Best Board Games for 5 year old boys

best board games for kids

It can be difficult finding a board game for boys who are the age of 5 and under. Parents often want games that are more educational in nature while others want to make sure that the game in fun. Well in my opinion all board games are educational to some degree as they often require kids to count, recognize colors and shapes, and learn basic strategies to try and win. The list below encompasses my top picks for boys around the age of 5.

Don’t Step in It

Dont Step in It Game for Kids

No of Players: 1+ (4-6 Players seems to work best)

Age: 4+

Time: 30 minutes (But the kids Just. Kept. Going!)

Pricing: Low-Medium

Don’t step in it is a great game for kids to play at birthday parties. It involves the kids taking turns to walk on top of a mat covered in fake poo to try and get to the end. The rules are fairly self-explanatory and kids of all ages can play together. Would definitely recommend as a gift for a a kid around the ages of 5 and under.

Read the Full Review of Don’t Step in it!

Reinhard Staupe’s Sherlock Memory Card Game

Sherlock Memory Card Game Review

No of Players: 2-5

Age: 5+

Time: 15 minutes

Pricing: Low

Sherlock is a memory card game that is great for young developing minds. There is a stack of cards in the middle with 8 cards surrounding the stack face down. The player then points to a card and guesses what the card is, if they are correct they move to the next card (following the prompts on the correctly guessed card) and go around the circle until the arrive at a card that is face up. Play continues until a player has won a certain amount of cards or there are no more in the stack. This is a great gift for boys around the age of 5 and is also fairly inexpensive to buy.

Read the Full review of Reinhard Staupe Sherlock the Card Game

Hasbro Candyland the board game

candyland board game review

No of Players: 2-4

Age: 3+

Time: 30 minutes

Pricing: Low

Candyland is a fun board game for boys and girls between the age of 3 and 6. Players are trying to find the lost king of the Candy Kingdom and the only way to find him is to play through the game. This is a great game to play with young kids who are learning to count since it has very simple game mechanics and a fun color palate.

Read the Full review for Candyland

Spot It

spot it review

Number of Players: 2-8

Age: 6+

Time: 15 minutes

Price: Low

Spot it (previously known as Dobble) is a face paces card game where players are trying to match the pictures of the card in their hands to the ones in the stack before the other players. Even though its typically rated for ages 6+ any 5 year old with a knack for identifying figures and colours could play this after a few practice rounds. It also comes in a handy travel sized tin so if perfect for a game on the go or even on long plane trips.

Read the Full Review of Spot it

Guess Who

Guess Who board Game review

No of Players: 2

Age: 6+

Time: 20-30 minutes

Pricing: Low to Medium

Guess Who? is a game where two players try to guess each other’s chosen character based of asking simple yes or no questions. This is a fairly simple game, great for young kids, and is fairly quick to play. Guess Who? It’s great for teaching kids colours, facial recognition, and basic deductive reasoning. Guess Who is a stable of children’s board games and still holds up to this day.

Read the Full Review of Guess Who

Finding the Perfect gift for a 5 Year old boy

Those were my top picks of board games for 5 year old boys. You seriously can’t go wrong with any of these as they are all great as both games to entertain and as educational tools.

For more game suggestions also check out my list of best board games of kids or my other lists for kids aged 5 to teens. If you have any suggestions send them to me through my contact page. I’m always looking for new games to try.

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Don’t Step In It Review

Dont Step in It Game for Kids

Basic Information

No of Players: 1+ (4-6 Players seems to work best)

Age: 4+

Time: 30 minutes (But the kids Just. Kept. Going!)

Pricing: Low-Medium

Introduction

This is a fairly straight forward game where the main goal is to get to the end, stepping in as little poop as possible! Admittedly as an adult I found this a little less enjoyable, but to the kids there was just something so exciting about stepping in poop that they kept playing long after I was pooped-out (yes it’s a pun I HAVE NO REGRETS).

How to Play Don’t Step In It

Its super easy and straight forward to set up. You just lay out the long matt and put some brown play-dough like stuff into a poo-mold. You blindfold the first victim, I mean, player and another players spins the wheel to tell the blind-folded person how many steps to take. The wheel also has some actions for the other players to do (like add more poo) and the goal is to step in the least amount of poo possible.

Notes on the Game

The name of the game is how the game is played. It’s innocent toilet humor gamified and is a great game for kids. Admittedly, as an adult with a longer stride and I like to think more mature humor (puns are hilarious) it was less engaging, but even so it was fun to play with the kids for a bit and pretending to step in poopies…

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Catan Junior Review

catan junior review

Basic Info

catan junior review

No of Players: 2-4 (3 is the optimum amount of players)

Age: 6+

Time: 30-45 minutes

Pricing: Medium

Introduction.

Catan Junior is a simplified version of the regular Catan that is great to play with younger kids from 6-10 years old. In this game you are pirates with ships and lairs trying to take control of the resources over the board. If you are a parent wanting to get your child into more European styled-board games, Catan Junior is a great gateway board game.

How to Play

The setup is very similar to Catan but the key difference is that the players are not settlers, but pirates. Instead of settlements, players build lairs and ships on their tiles and receives resources attached to their lair when the number associated with that tile is rolled. You can also purchase These resources are used to purchase  Instead of a robber, there is a ghost captain and he just blocks resource production.

Notes on the Game

Catan junior is a great gateway game for getting kids into the more ‘serious’ board games. This is another one of my personal favorites to play with my niece who is obsessed with pirates at the moment. Its also great for teaching kids about risk management, forward planning, and communication skills, all very important for a young pirate.

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Castle Panic Review

castle panic review

Basic Info

castle panic review

No of Players: 1-6

Age: 10+

Time: 1 hour-1 ½ hours

Pricing: $35-40 USD

Introduction.

Castle Panic is a castle defence game where you and your team defend your castle against monsters. This is a great co-op game with fairly simple rules and mechanics, great for older kids and adults. 

How to Play Castle Panic

The main objective is to slay all 49 monster tokens before the last castle wall falls. The setup is fairly basic, you have a board with castle walls and outer walls placed in the center which you must defend. The monsters attack in waves from random directions and it is up to you and your team to kill them before they reach your tower. Just remember to be wary of rolling boulders because even though they can kill a lot of monsters, they can also do a heap of damage to your castle! You can even add an extra achievement of being the player with the most victory points is declared the Master Slayer.

Notes on Castle Panic

This is a really fun game to play as a family. The rules and set up are fairly basic and is friendly to new players. Its mechanics rely on a combination of chance and strategy and your ability to adapt to the threats is a big part of how to win. This is the perfect game for any Christmas gift for boys 8-12 and any person who enjoys a simple tower-defence game.

Best Board Games for Kids