I was reflecting on when my children were small when I wrote my Blog article about “Age Specific Memory Challenges and Solutions”.  How to Improve Memory: A Comprehensive Guide for All Ages Part 2 (Autumn 2024):Age-Specific Memory Challenges and Solutions – Doctor Melissa Palmer

I wrote then about the importance of language development in pre-schoolers. This enables young children to understand the world around them. This in turn supports the development of their memories. When my children were small I found playing board games and other educational games a great way to do this in the Winter when it is more difficult to get outside and play.

I thought I would investigate which of mine (and my children’s) favourite educational games were still available. Below is a brief review of my all time favourites. I thought this would be useful to parents who want to find a great game that the children will love to play again and again.

The Best Board Game for Pre-Schoolers – Pop to the Shops By Orchard Games (ages 5-9 years – I played this with my children from 3 years)

This is such a great game. The board comes as four robust jigsaw pieces. There are four different shops with diverse shop keepers. The shops and the stands that represent the shop keepers are colour coded for simplicity. The players are both shop keeper for a shop and shopper.  You have to select the items you are shopping for from a face down pile. You get given a set amount of money to purchase your items.

You then have to throw the dice to move around the board to the different shops to purchase your items. Whilst selling your items to the other players. The winner is the first person to get all six items.

My children and I loved playing this. There were lots of different skills to practice, including role playing buying items, mathematical skills, language skills and the skill of conversing. The age group on the box says 5-9 years. I definitely played this with my children from 3 years up to 8-9 years old.

It is inexpensive at £11.99 on Amazon today (19.11.2024). We played this game so many times during their childhood. My now teenagers still talk about this game fondly. Orchard Toys Pop to the Shops Board Game, Helps Teach Handling Money and Giving Change, Perfect for Ages 5-9, Helps Money Skills, Educational Toy Game, 250 x 220 x 50mm : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

The Best Memory Game For Pre-Schoolers – Tummy Ache by Orchard Toys (ages 3-7 years)

Once again the playing boards for this game are jigsaw pieces. This makes it easy to pack away without the boards getting bent or broken. The jigsaw pieces are put together to make an empty dinner plate and place setting. The game is simple. You need to take in turns to pick up face down cards. The cards are different parts of the meal – main, drink, desert, side, etc. If you pick up a creature infested food card you shout “Tummy Ache”. If you have a healthy food card you put it on your empty place setting. The winner is the one who completes their place setting the quickest.

Tummy Ache is so fun to play. It is a great twist on the regular find the pairs memory game. My children loved this and would play it even when they were 10 or 11 years old.  The different foods and different creatures mean that there is a vocabulary and language development part to this game too. 

Tummy Ache is again relatively inexpensive at £9.00 on offer at Amazon (19.11.2024). In my opinion this is a great investment for the number of times your children (& you) will play this game. Orchard Toys Tummy Ache Game, A Fun Memory Game, Perfect For Kids Age 3-7, Educational Game Toy, Family Game : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

The Best Language Development Game for Toddlers – Shopping List by Orchard Toys (Ages 3-7 years)

This is a fantastic game, that you can play quickly and you can buy inexpensive add ons to extend and enrich play. The game play is simple. Each player has a trolley and a shopping list. All the items are placed face down. You have to take in turns to turn over the cards until you have found all the items on your shopping list. My children really enjoyed this game. It enabled me to encourage them to read the words. There is dual coding occuring as the word and the picture are together. This supports the memorising of words. This increases vocabulary and comprehension of the world around them.

This was a particularly big hit in our house as it was a game we could play quickly, and with the extension pack it increased the variety in the game. This meant my children didn’t get bored with it.

You can currently buy Shopping List for £7.00 on Amazon on offer (19.11.2024) Orchard Toys Shopping List Memory Game – Matching and Memory Games for 3 Year Olds and Up – Kids Educational Toys and Learning Games – Children and Toddler Board Games Ages 3 to 7-2 to 4 Players : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

You can also buy the extension pack for Shopping List called Shopping List Extras Clothes (£5.50 on Amazon 19.11.2024) Orchard Toys Shopping List Extras Pack – Clothes Game, Add On Pack to Shopping List, Educational Memory Game, Perfect for Kids Age 3-7. : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games and Shopping List Extras Fruit and Veg (£10.12 on Amazon 19.11.2024) Orchard Toys Shopping List Extras Pack – Clothes Game, Add On Pack to Shopping List, Educational Memory Game, Perfect for Kids Age 3-7. : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

The Best Educational Shapes & Colours Game for Pre-Schoolers – Dotty Dinosaurs (Ages 3-6 years)

When my children were small we had a large number of games that had colour and shape matching as part of the game play. However, our absolute favourite was Dotty Dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs so this may have had an impact on how enthusiastic we all were to play the game.

This game is colourful, there are four different dinosaur playing mats. Each playing mat is a different type of dinosaur. This itself prompts discussion of the names of the dinosaurs and what the parts of the dinosaurs are called. For example the stegosaurus does have thagomizers on it’s tail. Each dinosaur is a different colour.

This is two games in one. One side of the dinosaur is for the colour matching game. The other side of the dinosaur is for the shape matching game. The game comes with two types of dice one with six colours on the faces and the other with six shapes on the faces. There is colour vocabulary, shape vocabulary to learn, this is in addition to learning to identify the different shapes to play the game.

The aim is to be the first one to complete the dinosaur by getting all the coloured dots or all the shapes.

We played this game a huge amount when my children were toddlers and in early years at school. The game is currently available on Amazon for £15.34 – so  a little more expensive then the others I have mentioned. However, it is two games in one. I can strongly recommend it. Orchard Toys Dotty Dinosaurs Game, Colour and Shape Game for Children, 2 Games in 1, Perfect for Children Age 3-6, Educational Toy Game : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

The Best Family Learning and Memory Game to Play with Pre-Schoolers – Guess Who Hasbro

There are lots of different versions of this game. There are some versions by the original Hasbro Games including those with Disney Characters, Super Mario Characters and Footballers. However, my family were gifted Guess Who? Extra. This had the traditional characters but also other cards including household appliances, animals, and comedic characters. The electronic game play we didn’t use. However, having the diverse range of cards meant that it was a great family game to play with Pre-Schoolers. You can play as teams with adults versus children or other combinations.

The diverse range of cards leads you to use different language to describe the characters when asking your questions. The adults model this behaviour and the children will copy. The children will also be expanding their vocabulary. This is great for language comprehension and supports memory development in young children.

We used to spend hours playing Guess Who and even now my children are in their mid/late teens we still enjoy playing it. If you know you enjoy Guess Who – then I think it would be worth the extra investment. It is currently not available on Amazon but there are some sets selling on Ebay and Vinted when I looked 19.11.2024

Regular Guess Who is relatively inexpensive on Amazon and is a great addition to any family games cupboard. Guess Who? Original Guessing Board Game for Kids, Family Time Games for 2 Players, Gifts for Kids aged 6 and Up : Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games

Conclusion My Favourite Games for Young Children

My top tip is to find a game that you will enjoy playing with your children. Children will know if you are bored. If you enjoy the game play with the children – they will see you role modelling playing games and copy you. I hope my recommendations were useful to you. Thank you for reading my blog.