Top 3 Sneaky Learning Games

My eldest granddaughter has been playing games from the time she was about four. She must have learned it from her mom, who got exposed to lots of games growing up. The first really strategic game we played was all about putting numbers in order from high to low and making meaningful decisions.

Lucky Numbers is played on a 4 x 4 board and you start with four random tiles numbered between 1 and 20. Each turn you can draw a face down tile, or take one that has been discarded by another player face up. Your goal is to fill the board, but a tile must be higher in value than any tile directly above it or to its immediate left and lower in value than any tile directly below it or to its immediate right. The first person to fill their board wins.

Ordering the tiles is a great skill for young minds. Players have to decide to keep a tile or toss it, while following the rules. Fun for all ages, and a tremendous learning opportunity. 

Players: 1-4 (the game comes with a collection of solo player challenges too)

Time: 20 Min

Ages: 6+

Buy it here

No kid likes losing. As a parent you are often faced with the dilemma of whether or not to just let them win so they have a good time, but what kind of lesson is that? In the last several years, a whole new type of board game has become popular - the cooperative game. Now you can play with the youngsters together and if you win, you do it together, and if you lose you all go down as a team. 

My recommendation here is Castle Panic. In this fantasy-themed cooperative game, players are defending the castle against an approaching army of goblins, and orcs. The great education part is that you MUST play together or you will always lose. Players may trade cards, and will always have to strategize a turn or two in advance if they want to win. Each round a player can play cards to damage or slay the oncoming horde, or repair the castle. They can trade a card to another player, and need to if they want to succeed. The random draw of additional enemies each turn keeps tension high in this one.

The biggest benefit of Castle Panic is the teamwork and sharing that the game requires. It can occasionally suffer from “alpha player syndrome”, or one player trying to take over and tell everyone else what to do, but parents can help mitigate that (just don’t let it be you).

Players: 1-6

Time: 45 Min

Ages: 8+

Buy it here

Don’t play Scrabble with young kids! In fact, Scrabble isn’t fun at all unless everyone has basically the same vocabulary. But learning vocabulary and spelling while playing a board game isn't a bad thing, right? As long as you can make it fun and everyone has a chance to win.

Try this one: Word on the Street. I am always surprised that more people haven’t heard of this gem. In this word game (best played in two teams), there are 17 consonant tiles in the middle of a street-like board placed between the players. On either side are two traffic lanes. Teams take turns coming up with a word based on a topic from a deck of cards. Something like “types of fruits” or some such. Then a timer is started, and they must settle on a word. For every consonant in the word, you move a letter tile one lane toward your side of the board. If the letter is repeated, then you get to move it two lanes. If you can pull the letter all the way off your side, you score that letter and the first team to score 8 letters wins.

The tremendous education opportunity here is when the other team is about to score the “L” and “R”, and your topic is something like “a pizza topping”. Good luck thinking of a word in time that drags those letters back and keeps them from scoring. Loads of fun, and you work as a team so older adults and youth can help younger children.

Players: 2-? (it says up to 10 on the box, but any number works in two teams)

Time: 20 Min

Ages: 8+

Buy it here

P.S. The company that publishes this one is called Educational Insights (just don't let the kids know that they are learning and they will love it).