Best Board Games for 4-Year-Olds

Is there a better gift than a board game? With so many different types of unique board games for 4-year-olds out there, parents and their little ones don’t have to suffer through yet another round of Candyland. 

These games are great for helping develop cognitive skills all while still being fun for kids and parents alike. We’ve compiled a list of the top 20 best board games for 4-year-olds and Preschool Games to play! 

Let’s jump into these educational and fun games!

Our Top Picks for Best Board Games for 4-Year-Olds

In a hurry? Take a quick peek at the best games for 4 year olds to play.

09/26/2023 05:00 am GMT

YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY (BEST GAMES BY AGE GROUP): Toddler & Preschool | Kindergarten | 2-Year-Old | 3-Year-Old | 4-Year-Old | 5-Year-Old | 5-6-Year-Old | 7-Year-Old | 8-Year-Old | 9-Year-Old | 10-Year-Old | 11-12-Year-Old | Teens & Teenagers

Games for 4-Year-Olds

Snail’s Pace Race

Players: 2–6
Playing time: 10min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.01/5

Guess the place to win the race!

With a fast-playing time and instructions that are easy to understand, Snail’s Pace Race is perfect for the 4-year-old age group.

Snail Pace Race is a cooperative non-competitive game that’s perfect for early learning games. Players have to move six colorful game pieces all along a path. The snails race ahead when players roll the dice to move the snail forward. Easy peasy!

What we liked

Snail’s Pace Race introduces children to some basic board game rules. Taking turns, patience, and dice rolling are all useful skills to learn in the board game world.

What could be better

This game simply involves rolling dice with not a whole lot of choices to make.

This is a wonderful game for 4-year-olds as they can practice counting and matching colors as well as developing memory and social skills. A perfect first board game!

My First Castle Panic

Players: 1–4
Playing time: 20min
Ages: 4+
Complexity: 1.09/5

My First Castle Panic is a fairly intuitive game that is simple to learn! Kids must work together to catch the monsters and protect their castle. With picture cards and a bright colorful board, children are introduced to simple board game mechanics all while being entertained.

What we liked

My First Castle Panic helps develop simple strategy skills all while capturing the monsters to toss into your very own dungeon. For kids with board game enthusiasts for parents, this children’s version will allow for your kids to be a part of the fun, while learning skills like matching shapes and colors. 

What could be better

There’s a bit of waiting between turns and with only 1 card in your hand at all times, there’s very little to think about strategically.

If you’re a fan of Castle Panic, make it a family affair with My First Castle Panic!

Hisss

Players: 2-5
Playing time: 15min
Ages: 4+
Complexity: 1.02/5

Hisss is a colorful snake-building card game. Players match colors and make snakes from heads to tails. There are loads of different types to make, from long to short and even rainbow snakes. When you’ve finished your snake you can add it to your snake pit. If you have the most snakes, you win! 

What we liked

Hisss teaches children pattern-building and tile placement skills, all in an easy-to-learn environment! Little ones will love the colors and matching components making it a fun game for a young family to play! It allows building ‘big snakes’ while still keeping the playing time moving swiftly.

What could be better

Hisss is more of a color-matching exercise than a board game, but still can be entertaining for the little ones.

Hisss is a great educational game that will keep 4-year-olds entertained while practicing numerous cognitive skills!

Wildcraft: An Herbal Adventure Game

Players: 1-4
Playing time: 40-60min
Ages: 4+
Complexity: 1.11/5

Educational fun for the whole family! Wildcraft will teach your little ones all about herbal plant uses in first-aid situations. Playground medics in the making?

A herbal adventure game, Wildcraft is an educational game that teaches young kids about herbal and medicinal plants. Players collect cards and match the trouble cards with their corresponding plant cards.

What we liked

Wildcraft requires no reading or strategy skills, making it a great introductory game with a unique concept and content for young kids. With simple rules, a cooperative play, little players will learn all about edible and herbal plants while being introduced to the world of board games!

What could be better

While very educational, there really is no strategy to the game. It’s basically a variant of The Game of the Goose.

A big bonus, Wildcraft is also toxin-free and environmentally friendly!

The Ladybug Game

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 20min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.05/5

A new adventure every time you play!

Feed ants, escape the praying mantis, and get your ladybug safely home in the Ladybug Game. Designed for interactive play between children and parents, this colorful game encourages the entire family to play together. 

What we liked

The Ladybug Game helps introduce children to basic math concepts as they can learn to add and subtract in the game. Although there is a simple math element, this game has adorable characters and uses a clever combination of colors, numbers, words, and symbols to help little players to enjoy playing!

What could be better

The game tends to go on longer than is necessary, which could be boring for kids after awhile.

Encounter adventure, challenges, and colorful characters on your journey to ladybug safety!

Hoot Owl, Hoot!

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 15min
Ages: 4+
Complexity: 1.06/5

The sun is coming up and the owls need to get back home. Can all the players work together to get them home? If the owls get home before sunrise, every player wins! 

What we liked

Hoot Owl Hoot! Is a cooperative, pattern recognition game. Focusing on teamwork is one of the main wonderful aspects of this immensely popular game. Learning skills like creative problem-solving, shared decision-making skills as well as developing a sense of community are added benefits!

