Brain Games for Kids

There are many toys and games that can be great brain boosting ways for kids to spend their time. Usually the simpler the toy and the less it can do, the better it is for your brain.

Think of an old-school box of legos without directions. Your kiddo will have to plan, initiate a task, manage their time, organize their space, problem solve if their creation doesn’t work out, be flexible if they need to use different colors or change their plan.

Most often it is the simplest toys that have the greatest capacity to build our kids brain!

Classic Lego Kits

Classic lego kits are awesome for brain building. When there are no instructions telling them exactly what to do, kids have to dream, plan, and build their own creations, being flexible along the way as they alter their design. This small kit is great for a quick fix or get the large set for building a mega brain.

While these kits have ideas included – and there are great Lego Idea books for inspiration – your kids will really be engaging their brain as they create to their hearts content.

For years we had a cute container filled with random legos that came with us to restaurants – great screen free way to engage kids while you enjoy your meal.

Fort building Set

Fort building is a classic brain booster –whether your kids use all of your sofa cusions and blankets or they work in a fort building kit, like Crazy Forts.

Just think of the engineering skills and problem solving skills that are required to build a fort sturdy enough to play in. Crazy Forts kits offer endless possibilities for creating structures for kid or pets or adults!

Crazy Forts also have a MEGA kit which is a must for big families or kids who just love to build.

Memory Matching Game

Another classic game (Hey, these stay around for a really good reason!) that builds your kids brain by boosting memory and visual perception skills.

If you have never had the pleasure of playing memory, all the cards are turned face down and players take turns flipping over two cards. If they match, you get to keep them and try again. The skill is remembering where the cards are so you can make matches faster than your opponent and snag the most cards.

There are so many sets out there – you can find one that appeals to your kid’s interests – baby animals, Super Mario, or pizza!

Jigsaw Puzzles

Spending time working on a jigsaw puzzle can improve focus, concentration, planning skills, spatial awareness, and frustration tolerance. Puzzles are a fantastic way to spend time together, too!!

Start with smaller puzzles, like this 100 piece puzzle and work up to 300 or 500 pieces. Puzzles are also a great way to learn other skills, like states and capitals or countries around the world.

You can also find puzzles at thrift stores – count the pieces before yoo purchase!

Wooden Blocks and Road Tape

This is a good example of a simple toy that can grow your kid’s brain in so many ways. With a variety of wooden blocks and road tape, your kid can create a different city scape each time.

A starter set of blocks and a roll or two of tape (this stuff is like painters tape, it sticks but doesn’t ruin surfaces.) can keep your kiddo busy for hours and hours. Don’t forget the railroad tape, too!

The benefits for your kid’s brain are many: building creativity, planning skills, problem solving, and flexibility.

Magna Tiles Mini Set

You probably are already familiar with Magna Tiles – an awesome building toy for pretty much any kid. Now they have a mini version which is just as awesome and can travel with you, too.

This mini version has 26 tiles and fits into an 8 by 4″ tin. It’s perfect for waiting rooms and restaurants, hotel rooms, plane rides, etc.

You can also get a 55 piece set if you have a few kids who will be playing with it at the same time.

Spirograph Design Tool

Spirograph is a great way to build creativity and an experimental nature, as kids create complex geometrical figures and combinations. Kids gain confidence as they are able to create more and more complex designs. Check out the 50th anniversary set.

This is a great tool for both independent play and small group play. Kids need relatively little space to play with a Spirograph, making this great for small spaces or travel.

Mancala

This simple game which originated in Africa, can require some pretty complicated strategy. Like chess, Mancala, requires you to think ahead a few steps and develop your own strategy. Also great for counting and waiting your turn!

Mancala is a great family game, as even young players can outsmart more experienced ones. The game board folds for easy travel and storage.

Duncan Yo-Yo

Yo-Yo’s have been making our list of brain games for kids, for years! It takes great focus and attention to learn how to use a yo-yo. Also great perseverance and resilience are needed to practice and get pretty good at using a yo-yo.

As kids get better and better, it builds their confidence, too! Duncan has been around for 60 plus years and makes a great yo-yo.

Stay Alive

A new version of an old classic, Stay Alive is a great Brain game for kids and adults, alike! Levers are pushed, balls fall below as you try to strategically keep your marbles on the surface.

Like chess there is a lot of planning ahead, strategic thinking and also some trial and error shown during a round of this game.

Stay Alive is a great game to play with all ages and can take a relatively short time to complete a round – perfect for family game night.

Plus Plus

This could be a great building toy for someone who’d like to branch out from Legos. Plus Plus building “bricks” are a relatively new product on the market and they are a favorite in the STEM world.

Playing with Plus Plus enhances fine motor skills, builds creativitiy and spatial reasoning. They even have a BIG version for little hands!

Plus Plus is an open ended toys that lets you create whatever your imagination can dream up. Players have to develop patience as they work thru the creations they’d like to build.

The Off Bits Kits

The Off Bits Kits are cool mini kits filled with real nuts and bolts and other cool pieces for your child to build all sorts of fun animals, insects, robots and whatever they can imagine.These DIY engineering toys and building kits for kids require analysis and strategic thinking, all the while working with real hardware parts.

Your kids can create limitless designs or follow the detailed instructions that come with each kit. There are several themes to the kits, like bugs and vehicles and fun colorful robots!

Find more Brain games in my Amazon store.