It might be a bit challenging to find board games that are truly designed for smaller children, but yes, there are board games for 2-year-olds out there.
When it comes to family game night, it is important to find the right games for your youngest gamers. This is because games can help your child develop important skills, such as taking turns, rolling dice, and moving objects. By playing games, your child can learn how to follow rules, think strategically, and socialize with others. Therefore, choosing the right games for your family’s youngest gamers is a crucial responsibility.
We compiled a list of the best board games for 2-year-olds. These are games that we’ve enjoyed with our children and that we think are great for kids at this age. They’re perfect for helping to develop basic skills like counting, matching, and taking turns. Plus, they’re just plain fun!
In This Article
HappyBabyHub’s Best Board Games For 2-Year-Olds Picks
1. Let’s Go Fishin’
This set includes the classic version of the well-known and beloved fishing game that parents will remember playing when they were children and now can enjoy with their own little ones. But that’s not all! You’ll also get a bonus Fortunate Duck’s Make-a-Match card game that will keep the fun and excitement going for hours on end.
With Let’s Go Fishing, your children will learn important hand-eye coordination skills as they compete to capture the most fish with their little fishing poles. This traditional children’s game offers fast-paced fishing fun that will entice toddlers to play it repeatedly thanks to the revolving pond and hungry fish that open and close their jaws.
2. Think Fun Roll and Play Game for Toddlers
The game comes with a big, soft plush cube and a deck of cards, providing hours of endless entertainment and bonding opportunities for both parents and their little ones. It’s the perfect gift for any special occasion, be it a birthday, holiday, or just a fun-filled family game night.
Roll and Play is super easy to learn and start playing right away, thanks to its high-quality parts and simple instruction booklet. But the best part? It encourages creativity, active play, and gross motor abilities while fostering stronger relationships and boosting your child’s self-assurance.
3. Peaceable Kingdom Monkey Around Game
With the use of 40 cards called Monkey Around, players are prompted to perform actions such as high fives, embraces, and basic gross motor abilities like hopping, marching, and balancing. You and your child will be encouraged to move about by the game’s cards!
This board game provides opportunities for social skill development, has several cognitive advantages, and can enhance emotional well-being. With this game designed specifically for 2-year-olds, parents like you will have a fun-filled, novel way to interact with your child.
4. HABA My Very First Games
Players may collaborate to roll the dice and select the appropriate fruit from the orchard in this cooperative board game before the raven arrives and steals it all. Together, the players win if they gather every piece of fruit before the raven gets to the orchard. They both lose if the raven arrives before. Playing repeatedly develops young players and helps them learn about winning and losing.
Your 2-year-old will definitely improve social skills like sharing and listening to others while reinforcing concepts like color recognition, quantity, and one-to-one counting.
5. Banana Panda – Suuuper Size Memory Game
Suuuper Size Memory is an ideal educational game for memory and focus training. Children can begin with two or three pairs and then add more as their abilities develop. The extra-large tiles, which include vibrant animal pictures, work well as flashcards for teaching new words.
Parents will love this game’s fantastic play and educational value. It comes in a sizable keepsake box with a reliable handle, making it portable, convenient to store, and ideal for giving as a memorable gift.
6. Panda’s Picnic in The Park
With Panda’s Picnic in the Park, 2-year-olds can have fun with tasty colors and shapes. As they play, they exercise their vocabularies, gross and fine motor abilities, color and form recognition, and turn-taking. You can play the game in a variety of ways to promote growth using the provided guidance.
Each player takes a turn grabbing a different food item from the picnic basket. They acquire a form and shade that they must adjust to fit their plate. The picnic is finished when their dish is full!
7. Where’s Bear? The Hide and Find Stacking Block Game
Block stacking and looking for hidden items are two hobbies that Where’s Bear combines into one fun game. Bear is hidden and found by parents and children alternately below the robust nesting boxes. Each box has a matching game as well as an illustration of a different room in Bear’s home.
Playing Where’s Bear helps 2-year-olds learn spatial concepts like up, down, top, and bottom as well as sorting, categorizing, matching, and item permanence.
8. eeBoo: Fairytale Mix Ups, Create A Story Pre-Literacy Cards
The gorgeous fairy tale characters, settings, and iconic items on the Create A Story deck can be changed to produce logical or humorous stories. When students come up with ways to include a fire-breathing dragon and a flask of magic potion in their story about a cunning boot-wearing cat, they will develop their critical thinking abilities.
9. MOLLYBEE KIDS Toddler Scavenger Hunt Cards at Home
With these simple cards, toddlers can learn about common household items, and you and your kid can have a fun inside activity regardless of the weather. Toddler Scavenger Hunt cards include items typically found around the house, including toys, books, clothing, furniture, and more. They also cover concepts like colors, size, and texture.
A robust, recloseable plastic ring is linked to thick, wipeable cards that are about 3.5 inches across. They fit into a purse, diaper bag, or backpack for fun and education on the move.
10. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site Matching Game
Featuring stunning depictions of the iconic Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site figures, this game is sure to capture the imagination of your little ones. With each card depicting amusing images of the many automobiles mentioned in the famous novel, from excavators to crane trucks, cement trucks, dump trucks, and more, your child will be transported to a world of fun and learning.
The game comes with a whopping 72 playing cards that depict the busy construction site with its working, washing, and sleeping machines. Your 2-year-old will delight in the lively pictures while also honing their matching, memory, and attention abilities – all while having a blast!
