easiest forms. 

This helps kids learn about angles and shapes and identify them faster. The game’s difficulty increases with an increase in stage, but there’s no set timer to rush the players so they can play and learn at their own pace.  

A great educational game for 10-year-olds, Wordscapes helps kids strengthen their vocabulary as they continue to learn new words and practice logical skills to figure out the right words. The idea is to create several words with a fixed number of letters. This game will help your kids constantly think of newer words to pass each level and grow their vocabulary faster.

Another great educational game for 9 year olds, Word Coach consists of games where the player can input missing letters to a word or select two words that have the same meaning. This game helps kids learn synonyms and newer words at every level and is highly engaging. The game offers a galore of words and challenges, which can keep kids engaged and intuitive as they play it. 

Big Brain Academy falls in the list of popular educational video games for 4 years old and really tickles all parts of the brain, making your kids sharper and wiser. Released in 2005 by Nintendo , this is a puzzle game that focuses on all five sections of the brain. Your kids have the option to choose the type of puzzles they wish to solve. 

These choices are typically based on whether they want to indulge in a thoughtful game, an analytical one, or one that is more about memorizing. Briefly put, it helps your kid work their brain muscles and makes them more aware and sharp in solving word problems. 

11. Magic School Bus (Years: 6+)

Kids love to explore and learn new things! Magic School Bus is a fun educational video game for kids where they are a part of Ms. Fizzy and her class’s school trip. The bus travels from the depths of the ocean to the surface of Mars, taking the players on a journey on each trip, where they get to play science games and learn interesting facts. 

Best Educational Video Games for Boys

There are a number of free video games for boys that are educational and exciting at the same time, helping your kids improve their cognitive skills. Here’re some of them:

1. LeapFrog Leapster (Years: 3+)

If you are looking for educational video games for 4 year olds, then you can end your search with the LeapFrog Leapster. Essentially a learning game system, this game allows kids to choose their favorite characters such as Batman, Cinderella, or even Spongebob, and explore maths, language, and reading skills through reading games, shape games, and so on. 

2. Professor Layton (Years: 10+)

Boys love to solve puzzles and get to the bottom of problems. Boost their inquisitive nature and help them learn with the popular Professor Layton series. One of the best educational video games for boys, this game requires players to complete puzzles that help in logical thinking and spatial reasoning. 

Best Educational Video Games for Girls

Girls have a keen interest in exploring and learning about new things just as much as young boys and find great interest in exploring games and storytelling games. Here are a couple of the best educational games for girls:

1. Dora the Explorer (Years: 6+)

Kids love the cartoon show Dora the Explorer and are inspired by the show, Dora the Explorer has become ranked on the charts in educational video games for girls. Your little one will get to learn about different colors, shapes, and words as she embarks on an adventurous journey with Dora. 

2. Reader Rabbit

Reader Rabbit is an educational game for 5 year olds that helps kids strengthen their skills in maths problems, shape recognition, addition and subtraction, and so on. It helps your little one become faster in solving mathematical problems as this game is highly engaging and interactive and makes learning really interesting. 

Introduce Your Kids to Educational Video Games and Help Them Grow New Skills!

There are so many video games out there for kids in today’s world. Some incorporate violence and are debilitating, while some have educational elements and can augment your kid’s creativity and focus. Concentration games for kids can help them to stay on the right path on a consistent basis. Steer your kids to get interested in educational games so that technology helps them improve rather than waste time. Just make sure to limit daily or weekly screen time and make sure they do not get addicted. Moreover, also encourage them to go out and play in the real world as well.

We hope these comprehensive lists of educational video games for kids aged 5-10 will help you introduce your kids to learning in a fun and interactive way!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can educational video games help students in education.

Educational subjects require focus, attention, and the capacity to retain the learnings. Educational video games can help kids learn in an engaging manner, hence they would be more inclined to remember what they are learning and implement those learnings in their studies.

Are there any video games for kids with ADHD?

Endeavor RX is a great game for kids with ADHD, helping them nurture their attention span and experience a life-like experience while playing the game. This game fosters the attention span of children, helping them to be more focused on their studies.

How do educational video games affect a child’s brain development?

Educational video games improve accuracy when kids perform cognitive tasks and also improve their critical thinking ability.

For how long should children be allowed to play video games?

It is very important to introduce fixed screen time for kids, as spending long hours on video games or devices can prove to be debilitating for a child’s physical and mental health. Therefore, kids shouldn’t be permitted to play video games for longer than 60 minutes a day.

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Best kids games for Amazon Fire HD tablets 2024

Some games take better advantage of the tablet screen.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Subway Surfers

MouseBotMouseBot

Angry Birds Transformers

Wild Kratts World Adventure

MARVEL Strike Force

Disney Magic Kingdoms: Build Your Own Magical Park

Beach Buggy Racing 2

Crossy Road

Amazon Fire Tablets are perfect for a lot of things. Whether it's watching movies or being productive on your device, one thing that kids love most about using a tablet is playing games. 

The Amazon Appstore has a lot of great options, but there are also plenty of not-so-great choices. These are the best kids games for Amazon Fire HD tablets, whether for a Fire HD 7, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro , or other Fire HD tablet, — there's lots of fun to be had.

