The Best 21 Preschool Board Games You’ll Actually Enjoy, Too

Inside: Forget those boring preschool board games like Candyland and play these educational and fun board games for preschoolers instead.

My preschooler’s absolute favorite time of day is after her little sister goes to bed at night because that’s when we bust out a board game or card game to play as a family.

There’s just one problem.

The games specifically designed for preschoolers are kind of…soul-sucking.

The people who invented Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, and Hi Ho Cherry-O must have had some deep-seated hatred for parents of the world because playing those preschool board games will slowly kill off every brain cell that sleep deprivation hasn’t already taken care of.

Those typical preschool board games require little to no strategy. They’re all chance and no thought, and at best they prepare your kid to understand the concept of a lottery ticket.

And yet as much as I’d love to groom my preschooler into a ruthless Scrabble whiz, some of the best family games are just too advanced to be board games for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds.

Looking for toddler board games instead? Head to The Best 25 Toddler Board Games That Will Become Family Favorites

You Don’t Have to Suffer Through Candyland

Ever since my oldest daughter reached board game maturity many years ago, we’ve been on the hunt for the best board games for families. The ones that won’t make you want to gouge out your eyeballs with a junky plastic game piece.

Over the years, we’ve discovered that the world has a ton of absolutely delightful preschool board games to offer families. It’s just that Candyland and its ilk have infiltrated the mainstream psyche as the quintessential board games for preschoolers, so you don’t hear about most of the awesome preschool board games that you’ll actually enjoy playing with your kid.

In our family, we play a board game nearly every night, and we even cleared out our pantry in the kitchen to devote to storing our family board games.

Board games and card games are one of the best ways you can connect with your kids after a busy day, but if you play a mind-numbing game like Chutes & Ladders, it can have the opposite effect.

You’ll be bored out of your skull, and your preschooler will pick up on that. Instead of reconnecting and laughing together, you’ll be anxious for the game to end, leaving your kid to wonder why you don’t want to play with her.

Related: Forget Candyland! This Is the Best List of Board Games for All Ages

21 Awesome Preschool Board Games That You’ll Love, Too

Get those boring preschool board games out of your house and play these kid-approved (and parent-approved!) board games for preschoolers instead.

Because life is too short to be pulling out your hair when you could be giggling with your preschooler. Use this list of fun board games for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds to beef up your family game collection, and you won’t be sorry.

This list grew out of our own experience of being on the hunt for the best family board games and card games for many years. Plus, we researched for hours and hours online to find all the top suggestions of preschool board games for 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds, then market-tested them with our own crew.

Not only will your preschooler love these board games and card games, but you will too. If you need more ideas after you check out this list, head over to Forget Candyland! This Is the Best List of Board Games for All Ages because most games on that list are preschooler-friendly too.

But First, a Warning

When my preschooler was three years old, she swallowed a coin that got stuck in her throat. One emergency room visit, one surgery, and one five-figure hospital bill later, I can tell you firsthand that choking hazards are nothing to take lightly. And we were lucky that we caught it in time.

Some of these games – even the games marketed specifically for preschoolers – contain game pieces like dice that are the perfect size to be choking hazards. Please always keep a close eye on your child when they’re playing with a game that has small pieces. And if you have younger kids, make sure they’re sleeping or otherwise occupied so they don’t find a fallen game piece and pop it into their mouths.

Now for the list of the best preschool board games…

Note: indicates my family’s absolute top favorite board games on the list. These are the games my whole family can’t get enough of! In fact, we love them so much that we stock them in our store. Order from us here, and you’ll be supporting a family-owned business while also treating your own family to a fun new game!

1. Gobblet Gobblers

Time to Play: 5 minutes
Number of Players: 2
Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can understand the basic concepts in order to play, but 4-year-olds will do better with the strategy
Get It: Gobblet Gobblers

This preschool board game is like tic-tac-toe with a twist. Just like in tic-tac-toe, you line up three of your pieces to win. But in this game, your piece can also gobble up another person’s piece (or even your own piece) because the game pieces are like nesting dolls. You can also move any pieces you already placed on the board.