11. Button, Button, Belly Button
Can you assist Bear in finding a rainbow of buttons, as well as several belly buttons, along the way? Playing this enjoyable color-matching game with your child can help them improve their spatial and color awareness abilities. This board game is a fantastic approach to teaching your toddler about same vs. different, sharing, and language development.
12. HABA My Very First Games Rhino Hero Junior
If you’re looking for a fun and educational game to teach your 2-year-old the fundamentals of following basic rules, then you’ll definitely want to check out this incredible matching and stacking game.
Not only will your child be able to practice important skills like waiting their turn and cooperating with others to achieve a common goal, but they’ll also be able to construct one or more towers and use the two heroic characters to climb each floor – all while playing alone!
13. Here Fishy Fishy! Magnetic Fishing Game
With the Here Fishy, Fishy Magnetic Fishing Game, you can help your 2-year-old’s development of fine motor skills. They can learn the basics of game rules and how to apply them through the game rules. Plus, they can experiment with the fishing rod, the sea, and all the marine creatures during free play, giving them the most creative lives possible.
14. First 100 Words Activity Game
The First 100 Words Activity Game promotes engaging, active learning via movement and discovery with over 100 key first words to read.
Around the room, distribute the cards. Search for the category card or the number of cards that match the die you rolled. In addition to learning basic counting, social skills, and the 100 first words, children may recognize the words on the cards as they collect them. Adults can participate by instructing kids to discover items and providing advice along the way.
15. Topper Takes a Trip
Prepare for your vacation by selecting one of five places. Topper Takes a Trip by Peaceable Kingdom is a humorous way to work on vocabulary or get a kid ready for their first trip away from home. 2-year-olds develop their language and identification abilities while learning to follow directions.
Select a location card to reveal the corresponding packing list. Topper will require these items during his journey. Sort the goods on the packing list, put them in the luggage, and simulate a trip!
16. MindWare Seek-a-Boo Game
Seek-a-Boo promotes meaningful engagement between parents and young children. The game is played by Mom or Dad calling out a “Find Me” card and scattering the large “Seek Me” cards throughout the room. Your 2-year-old explores the space in search of a match! Colors, shapes, animals, meals, toys, and outdoor objects are just a few of the card categories.
17. Peaceable Kingdom Acorn Soup Game
Winter is just around the corner, and the squirrel knows it’s time to gather and stash extra food for the chilly days ahead. To help your little one learn the value of preparation and sharing, you can team up with the squirrel and make some scrumptious soups with the recipe cards included in this game. Acorn Soup is a fun way to encourage your child to follow simple rules (even if they’re loose!) and develop new skills such as rolling dice.
18. Friends and Neighbors: The Helping Game
As a parent, you can teach your child empathy and kindness through the game “Helping Bag”. By selecting a token from the bag, you and your child can offer assistance to characters who are feeling sad, scared, or in need. It’s a great way to help your child recognize the emotions in others and learn how to respond with kindness.
This game is particularly useful for playing one-on-one with your child, as it provides an opportunity to discuss the emotions of the characters and why they might be feeling that way. By engaging in this conversation, your child will develop a greater understanding of empathy and how to be there for others.
19. Don’t Break the Ice Game
Join Phillip the Penguin on an icy adventure with the thrilling strategy game, Don’t Break the Ice! Your task is to help Phillip break up the ice chunks so he can build a new igloo, but be careful not to disturb the ice too much, or Phillip might fall through and get chilly! The winner of the game is the one who can stop Phillip from falling.
The game comes with all the necessary components to play, including two mallets, an ice tray frame, four ice tray legs, one large ice block, 32 smaller ice blocks, and of course, Phillip the Penguin himself. Get ready for some chilly fun as you test your skills and try to keep Phillip safe and warm!
20. Hi Ho! Cherry-O Board Game
This classic board game is a hit with families everywhere! Even preschoolers can learn arithmetic concepts such as counting, addition, and subtraction as they select fruits to fill their baskets. 2-year-olds will have a blast plucking imaginary cherries, blueberries, apples, and oranges from their tree.
The game offers two play options, so children can choose the one that suits them best. But beware – if the spinner lands on a bird or dog, players must return cherries to the tree. And if they land on a spilled pail, it’s game over! With its fun and fruity theme, this game is a tasty and enjoyable way for kids to master arithmetic skills.
Can 2-Year-Olds Actually Play Board Games?
It is no secret that children love board games. In fact, many children ask to play with them all the time. But can 2-year-olds actually play them? The answer is yes! 2-year-olds can play some board games, but they might need a little help. Here are some tips for your little gamer:
- Choose a board game that is simple and easy to understand. The last thing you want is for your child to get frustrated.
- Skip the rules if necessary. If the game is too complicated, you can always make up your own rules or just let your child play however they want.
- Make it a learning experience. Board games are a great way to teach children about counting, colors, and taking turns.
- Be patient. It might take a few tries before your child gets the hang of it, but eventually, they will!
What Are The Benefits Of Board Games For 2-Year-Olds?
There are many benefits of playing board games with 2-year-olds. Board games help promote social skills, such as taking turns and sharing. They also help with problem-solving, as 2-year-olds learn how to navigate the game’s rules and figure out how to win. Board games also help develop fine motor skills, as 2-year-olds learn to pick up and move the game pieces.
