Board Games
Board games are often used in Occupational Therapy to work on fine motor skills, direction following, sequencing, taking turns, visual ground/discrimination/figure ground and decision making. Here is a list of tried and true board games your youngster will love.
Great for developing descriptive language and guessing skills. Ages 6+
Players use their skill and coordination to remove the patient's "ailments" with the tweezers. Ages 6+
Teaches strategy skills to your children, teamwork, color recognition and it is fun to play. It is a great way to bond with the entire family members playing this game.
Builds skills such as problem solving and basic math. Encourages players to plan ahead – looking out for opportunities to connect 4 discs. Provides opportunity to detect patterns. Instigates prediction of the outcome of alternative moves – for your own play as well as your opponent's.
Fun game for cooperative learning and math skills. Kids ages 3 and up can have a blast picking pretend fruit from the trees on the game board, and filling their buckets. The spinner lets them know the number of pieces to pick -- or put back SIMPLE GAMEPLAY FOR PRESCHOOLERS: Players take turns picking pretend cherries, blueberries, apples, and oranges from their trees to fill their basket. The first to fill their basket wins.
My absolute favorite for all kids ages 3+. Roll the jumbo color die and costume die, and search the cards for a match. Find it and put it on your critter card! Roll the underwear (kid-funny every time!) and lose your costumes; roll the rainbow and choose any one you want! The perfect first game, helps preschoolers develop memory, color-matching, fine motor skills, and social skills like turn-taking.
For kids ages 3 and up, Candy Land can be a great game for kids who haven't learned how to read yet
This fun and simple card game teaches your child to match and count pairs, and describe objects. Perfect way for young kids to learn how to play cards - how to hold them, how to deal, how to read the numbers, and how to take turns. Ages 3+
For ages 3+. Develops matching, sorting, strategic thinking, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and pre-handwriting skills
Fun, easy dexterity game for 3+years of age
Ages 3+ great for eye hand coordination, counting, and turn taking.
Develops critical skills – Perfect for pre-readers and early readers, builds language and matching skills in preschool kids through fun, fast-paced play. Ages 4+
This Scrabble Junior game is easy for kids to play, and lots of fun. One side of the board has you match letters to form words. The other side has you building your own words. Ages 5+
Battleship game is the classic game of naval combat that brings together competition, strategy, and excitement! Ages 7+
This is a great skill-and-action game that teaches kids how to balance using eye hand coordination, motor planning, fine motor skills and cognition. Ages 5+