Board Games for Kids: 18 Classic and Traditional Games

The best board games for kids are often the oldest ones. Classic and traditional games like snakes and ladders, ludo, checkers and mancala have been played by children for generations because they are simple to learn, quick to set up and teach counting, turn-taking and planning without anyone noticing. Most need only a board, a die and a few counters, and many boards can be drawn at home on card or paper.

This list is grouped by age. Each game shows the number of players, what you need and how to play, with links to full rules where we have them. No board handy? Our dice roller stands in for lost dice.

Board games for young kids, ages 4 to 6

Snakes and Ladders

Players: 2 to 6. You need: A 100-square board, one die and a counter per player.

Roll the die and move your counter forward. Land at the foot of a ladder and climb up, land on a snake's head and slide down. The first player to reach square 100 wins. It needs no strategy, so the youngest player can beat everyone. See the full snakes and ladders rules.

Ludo

Players: 2 to 4. You need: A ludo board, one die and four tokens per player.

Roll a six to bring a token out of your yard, then race it around the board and into your home column. Landing on an opponent's token sends it back to start. The first player to bring all four tokens home wins. See the full ludo rules.

Tic-Tac-Toe

Players: 2. You need: Paper and pencil, or a whiteboard.

Players take turns marking X or O on a three by three grid. Three in a row in any direction wins. Once kids learn the best moves, try a four by four grid for a fresh challenge. See the full tic-tac-toe rules.

Dominoes

Players: 2 to 4. You need: A double-six set of 28 tiles.

Each player takes seven tiles. Take turns matching a tile to an open end of the line, and draw or pass if you cannot play. The first to play all their tiles wins. Young kids can simply match the dot patterns. See the full dominoes rules.

Homemade Race Board

Players: 2 to 4. You need: Card, markers, a die and buttons for counters.

Draw a winding path of 30 to 50 squares and add a few special squares, such as "move ahead 2" or "miss a turn." Kids love designing their own board, and it makes a perfect rainy day craft and game in one.

Board games for kids, ages 6 to 9

Checkers

Players: 2. You need: A checkerboard and 12 pieces per player.

Pieces move diagonally forward on the dark squares and capture by jumping over an opponent's piece. In standard rules, if you can capture, you must. Reach the far row to become a king that moves backward too. Capture or block all your opponent's pieces to win. See the full checkers rules.

Chinese Checkers

Players: 2, 3, 4 or 6. You need: A star-shaped board and 10 marbles per player.

Move your marbles from your home triangle to the opposite one. Step to a neighboring hole or hop over any marble, and chain several hops in one turn. The first player to fill the opposite triangle wins. See the full chinese checkers rules.

Mancala

Players: 2. You need: A mancala board with six pits per side and 48 seeds or stones.

Pick up all the seeds in one of your pits and sow them one by one counterclockwise. Landing your last seed in your store earns another turn. When no seeds are left on one side, the player with the most in their store wins. See the full mancala rules.

Carrom

Players: 2 or 4. You need: A carrom board, 9 white and 9 black coins, a red queen and a striker.

Flick the striker from your baseline to pocket your own coins. Pocket the queen and then one of your coins to cover it. The first player or team to pocket all their coins wins the board. See the full carrom rules.

Dots and Boxes

Players: 2 to 4. You need: Paper with a grid of dots.

Players take turns drawing one line between two neighboring dots. Completing the fourth side of a box claims it and earns another turn. When all the boxes are claimed, the player with the most wins. It is also a great whiteboard game for kids.

Nine Men's Morris

Players: 2. You need: A board of three nested squares, drawn on paper, and nine counters each.

Take turns placing counters on the points, then move them along the lines. Three in a row, called a mill, lets you remove one of your opponent's counters. A player reduced to two counters, or left with no legal move, loses.

Fox and Geese

Players: 2. You need: A cross-shaped board with 33 points, 13 counters and one different counter for the fox.

One player is the fox and the other moves 13 geese. Geese move one step forward or sideways, while the fox moves in any direction and captures by jumping. The geese win by trapping the fox, and the fox wins by capturing enough geese that they cannot trap it.

Board games for kids ages 8 to 10 and up

Chess

Players: 2. You need: A chessboard and a set of 32 pieces.

Each piece moves in its own way, and the goal is to checkmate the opposing king. Start kids with pawn games, using only pawns, then add one piece type at a time. See the full chess rules.

Reversi

Players: 2. You need: An 8 by 8 board and 64 two-colored discs.

Start with four discs in the center. Place a disc so it traps a straight line of your opponent's discs between two of yours, and flip the trapped discs to your color. When the board is full, the player with more discs wins.

Backgammon

Players: 2. You need: A backgammon board, 15 checkers each and two dice.

Roll the dice and move your checkers around the board toward your home board, then bear them off. A single checker on a point can be hit and sent back to the start. The first player to bear off all checkers wins. See the full backgammon rules.

Go on a Small Board

Players: 2. You need: A 9 by 9 grid and black and white stones.

Players take turns placing stones on the intersections to surround territory. A group of stones with no empty points next to it is captured. Once kids know the basics, they can move up to the full board.

Business Trading Game

Players: 2 to 6. You need: A trading board game set with property cards, play money and dice.

Roll the dice, travel around the board and buy the places you land on, then collect rent from other players. It teaches simple money skills and is a favorite family game in India. See the full business board game rules.

Math Race Board

Players: 2 to 4. You need: A homemade 50-square path, two dice and counters.

Roll two dice and add them to move. For older kids, multiply instead, or subtract the smaller number from the larger. Special squares can ask a quick sum. It is an easy educational board game you can make in ten minutes.

How to choose a board game for kids

• Under 6: pick pure luck games like snakes and ladders, or simple matching like dominoes, so anyone can win.
• Ages 6 to 9: add light strategy with checkers, mancala, Chinese checkers and carrom.
• Ages 8 to 10 and up: chess, backgammon, reversi and small board go reward real thinking and can be played for life.
• For learning: mancala builds counting, dominoes builds number matching, and a homemade math race board practices addition and multiplication.
• Make your own: almost every game here can be drawn on card, and a DIY board game is a great project for a school holiday.