Minecraft is one of the world's most popular games today, even after its official release in 2011. Since then, the game has expanded onto nearly every platform, including Amazon Fire Tablets . The sheer scope of the game and limitless avenues for creativity makes it a great game for kids to explore and build.

The open world is filled with your imagination in building anything and everything from pixelated-looking block pieces. Depending on which of the four modes you are playing in, the creative process is a bit different. In Survival Mode, you explore the world, looking for various resources needed to build items you want, like structures and weapons. In addition, there are some creatures like zombies and creepers to be aware of.

Creative Mode is there to let you build anything you can imagine with unlimited resources, and no fear of being attacked by the creatures. Adventure mode lets you build worlds for others to explore, or you yourself can wander through other player's creations. The fourth mode is Spectator, where you are free to view creations from others while being invisible.

Minecraft has a social aspect to it, as it can be played with others online, so that's something to keep in mind as your child gets involved. Minecraft has some impressive creations, like full recreations of popular buildings from movies or structures found in the real world. Minecraft can allow anyone to explore their creativity and learn problem-solving skills.

Kids can explore creations made by other players or create their own world by exploring the massive open-world harvesting resources to bring anything imaginable to life on the Fire Tablet

Buy from: Amazon

Whether your child became a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog from 2020's movie, or because you're a fan of the classic Sega games, it's hard not to love the blue speedster. While the original Sonic the Hedgehog game is available on the Amazon Fire tablet as well, the sequel makes this list because of the extra fun it brings.

In Sonic The Hedgehog 2, we still get plenty of Sonic himself, but we also get the chance to play as two of his buddies in Tails and Knuckles in this reimagining of the original game that was released all the way back in 1992. Speeding through the levels on your tablet to defeat the evil Dr. Eggman is so much fun — one of my son's absolute favorite to play on his Fire Kids tablet.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is remastered for mobile so that everything works wonderfully. In addition to ensuring the game plays well, there are also new levels, a Boss Attack mode, and new enemies to battle. Playing this classic Sega game and listening to the fun sounds as you speed around collecting rings and bouncing around is as fun now as it was in 1992.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 

Battle the evil Dr. Eggman in this re-mastered version of the 1992 classic. Speed through new levels and enemies with Sonic or his friends — Tails and Knuckles — to win the day.

One of the first games my son played on his Fire tablet was Subway Surfers, and after a couple of years, it's still one of his favorites. The fun environments and characters to the prizes and perks that can be earned through gameplay keep the game fresh each time it's played.

Start off playing this endless runner-style game as Jake, running from the trainyards inspector and his dog — Jake's been decorating the train cars. Dashing along the tracks to avoid capture and dodging the trains along the way — you have to jump over and slide under signs while trying to gather coins to earn prizes.

Reaching various score levels and coins collected earns you fun new customizations, accessories like skateboards, and paint-powered jetpacks, along with unlocking new characters Tricky and Fresh. The gameplay is controlled by swiping in up, down, left, and right to move your character around to escape being caught or running into signs.

Jump, slide, surf, and fly around the train yard as Jake, Tricky, or Fresh to avoid being caught by the inspector. Collect coins along the way to earn fun accessories and customizations to keep your character looking their best while dodging capture.

Get from: Amazon

MouseBot is a fun platform game in which you control a robotic mouse-like car through a series of mazes that get more exciting and complicated with each completed attempt. But these are just your typical boring mazes, where you wander around until you find the exit.

During your quest to escape from over 80 different challenges created by the scientists at CatLabs, you'll have to watch out for different obstacles. These roadblocks can take many forms, including lasers, crushing grinders, acid pools, and more.

Aside from trying to escape the maze, you'll also be working to ultimately gain more cheese and clues to gain MouseBot's freedom. This is one of my kids' favorites and provides plenty of fun and entertainment as they use planning, reflexes, and imagination to complete each maze.

Navigate MouseBot through a series of fun and exciting mazes constructed by the scientists in CatLab. Dodge mines, lasers, traps, and more to find cheese and escape.

Merging the fun characters from Angry Birds games with exciting and classic characters of the Transformers universe results in an all-new game style to the Angry Birds franchise. 

Breaking from the recognizable aim and slingshot gameplay of the past, Angry Birds Transformers is an action-packed game that keeps familiar elements from the original games and melds it with a new style for a game that keeps you ready for more.

Eggs on Piggy Island have been transformed into crazy evil robots by the Eggspark that is demolishing the island, and the only hope to save it are the Autobirds. With Red as Optimus Prime, Chuck as Bumblebee, and many more, you'll blast away in a side-scrolling 3D battle to save everyone from the Deceptihogs.

You'll be able to transform into cars, trucks, planes, and even a tank to avoid being crushed by falling debris. As you gain new heroes and battle new baddies, there's the opportunity to unlock upgrades for your character's weapons and abilities. So, fuel up because it's time to ROLL OUT!

The Decepihogs have arrived, and the Eggspark is creating evil robots on Piggy Island. As the Autobirds, you'll have the best of the best with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and more in the battle to save the island in this 3D adventure.

