Board games are such an amazing way to engage with your child and help them develop tons of useful skills from logic, strategy, problem-solving... as well as entertain them. And let’s be honest, I am not a big fan of make-believe play time so I’d rather engage my 5 year old son with one of the following games:

1. Outfoxed: this is an adorable version of Cluedo for small kids. A fox has stolen a pot pie and you must find out which fox before it escapes in the foxhole. It combines cooperation and deduction in a non-competitive way. Beautiful design and high quality. Love it!

2. My First Carcassonne: the simplified version of Carcassonne (for adults). A fun tile placement game from 4 years old. Great as a first board game learning the notions of taking turns, winning/losing, and very quick to learn!

3. Dragomino: very similar to its parent game, Kingdomino. It involves domino tiles, matching landscape but more importantly, cute dragon eggs! From 5 years old, as the child grows older you can experiment variants with more strategy. It has a beautiful artwork, simple rules and is quick to play.

4. Camelot Jr: I fell in love with that game and bought it for my son when he was 3 years old (while recommended age is +4). Why you ask? This a beautiful 3D wood puzzle with two lovely characters, a princess and a knight - which already implies endless playing time. There are tons of challenges (48) to solve with 4 different levels so it’s a game that grows with your child, developing logic and spatial reasoning skills.

5. Jungle bingo: this is NOT fun for adults, god no. But this one has the advantage to be about animals (not just numbers) and it’s nice to play with other kids, including little rewards (sweets or you could also make up/draw medals or points).

Other games: Memory is a classic that never gets old, but I’d recommend to have a few variants. Just be prepared, soon enough, you won’t be winning anymore. We also love to play card games (using big cards or normal ones) and play the old maid, war or stealing bundles.