While it can get boring to play tic-tac-toe with a preschooler over and over again, this game shakes things up enough to make it fun for all ages in the family. The game is over quickly, which is a plus for a preschooler’s attention span. My 9-year-old and 4-year-old will sit and play game after game together because they’re having so much fun.

The kids don’t even realize they’re building critical thinking, memory skills, and spatial awareness skills while having fun!

One quick warning though: Be sure to get this wooden version of this game, not the newer plastic version. The reviewers who accidentally ordered the plastic version were bummed because the plastic edition isn’t nearly as sturdy.

If you like this game, the same company also makes another board game for preschoolers called Pengoloo that our family loves too.

Bonus: All game orders placed in our family-owned shop get a $7.99 bonus credit after purchase to spend on instant downloads!

2. Feed the Woozle

Time to Play: 10-15 minutes
Number of Players: 2–5
Minimum Age: Some 2-year-olds can play this, so it’s a great fit for 3-year-old preschoolers and up
Get It: Feed the Woozle

In this cooperative game, you work together to feed the Woozle by balancing snacks on a spoon while you deliver them. And as an added challenge, you’ll have to hula dance, bunny hop, or do something else silly at the same time. But watch out because if a snack falls along the way, the Woozle won’t eat it. When you’ve fed the Woozle 12 snacks, your whole team wins.

Cooperative games like this are great for building teamwork skills while still getting practice with taking turns. Plus, young children don’t always grasp competitive tactics, so cooperative games are a refreshing change of pace for them.

For that reason, this is a perfect first board game for preschoolers to teach turn-taking, foster good sportsmanship as you encourage your teammates, and nurture a sense of collaboration as you work together. And because each game takes around 10 minutes, it’s perfect for short attention spans, too.

This game also helps develop motor skills, gives practice with counting, and builds frustration tolerance. But most important of all, it’s pure silly fun!

Pro tip: When you need a way to keep your kids entertained so you can load the dishwasher (or catch a catnap), this game works great for an older sibling to play with a younger sibling. My kids play this together all on their own at least once a week!

Note: The manufacturer says this is for ages 3 and up, but according to several other families (including mine!) many 2-year-olds are ready for this game.

3. Sleeping Queens

Time to Play: 10-15 minutes
Number of Players: 2–5
Minimum Age: 3-year-olds will need a little help to remember all the rules, so 4-year-old preschoolers and up are an even better fit
Get It: Sleeping Queens

This is another card game that’s technically for older kids, but our preschooler has been playing this game since the age of three. Of all the preschool board games and card games in this list, this one is her absolute favorite and our number one go-to as a family. The rules are simple enough for our preschooler to understand, but the game still keeps everyone on their toes.

We really and truly never get tired of this one. Plus, you can play a whole game in about 10 minutes, which is perfect for getting in a dose of family connection before sending little ones off to bed.

Note: The manufacturer says this is for ages 8 and up, but according to several other families (including mine!) most 4-year-olds are ready for this game, especially if you help them out a bit with the number cards.

By the way, when you’re playing card games with your child, this card holder is a must have for little hands. Your child can hold it to see their cards, or they can set the holder down on the table for a break. (This particular card holder has stood the test of time, as opposed to other card holders we’ve tried.)

4. My First Carcassonne

Time to Play: 10-20 minutes
Number of Players: 2–4
Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can understand the concepts, but 4-year-old preschoolers and up will do best with the strategy
Get It: My First Carcassonne

Whereas some preschool board games are all luck and no strategy, this game gives younger kids a fun introduction to thinking strategically. And of all the games in this list, this game is on my own personal short list of my favorite preschool games to play with my kids – along with Sleeping Queens (see below).

To play, you place tiles to build streets in the city of Carcassonne, so the road-building aspect is fantastic for growing spatial intelligence.

If this preschool board game is your first introduction to the world of Carcassonne, be sure to check out the main version of Carcassonne for ages 7 and up when you’re ready to graduate.

5. Create a Story Cards

Time to Play: 5-15 minutes
Number of Players: 2 or more
Minimum Age: 2-year-olds can play this one (even if their stories don’t make a lot of sense!), so this is a great fit for 3-year-olds and up
Get It: Create a Story Cards

This simple card game for preschoolers is a great way to foster your child’s imagination and build literacy skills.