What could be better

The game components aren’t the best, but on the plus side, it is made out of recycled cardboard.

Hoot Owl, Hoot! does not require reading or number skills which helps to make it a great stress-free game to play!

Hi Ho! Cherry-O 

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 10min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.02/5

Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a very old game, first released in the 1960s. But with its new updated design and play options, it’ll keep the family entertained for hours!

What we liked

Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a classic beginner game in which young children can have a blast all while learning how to count and taking turns. Children ‘pick fruit’ and fill their buckets with the help of a spinner mechanism. 

What could be better

While a classic, Hi-Ho Cherry O is an older game (1960) and doesn’t offer as many learning opportunities as more modern children’s games do.

If you are looking for an introductory math game, you couldn’t ‘pick’ a better game!

Snug as a Bug in a Rug

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 15min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.00/5

A counting, colors, and shapes game! Snug as a Bug in a Rug is a fun introduction game in which players work together to beat the stinkbugs. All the colorful bugs will need your help to get them to safety. Can you get the bugs all snug before the stink bugs come?

What we liked

This game focuses on teaching basic pattern recognition skills in a cooperative setting. It includes brilliant basic educational skills like counting, matching, and practicing the difference between ‘big and little’.

What could be better

While the game offers multiple difficulty levels that allow it to grow with your kids, the end of the game is rather anticlimactic.

Snug as a Bug in a Rug also has a fun spinner component that always gets little kids excited!

Sleeping Queens

Players: 2-5
Playing time: 20min
Ages: 8+ (with variants for younger children)
Complexity: 1.06/5

A royally rousing card game, get your kids loving card games with Sleeping Queens!

The queens have been put under a spell! Can you wake up the Pancake Queen and her closest friends?

What we liked

Sleeping Queens helps kids learn math as well as creativity and imagination. With dragons, unicorns, and a little addition, brave little players can protect themselves from evil knights and potions. 

What could be better

There is a little bit of math involved (which could be a good thing!) but might trip up some younger players. It also is predominantly luck-based.

Sleeping Queens is easy to learn and a great game to introduce simple math skills in a fun environment!

Pete the Cat the Missing Cupcakes Game

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 15min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.00/5

Another fun addition to the Pete the Cat series, the Missing Cupcakes Game introduces children to the game of luck, memory, and cooperation. In this game, players have to work together to get all the missing cupcakes back from the grumpy toad.

What we liked

The Missing Cupcakes Game is a really fun and interactive game as kids sing songs, act out physical activities, as well as identify some favorite foods and animals. A combination of physical activity and memory skills makes the Missing Cupcake Game perfect for active kids.

What could be better

It’s not the most well-produced game as far as component quality goes.

There’s a luck component so the outcome can be different every time. Improve imagination skills and see kids express themselves without the need for words with this cute, creative game.

Lucky Ducks

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 10min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.00/5

The wacky, quacky, color-matching game. Lucky Ducks is a memory and matching game that moves while players try to find a match. With simply formatted cards, kids can play independently all while reinforcing key developmental skills like color-matching and memory.

The game comes with an adorable circular pond and players take turns picking up ducks and looking at their colors and shapes on the bottom. Match as many ducks as you can and win!

What we liked

The Lucky Ducks game really has it all with an easy setup and important skill development, all while promoting shape and color recognition. An added bonus is the little ducks are adorable!

What could be better

The game’s mechanism is quite noisy and combined with the constant quacking, can get old for some parents.

Soggy Doggy

Players: 2-4 
Playing time: 10min
Ages: 4+
Complexity: 1.00/5

The showering, shaking, wet doggy game!

Soggy Doggy is an action-packed board game of bath time fun. Take turns to race around the board giving a soggy doggy a bath. But be careful, he loves to shake himself dry! Make it around the bathtub but don’t get soaked or you’ll be sent back to the start.

What we liked

With Soggy Doggy, children learn dice rolling and moving pieces around the game board. The game comes with an adorable bathtub and a soggy doggy in it that actually gets wet. This is a cute and interactive game for beginner board gamers.

What could be better

The game is a bit loud, which can get annoying after awhile. Also, it can be startling for some kids at points.

Dinosaur Escape

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 20mins
Ages: 4+
Complexity: 1.00/5

Oh no! The volcano is rumbling and the dinosaur friends are lost in the ferns. Can you help them escape? With a little memory, luck, and logic, you can get them to safety!

Dinosaur Escape Game encourages kids to work together by using their memory and sharing their tokens to save the dinos.

What we liked

This game has many added benefits like shared decision-making, creative problem-solving, and helping to develop a sense of community in a stress-free environment. Is a great game to socialize with children in school or playgroups.

What could be better

The randomness might frustrate more advanced players who are attempting to develop strategy.

Work together, uncover matching dinosaurs, and get them to safety before the volcano erupts!

Outfoxed!

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 20min
Ages: 5+
Complexity: 1.12/5

Mrs. Plumbert’s pot pie is missing! It’s a chicken chase to crack the case!

