Last week I talked about some “old school” board games you can play with your little ones ages 3-6. This week I wanted to talk about games that are great for ages 6-10.

1. Guess Who-By asking yes/no questions-each player has to eliminate possibilities until they guess the person that their partner is holding. I find that this game teaches kids how to ask questions, how to think I’m a different way and how to eliminate possibilities.

2. Connect Four-this adaptation of tic tac toe has been a favorite for years. It really teaches kids how to strategize and play defensively instead of just thinking about how they are going to win. In the clinic I often give the kids one checker for each item they can name in a category or a checker for each word they say correctly using their speech sound. When they have earned all of the checkers then we play as normal.

3. Sorry-the object of this game is to get all of your pawns across the board to the home zone. Many of my sessions are only 30 min so we don’t play this one too often-but it is great for a long afternoon. It’s not as long as monopoly but it does take a while.

4. Jenga-this game of blocks is an open way to practice any skill. I usually have my older ones answer a vocabulary question or say a speech sound before have them take their turn. Kids love to see how high they can get the tower before it falls.

I hope these games give you a way to spend time with your kids while teaching them a thing or two!