Children's Games

We have had to look again at our selection for younger children, with several favourites going out of print. For the under 6's we still have Barnyard Critters, Dingo and Stork's Nest, now joined by By Golly, a memory game with added chickens, for children 5+. The Gamewright games have always been popular with the 6-10 age group, and of course many adult games are suitable for anyone from the age of 8. We know of one girl who was beating her father at Carcassonne at the age of 4! Labyrinth is good for bright 6 year olds and adults alike. Frank's Zoo is a good adult card game which is also excellent for teaching children basic card-play.

Animals in general are good at attracting children's attention; Penguin Pile-up is also our favourite manual dexterity game, and Safari Rush Hour is our favourite puzzle. It is also good at keeping toddlers out of mischief as they simply play with the animals. Mancala goes down very well with all age groups, and Mancala for Kids uses animal shapes instead of the traditional stones or seeds. Tortuga is a very attractive draughts variant which uses wooden turtles for pieces. The Amazing Mammoth Hunt looks rather fun too. Also have a look at Monkey Dash, Wildlife Rescue, and the Safari Pals card game is an ideal stocking filler.

Children are also usually very attracted to monsters; It's Alive is a popular quick game in our group, and went down very well with pair of under-10's who joined us one evening. I was not sure whether the younger one would cope with the simple buy-or-auction financial system, showing how little I know the modern child. In no time at all the money was all down the young end of the table, the children came first and second...