The game has several variations, but our favorite is this: Each player takes turns picking a random card. The first person starts a story with “Once upon a time…” and then on the next turn, the next person uses their card as inspiration to add to the story.

The stories we come up with as a family always leave us giggling. Even my toddler loves to play!

What’s especially great about this game is you have several versions to choose from, and to kick it up a notch you can even mix different sets together:

• Fairy Tale Mix-Up
• Animal Village
• Mystery in the Forest
• Volcano Island

This one also makes for a fun travel game to take along on road trips or plane rides.

6. Sequence for Kids

Time to Play: 20 minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Minimum Age: 3-year-olds and up can understand and enjoy this game
Get It: Sequence for Kids

We started out with the regular Sequence game, but it was a bit of a stretch for preschooler when she was three, so we got the Sequence for Kids version and it’s perfect for now. Sometimes though, we’ll invite her to join mom or dad’s team so we can play the regular version.

What’s cool about this game is that you’ll notice your kids start thinking ahead a couple turns instead of just playing the second they find a match. To work on letters with your preschooler, Sequence Letters is a fun alternative.

7. Hoot Owl Hoot or Orchard by HABA

Time to Play: 15 minutes for Hoot Owl Hoot; 10 minutes for Orchard
Number of Players: 2–4 for Hoot Owl Hoot; 1-8 for Orchard
Minimum Age: Both games are a great fit for 3-year-olds and up
Get It: Hoot Owl Hoot or Orchard

When it comes to cooperative games for preschoolers, these two are our favorites aside from Feed the Woozle above. But because the game play for these two games is so similar, I recommend picking up either Hoot Owl Hoot or Orchard.

My kids love both games, so you really can’t go wrong. The wooden game pieces and picnic baskets for Orchard are super well-made and sturdy, but if that game is a bit outside your price range, Hoot Owl Hoot is just as fun. My kids regularly pull out both games to play together independently!

Pro tip: With Orchard, if your child still tends to put small objects in their mouth, I recommend starting out with the First Orchard edition because it has larger game pieces perfect for younger kids.

Side note: We’ve tested nearly every cooperative game for preschoolers made by Peaceable Kingdom, the same folks who make Hoot Owl Hoot. The other games were fun too, but Hoot Owl Hoot has been the clear winner!

8. Spot It! Jr. Animals

Time to Play: 10-20 minutes
Number of Players: 2–8
Minimum Age: Even toddlers can play this one, so it’s an excellent pick for 3-year-olds and up
Get It: Spot It! Jr. Animals

This preschool game is similar to the regular version of Spot It! but simplified for younger kids with larger images and fewer images on each card.

My favorite part of this matching game is that it’s so portable. I can throw it in my purse when we’re heading somewhere the kids will have to wait a bit, like the doctor’s office or to a restaurant. The small tin holding the cards also makes this game a great fit as a stocking stuffer for kids.

If your preschooler loves this game, you can also check out Spot It! 123.

9. Qwirkle

Time to Play: 30-45 minutes
Number of Players: 2–4
Minimum Age: Best for older preschoolers aged 4 and up
Get It: Qwirkle or Travel Qwirkle

This game is simple enough for beginners but challenging enough for adults, so it’s the perfect fit when you need a game that will work for all ages. Your child will have fun while practicing math and building strategy skills at the same time.

This game took a little practice for our preschooler at first, so take it slow and end the game early when you’re first teaching young kids. To speed up the game, we skip keeping score and put the focus on matching the colors and patterns. You can play a whole game in about 30-45 minutes, and then after the game our preschooler will extend the fun by building towers with the tiles.

This game also comes in a compact travel version, so we keep it in our suitcase and take it with us wherever we go.

10. Rummikub

Time to Play: 45-60 minutes
Number of Players: 2–4
Minimum Age: Some 3-year-olds can understand the concepts of this game, but it’s an even better fit for 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds
Get It: Rummikub

This classic family game will build your child’s math skills, but they’ll have so much fun they won’t even realize they’re growing their brain at the same time. As a bonus, Rummikub is challenging enough to keep even adults on their toes. When grandparents come to visit, this is the game both kids and grandparents love to play!

