By the Southern Schoolhouse
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Growing up, many of us played classics like Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly, and Scrabble. While those games are timeless favorites, sometimes we want something fresh games that truly spark excitement and bring the family together. In this article, I’m excited to share some fantastic reading and math board games that are not only educational but also a blast for everyone to play.
Reading and Math
ZINGO! is for younger kids but it is a fast-paced bingo-style game that helps kids build early reading and math skills. With colorful, easy-to-handle tiles and simple rules, it’s perfect for young learners to practice sight words, numbers, and matching.
Math Games
Sum Swamp is a board game designed to help kids practice basic addition and subtraction skills. Players navigate through a swamp by rolling dice and solving simple math problems along the way. It’s perfect for early learners building confidence with numbers.
Prime Club is for older elementary that helps players explore multiplication, division, and number patterns. Using a board and dice, players advance by calculating prime factors and strategic moves. It’s engaging for older kids and adults who want to sharpen their math skills in a fun way.
Math Dice and there is even a Math Dice Jr. depending on the age of your kids. Math Dice is for probably 8 and up but a mental math game where players roll dice and use addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division to reach target numbers. It encourages flexible thinking and number sense through fun, quick rounds.
Pizza Fraction Fun is a hands-on board game that helps kids learn fractions using pizza slices! Players match, compare, and add fractions as they build pizzas with different toppings. It’s a fun and visual way to understand halves, thirds, fourths, and more. Great for ages 6 to 10.
Qwirkle is a colorful tile-matching game where players build lines based on shapes and colors—like a mix of dominoes and Sudoku. It boosts strategic thinking, pattern recognition, and counting, making it fun and educational for the whole family. Great for ages 6 and up!
For Uno Flip / Uno Attack players match colors and numbers. Uno Flip adds a double-sided deck with tougher rules, while Uno Attack has a card-launching machine. Great for building number sense and quick thinking. Fun for ages 7 and up!
Reading Games
Bananagrams is a word game where players race to build their own crossword-style grids using letter tiles. There’s no board, no turns, just quick thinking and creativity. It’s perfect for building spelling, vocabulary, and flexible word skills. Great for ages 7 and up!
Scrabble Junior has two levels of play. One side of the board helps younger kids match letters to form words, while the other lets older kids build their own. It’s perfect for growing readers and makes spelling fun! Ages 5-8.
Word on the Street Junior is a team-based game where players race to think of words that fit fun categories, like “things at the beach” or “something round.” With each word, you pull letter tiles closer to your side of the board. It’s perfect for building vocabulary, spelling, and quick thinking! Great for ages 7 and up.
Letter Slide (Ages 4–7)
A hands-on game where kids slide letter tiles to build simple words. Great for practicing phonics, spelling, and beginning reading skills—all in a fun, interactive way!
Dabble (Ages 10+)
A word game where players race to create five words using 20 letter tiles, word each of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 letters. It challenges vocabulary, spelling, and quick thinking, making it a fun brain workout for older kids and adults!