Think you’ve got the mind of a detective? Outfoxed! Is an introduction to the classic whodunit genre. With a cooperative element, players have to work together to catch the culprit — all with evidence, of course. Move quickly because there’s a sly fox that is high-tailing it out of town. Best catch this guilty fox before he leaves.

What we liked

Outfoxed! helps to develop deduction skills in a cooperative environment. Give this popular game a try and have fun finding clues! Will you become the ultimate detective or be outfoxed?

What could be better

Outfoxed boils down to a dice-rolling game that can be fun for certain children, but younger ones might need to be encouraged a bit more to become invested.

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 15min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.05/5

There’s a reason why this is the best-selling preschool game for five years running.

The squirrels are hungry and they need your help! Can you find their acorns? This game is designed to teach young kids about colors but has many added skills too. Match the acorns and place them on your log, the player first to fill their log wins. But some strategies come in too. With a spin, you can pick colors, and steal or lose an acorn.

What we liked

The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game introduces so many educational and fine motor skills. Color matching, turn-taking, and even strategic thinking are all included in this game of strategy for sneaky squirrels!

What could be better

If played by the rules, the wind can blow and punish players by destroying all their progress, which can be frustrating for young ones.

The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game engages children and keeps them entertained all while learning and growing.

Sequence for Kids

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 20min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.10/5

Pick an animal card from your hand and place your chip on the corresponding animal on the game board. But with wild cards that add excitement as well as unicorn and dragon cards that change up the game. Kids have fun and are entertained by the change in play!

What we liked

A classic game of Sequence made just for kids! Sequence for Kids has fun and easy gameplay that doesn’t require reading. This game introduces strategy and logical thinking skills.

What could be better

The play time can drag on a bit for kids with shorter attention spans, but you can always remove the unicorn and the dragon to make it slightly easier.

Sequence for Kids is a great strategy introduction game!

Go Away Monster

Players: 2-4
Playing time: 10min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.00/5

The game where little kids get rid of the monsters for good! 

Do you have too many monsters? Well with Go Away Monster, you just need to reach into the bag and find the pieces that fit your bedroom game board. If you get a monster, you take charge by tossing it into the monster pit! 

What we liked

A very cute game that encourages confidence as well as teaches shape recognition, cooperation, and best of all, mastering fear of pesky nighttime monsters! Go Away Monster teaches children to take turns all while simply pulling pieces out of a drawstring bag, making it a perfectly cute game for young children.

What could be better

There’s not a whole lot of game here for parents to enjoy, even a basic strategy, but kids definitely keep asking for it!

Stack Up!

Players: 2-6
Playing time: 15min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.00/5

Stack Up! is yet another Peaceable Kingdom award-winning preschool game. 

In this game, children work together to stack up 12 blocks before the stack smasher topples it all over. With easy gameplay, players spin a color and stack a block. As easy as that, yet there are some added rules for more advanced players.

What we liked

Stack Up! is a wonderful introductory game in which kids can learn counting, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination with this cooperative block game.

What could be better

With added tricky tasks like stacking with one eye closed the game becomes more of a challenge and helps children develop their skills through three different game levels. Although, this usually ends with the blocks all tumbling down…

This game has tremendous replay value and with three different levels, your kids can grow with the game!

Stack Up!

Animal Upon Animal

Players: 2-6
Playing time: 15min
Ages: 4+
Complexity: 1.04/5

Another stacking-style game, Animal Upon Animal is a classic wooden stacking game for the whole family to play during game night. Players race each other to be the first to place all the wooden animals on the animal pile. 

What we liked

This game helps to develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills as well as teach about lots of different types of animals. Each animal is a different color which also helps make it easier for younger players.

What could be better

It’s really more of a dexterity activity than a game and can get old quickly for parents and older siblings.

With a higher number of players that can join in on the fun, Animal Upon Animal is a wonderful game for a group of young learners or a larger family. Also, If your children are animal lovers, this is a great addition to family game night and will keep little ones learning and laughing as they try to stack the animals as high as they can!

Story Time Chess

Players: 2
Playing time: 10min
Ages: 3+
Complexity: 1.33/5

Chess is a game that’s been around for ages. It has been shown to be immensely beneficial for developing young minds. Although chess can be difficult to teach young children, Story Time Chess sure can help!

What we liked

Story Time Chess makes the game of chess come alive! Engaging young players through characters and fantastic stories, this game weaves the rules and strategy of chess through exciting stories. With engaging stories for each piece, chess can be introduced in a creative and fun way!

What could be better

As I writer myself, I found the stories to be a bit boring. While they could have been more interesting, they do help kids learn (and remember) the movement of chess pieces.

Wrap-Up

Frequent play for young children has been shown to be beneficial both educationally and socially. It can help build social skills, and cognitive skills and improve emotional well-being. Get your little ones into board games and reap the benefits all while in a non-stressful, fun environment.

We hope you enjoyed our list of the best board games for 4-year-olds. We’re sure you’ll find the perfect game here for your little one to learn, laugh, and play together.

Have you tried any of the games on this list? Do you have any other favorites that we missed? We’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment below!

Check out our best educational board games video below, which features games for Kids of all ages.