In the world of ipads and apps etc I still think some board games have been worth the initial investment and have a place even in the digital world. One of them is Mosaic, which my mum has bought me and my brother when we were kids.
It has a great box, almost like a puzzle itself for toddlers, with thick plastic geometric shapes in red, blue, green and yellow, and simple figures on thick paper. Some of the easier papers instruct you first to pick all the pieces you need for the picture, some have no assistance.
It says it is for kids 3 years and older but obviously younger ones can play with it too, in there own way. The pics illustrate the work of my 2 yo. I don’t think it matters if kids play “correctly” with games; in this game, when playing together it is a nice way to spend time together, you end up talking/ teaching shapes and colours, kids train their fine motorics and explore how shapes are created. They have fun, and I find it fascinating to see their games and playing skills develop! Obviously one would have to be careful with the smallest bits if the child is still putting things in their mouths though.
What kind of thoughts do you have on “traditional” games and apps? Do you have some rules to them? At what age have you introduced board games or apps to them? Please feel free to share your favourite apps and/ or board games for kids in the comments!
Free But Fun 
[…] a few before like dancing with letters, learning numbers with the most simple DIY dice game and Mosaic, building with geometrical shapes. An addition to this list is playing with our fridge magnets for writing and reading. Especially my […]
Thanks to this post we invested in something similar here in Japan 幾何マグネ and the kids (4,3 and 1yo) love it. Freebutfun always has great suggestions. 🙂
So does Elle :), take a look at her blog for great tips on table top games for kids. Her post made me go and by domino to start off with 🙂
🙂
I love these. We have similar ones call tangram but yours look better and challenging. Got to scout around to see if here sells them.
What are the favourite games in your house?
Snake and ladder, Othello, Monopoly 🙂
Good oldies, never out of date
Very cool my boys love board games esp. Monopoly as they always bet me! Lego is also a big winner!
My brother used to love to play monopoly too, especially with me; somehow I always ended up in jail and was supposed to pay ao much that he won. Do I need to tell he’s older and I couldn’t read? 🙂
Legos are great! They last for so long, and I enjoy building stuff with the kids too!
Scrabble – the sooner the better! 🙂
Scrabble is great!!
I wish I could find one of those for my kids! I used to love playing with that!! I probably would now too ha ha
You would, I do 😀 I think it is a Ravensbrück, any retailers in your home town?
Not likely. But I am going to scour Ebay and see what I can find!
Ebay is often helpful! Hope you get lucky!
I love when Mr. T comes out with a game or deck of cards in his hands and wants to play – with me! You are right that it is such quality time to spend with the kids and I love that mine still wants to spend time and play with me!
Mr T sounds like the perfect son, offering some quality time to his mom 🙂 Now when you mention it, games would be a good way of doing something together pretty much in all ages, huh? I look forward to mine being so old that a deck of card will do on trips!
I would love to get one of those for z 🙂