This is supposed to be for ages 8 and up, but our preschooler was still able to understand the rules after one practice game when she was three. Several reviewers have said their preschoolers get into this game as well. Plus, it’s great reinforcement for kids who are learning to recognize numbers.

11. Sushi Go

Time to Play: 15 minutes
Number of Players: 2-5
Minimum Age: 4-year-olds can understand the basic gameplay, but 5-year-olds are a better fit for the strategy
Get It: Sushi Go

My family’s top go-to card games are Sleeping Queens and this quirky little card game. My kids will happily sit and play this for an hour or more – round after round after round.

To play, you pick one card from your hand to keep, then pass your cards to the next person. Everyone keeps doing this until all the cards are picked. Then you score points based on which cards you picked to keep: Did you get the most maki rolls? Did you dip your nigiri in wasabi to triple its value?

When my preschooler was three, she loved this game, even though she didn’t get the strategy of which cards to keep. In fact, she didn’t care who won because she had so much fun just picking her favorite cards and passing the rest along. Now that she’s older, she’s starting to pick up on the strategy – and her 3-year-old younger sister is now in that “having a blast picking cards” phase.

12. Outfoxed!

Time to Play: 15 minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can play this with a little help, so it’s an even better fit for 4-year-olds and up
Get It: Outfoxed!

This preschool board game is like Clue but for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. A fox stole a pot pie, and you have to figure out which fox it was before they escape into the foxhole.

My kids will regularly play this cooperative whodunnit game independently, and I love watching them work together as a team to solve the mystery.

This is a fun little game to build preschoolers’ logic and deductive reasoning skills.

13. The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

Time to Play: 15 minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Minimum Age: Even toddlers get into this one, so it’s excellent for 3-year-olds and up
Get It: The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

This makes a great first board game for preschoolers because it doesn’t require a lot of strategic thinking, it’s quick to play, and the game rules are easy to understand. Plus, the artwork is adorable!

But here’s my favorite aspect of this game: Kids can easily play this independently while you sneak a catnap on the couch.

If you have more than one child or your child likes to play board games with friends, you’ll likely want to play this with the kids the first couple of times to help them learn the rules, but after that you can peace out.

Here’s the (adorable) setup: Your forest friends are hungry, and they need your help. Be the first to fill your log with delicious acorns, and you win.

14. Animal Upon Animal

Time to Play: 10-15 minutes
Number of Players: 1-4
Minimum Age: Even 2-year-olds can play this one, so it’s a great fit for preschoolers as young as 3
Get It: Animal Upon Animal

When your child is ready to move from cooperative to competitive games, this is another fun stacking game for preschoolers to develop their fine motor skills and practice hand-eye coordination. In this game, you stack different wooden animal figurines on top of a large alligator, trying to see how high you can stack them before it all comes crashing down. This game develops your child’s executive functioning skills as they learn they’ll need to be patient and use creative problem-solving in order to get their animals to stack without falling down.

But even when the stack does come crashing down? Giggles all around.

This game is simple enough for young kids to play independently, which is perfect if you need a few minutes to yourself to make an important phone call, take a bathroom break, or sneak a piece of chocolate from your secret stash (I won’t judge).

And unlike some other stacking games for kids that are made with low-quality plastic, these sturdy wooden pieces are made to last. Our copy of this game has lasted through four kids! (Side note: This game is made by the same company who makes Orchard, which my kids also love.)

Pro tip: If your child still tends to put small objects in their mouth, I recommend starting out with the First Animal Upon Animal edition because it has larger game pieces perfect for younger kids.

Bonus! 7 More Preschool Board Games You’ll Love

If you’ve already played all the games recommended above and you want more ideas, check out the list of even more preschool board games below. Note: We don’t stock the following board games in our shop, so I’ve included links to Amazon for your convenience.

15. Go Fish^†

^† This site is reader-supported. When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Time to Play: 20 minutes
Number of Players: 2–6
Minimum Age: The matching concepts are a good fit for 3-year-olds and up
Get It: Go Fish Alphabet or Go Fish for Art (cards and companion book)

Playing this classic card game with your kids when you’re exhausted levels out the playing field. I don’t believe in letting my kids win, but our 9-year-old and preschooler beat me and my husband on a regular basis.

