Is your preschooler getting tired of playing Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders?  Are you?

There will come a time when you and your preschool aged children can’t seem to find a game to play.  They will tell you that Candy Land is a baby game yet they cannot seem to find the patience to sit through an entire game of Sorry.

This is when it is time to search out games that are a little more advanced, yet not too time consuming.  At our house we recently found success with two fun games: Guess Who and Operation.  Our seven year old had received these games for Christmas and his birthday.  The recommended age on the box says for ages 6+ but our three year old is able to play both of them (with a few modifications).

Idea of the Day:

Try Guess Who and Operation if you are looking for new games at your house.

Helpful Tips for playing with preschoolers:

Operation:

- If you have smaller children, this game does have small pieces that a child could easily swallow!

- The newer version has different settings for beginners to experienced players.  This helps to allow a younger child to play.

- This game is great for building fine motor skills.  Learning to use the tweezers helps build finger, hand and wrist muscles.

- Do remember as a child playing Operation and getting a shock when it touched the sides?  The new version doesn’t do that anymore.  Not sure if children were afraid of this feature or if Milton Bradley received too many complaints.

Guess Who:

- Go through the pictures with your child to point out differences: glasses, hat, blond hair, etc.

- Teach your children what it means to have facial hair.

- Explain that they have to ask a “yes or no” question.

- Have your child play a practice game with you to see how to play.  It usually only takes one or two practice games before they understand the concept.