Wild Kratts World Adventure is a game that is fun to play and is full of amazing animal facts. Like the TV show, the Kratt Brothers are here to keep you on the creature trail while you play and learn about creature powers through 60 different levels.

With so much to explore and learn, there's excitement at every turn. Playing through six different Creature Power games, like climbing with a spider monkey, tapping with woodpeckers, swimming with dolphins, and so much more, your child will find new animal facts while having fun. There's so much to learn with over 120 stickers and Wow Facts to be found throughout the game.

Designed with children age 4-8 in mind, the interactive game allows them to tap and tilt the Fire tablet to navigate the animal worlds. Along with all of the fun learning and playing experiences, there are also creating opportunities to be found. For example, kids can create their own creature power selfies using the camera on the tablet and merging it with the animals in the game.

Explore 60 different game levels focused around six creature powers of the frogfish, spider monkey, and more. Learn amazing things about the animals with over 120 stickers and Wow Facts.

Earth is under attack, and it will take the entire Marvel universe to save it. But, by teaming up the most powerful Super Heroes and Super Villians, there might be a chance at victory. This game is full of all of our favorite characters ready to pair up using each one's unique abilities to fight off the evil threatening Earth.

Console-like graphics on tablets like the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro combine with cinematic gameplay to immerse you in the MARVEL world as you assemble your squad for each battle. By strategically picking which characters to pair up to best utilize their powers, defeating the enemy is assured. As you progress through the game, you'll be able to upgrade your Super Heroes and Super-Villains to prepare for the ultimate test.

With characters like Iron Man, Groot, Venom, Loki, and so many more at your disposal to create the best team possible — Earth's enemies won't stand a chance. The battle awaits. Build your squad and prepare for action!

Assemble your MARVEL Super Heroes and Super Villians squad to build the ultimate team to save the Earth from attack.

Disney fans of all ages will love this game where you are the center of the park, and the Magic Kingdom is at your fingertips. With characters spanning over 90 years of Disney and some of the most beloved attractions from the real parks, the only limitation is your imagination.

You can collect over 200 of the most popular Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars characters. Explore over 1,500 exciting quests with Ariel, Moana, Ralph, Dumbo, R2-D2, and so many more. Include all of your favorite characters in the park that you get to design. With over 170 attractions to choose from, like Space Mountain and the Haunted Manion, you can decorate your park any way you choose. Even host the fan-favorite parade with fireworks!

A Disney adventure wouldn't be complete without a villain to defeat. So keep your park safe from Maleficent and her evil curse, battle against Ursula, Scar, and more. The game is regularly updated with new attractions, characters, and events, so your imagination never has to slow down.

Whether you are going on an adventure through one of the 1,500 available quests or building and defending your own theme park from villains like Jafar, you'll have the world of Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars to keep your imagination going.

Beach Buggy Racing 2 brings racing excitement to a fun new game with winding tracks and helpful powerups. But you aren't alone in the race; you get to build your racing team, upgrade your ride, and battle across tracks with dragons, pirates, aliens, and more.

There are over 40 different cars to pick from in your quest to win the Beach Buggy Racing League championship. Find powerups along your races to give your team the edge with options like chain lightning, donut tires, killer bees, and more.

Aside from racing, new game modes offer daily drifting and obstacle course challenges to keep things fresh and exciting. So, hop in your ride, customize the look, and be ready to power up and hit the beach.

Beach Buggy Racing 2 brings new exciting tracks, challenges, and powerups to make this one of the most entertaining games you can play on the Amazon Fire Kids tablets.

A simple game that is perfect for kids of all ages, Crossy Road takes the formula that made Frogger so popular and dresses it up in a visually appealing art style. Players have to navigate a character across the road by tapping the screen, dodging traffic and various other obstacles in order to get as far as possible while attempting to improve on high scores.

Players are also rewarded more the further they get, and can unlock new characters as they progress. It's a simple gameplay loop that kids will be easily hooked on, and the cartoonish visuals, and overall simplicity of the game make it one that parents can feel comfortable letting their kids play. Plus, it's free to play!

With a gameplay loop that updates a classic game, and with an art style and progression that will appeal to kids of all ages, Crossy Road is a great choice, and will keep your kids busy for a while.

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Keeping your kids occupied

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Amazon Fire HD tablets are a great way to get your kids gaming, with a bigger screen than a phone and a whole range of excellent titles. One of the most recommendable games on this list is Minecraft, one of the most popular titles in the world, and for good reason. It's simple to learn building mechanics, which can easily draw you in, but its learning curve and depth can keep any creative child invested for a long time.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a timeless classic and another of the best titles on this list. The mobile remaster means that it will look far better on an Amazon Fire HD tablet than it did when originally released, and the added mode makes it more worthwhile than ever before. It's also a game that the parents can get nostalgic about while the kids play, an added bonus.

Each game on this list is extremely recommendable, though, and can offer your child a great taste of gaming on a bigger screen. While some games available on the store could be unsuitable, we think these are among the best that the Amazon store has to offer and will give your child hours of enjoyment. 

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