Board Games

Board games are versatile sources of pleasure for children, providing as they do, entertainment on rainy days as well as hours of fun on long lazy holiday evenings or on other occasions when family members get together. Here's our recommendation of some classic and more recently created ones together with links to where you can source those you like. As with all the pages of our site the content on this one will be refreshed and amended as inspiringyourkids.com develops and grows.

Trivial Pursuit For Kids

Specially designed edition of the hugely popular board based quiz game of Trivial Pursuit. Kids tackle multiple choice questions in various categories ranging from dinosaurs to virtual reality as they move around the board seeking to be first to fill their pie-like counters with wedges gained for successful answers. Available from Hamleys

Wooden Draughts

Lovely yet affordable set of this traditional game, the rules of which children of four and up can quickly master and then never run out of opponents to play, given that just about everyone learns how to. Many hours of straightforward fun are guaranteed, as with this game the youngster in your life will swiftly be able to play on an even footing with you and other adults as well as with their peers, and will take great delight in outwitting you when the time comes. Available from Amazon

Football Monopoly

With football at its top level increasingly being about dosh almost as much as the actual playing of the beautiful game, this football themed version of the mother of modern board games marries the dash for cash with glory on the pitch. Footie mad youngsters will enjoy the twists in this Football Monopoly game in which properties are superstar players, hotels are stadiums and Community Chest and Chance cards are home and away games. Available from Firebox

Ludo

One of the great family board games is given a lovely treatment through this solid pine edition measuring 22 cms square, which is available from The Gifted Goat who supply some of the most delightful material for children available on the internet. Once children master ludo they may well enjoy graduating onto parchisi or chausar, more sophisticated Indian games of which ludo was a simplified version when it was first manufactured in Britain in the late 19th century.

Risk

This great game of strategy places players in the role of respected military leaders each of whom must use tactics and forward planning to take over territories and continents in a bid to conquer the world. As the game progresses each player is faced with dilemnas about where best to deploy their infantry, cavalry and artillery as they seek to both defend their own empire and assimilate those of their adversaries. Available from Amazon

Snakes And Ladders & Ludo

For children of three and up this double-sided wooden board set from Chad Valley comes marked out and complete with dice and counters to allow them to play these two classic games with siblings, peers or adult family members and get in some counting practise along the way. Available from Woolworths Group plc

Alpha Animals

Great family fun and lots of opportunity for learning for children of six and up flow from this lively game. Players progress around a board each square of which is designated by a letter of the alphabet. At each turn they are challenged to name a type of animal that begins with the letter of the square they are on. With the animal naming challenge divided into various categories (fish; birds; mammals; insects; crustaceans; amphibians or reptiles) the degree of difficulty varies from turn to turn, meaning it should maintain the interests of older kids as well as appealing to younger ones. Available from Amazon

Wildlife

Suitable for children of eight and over, players move around the board by answering questions concerning wildlife featured in over 200 clips contained in the two DVDs provided. Some answers kids will know, others they can guess at, but what is sure is that players will get to know more about a wide range of animals as the game progresses. Available from Prezzy Box

Egyptians

New board game for all the family set in ancient Egypt involving players competing with each other to become the ruling pharaoh. Available from BrightMinds

Cluedo

Children of eight and up will enjoy using their powers of deduction as they compete against friends or family members to be first to work out 'who done it' in this truly great murder, mystery solving game. There are plenty of clues and plenty of potential murder weapons too! Available from Woolworths Group plc