We have a couple sets of this game – one alphabet set that helps our preschooler work on letter recognition, and another set featuring the artwork of Van Gogh and other artists. Our kids get exposed to art, and we get to hear our preschooler say “Van Gogh,” which is pretty much the cutest thing ever. (If you like the idea of the art edition of Go Fish, they also have a set with modern artists and another for impressionists.)

16. Uno

Time to Play: 20-30 minutes
Number of Players: 2–10
Minimum Age: 3-year-olds can understand the matching part of the game, but this is an even better fit for 4-year-old preschoolers and up
Get It: Uno

The box says this classic game is for ages 7 and up, but our preschooler has been playing it for a while. When you think about it, Uno is mostly a matching game. And preschoolers love matching games!

When we first started playing, she needed a little help understanding the “special” cards, but after playing it a few times, she’s learned the meaning of the different symbols. And she knows exactly how to unleash the wrath of the Wild Draw Four card on her poor mother.

To simplify this game for your little ones, you can skip keeping score at the end of each hand.

17. Zingo

Time to Play: 5 minutes
Number of Players: 2–8
Minimum Age: Even 2-year-olds can play this one, so it’s a great fit for preschoolers as young as 3
Get It: Zingo

This is a matching skills game like bingo, but what keeps it interesting for older kids and adults is the competitive twist – you have to be the first one to notice a match and snag it before someone else does.

That sounds like a simple enough task, but our kids actually snake a match out from under our noses more often than you’d think. (I’m blaming chronic parental sleep deprivation.)

18. Ruckus

Time to Play: 20 minutes
Number of Players: 2–4
Minimum Age: 4-year-olds can understand the concepts, but older preschoolers tend to enjoy it more
Get It: Ruckus

The box says this card game is technically for ages 5 and up, but my preschooler can’t get enough of this game. In this matching game, you can steal piles of matches from other players, and that’s when the real fun begins.

If you don’t have 20 minutes for a full game, it’s easy to shorten it up by playing to a smaller number of points instead of the recommended 77 points.

Quick tip: We put a box of tissues in front of our preschooler’s hand so she could lay her cards out on the table without everyone else being able to see them.

19. Aquarius

Time to Play: 20 minutes
Number of Players: 2–5
Minimum Age: The game includes variations for players as young as 3
Get It: Aquarius

You probably won’t find this game on most lists of preschool board games and card games because the box says ages 6 and up. But because this game is really just a matching game, preschoolers catch on quickly.

Plus, the instructions come with different variations for different ages as young as three, which makes it easy to modify the game to fit the people playing.

You play the cards kind of like dominoes – which can be a fun preschool board game itself! – and match up different patterns to the cards already on the table.

This is a game my husband and I love to play after the kids are in bed (with the most advanced variation on the rules!) so it’s a cost-effective and flexible addition to your family board game collection.

20. Shopping List

Time to Play: 15 minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Minimum Age: Some toddlers can play this one, so this is a great pick for preschoolers age 3 and up
Get It: Shopping List

This preschool memory game lets kids pretend play they’re at the grocery store filling their cart with everything on their shopping list. My preschooler absolutely loves this game, which is probably an indication that I should put her to work at the grocery store more often. My toddler loves to join in on this one too, but her attention span doesn’t last for a whole game.

If your child loves this game, you can get expansion packs for extra fruit and veggies and for clothing items.

21. Richard Scarry’s Busytown

Time to Play: 30 minutes
Number of Players: 2-4
Minimum Age: Toddlers can play this game with a little help, so 3-year-olds and up are a great fit
Get It: Richard Scarry’s Busytown

Like Hoot Owl Hoot or Orchard, this falls into the category of cooperative preschool board games, and my preschooler loves playing this one too. But game play takes about twice as long for this game, so it’s not as appealing as the other cooperative games we own.

The part that keeps this game interesting for us as parents is the “I Spy” component of looking for little details on the game board. Still, this game isn’t our first choice to play with the kids. We encourage them to play independently, and they have just as much fun!

Want More?

For even more awesome game ideas, check out:

• All ages: The Best Board Games for All Ages
• Ages 18 months to 3 years: The Best Toddler Board Games

Your Turn

Which are your favorite preschool board games? Share in a comment below!