Board Games for a 2 1/2 Year Old Toddler ??

With my daughter we did Candyland and we did the Memory with the card faced up. The other one we just got is HI HO Cherryo! Found it at Toys R us for $10 or there abouts. We also have Hungry Hungery Hippo but becareful with the balls being small, Cherryo has small parts also but we get it out and put it way in a gated off area that neither child is aloud into on a normal day.

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We had great success with Cranium Cariboo as a first game. It's simple, involves just A,B,C; 1,2,3; and red, yellow, green. It teaches the concept of taking turns, and yet it is primarily a cooperative game. Balls are hidden behind doors on the board that are identified by a letter, color and number. Each player draws a single card with a letter, color or number on his or turn and can open a door that corresponds to that. If there is a ball, you put it in the collection area, and when you get all six balls, the "treasure chest" opens (just pressure trigger from all of the balls being in place.) Our son *loved* it and asked for the ball game all the time.

We're huge gamers and were so eager for our kids to play, but it does take time. Be patient. Our oldest is six, and now we're up to including him in games that we played before his arrival, so it will come. :)

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It's not a board game, but I play Don't Break The Ice with my 4 and almost 2 yr old. It's a good one to teach basic game rules, and taking turns. I also have luck with the Memory games as some others have mentioned

Crainium Cariboo is the first game that we bought our daughter at about 2 1/2. She loves it! Target always has Crainium games on sale and they have a lot of games to challenge preschoolers. Stacy did a great job explaining the concept of the game. I am sure that your little one will find it as fun as ours does!

Candyland was the first game we played. Relaxe and let her play by her rules a little bit. The whole rules thing can be hard to get and sometimes you need to "improvise" on the rules to enjoy the game. We started about the age 3. Make sure she knows her colors and the difference between 1 and 2 to make it a little easier. If that doesn't work, or she already knows them then try putting it away for a few months and try again later. They mature so much in a few months it could be enough that you can enjoy the game much more. Good Luck!

My daughter just turned 3 in July so i'm anxious to see what other moms say. Right now the only games we play are memory and go-fish (both with "characters" so she knows who they are)... I hope this helps

Lucky Ducks is a really good one. My two year old loves it!

I also recomend Carboo -- my son always called it the treasure ball game and loved it. Mine also did well with hi ho cheryo at a young age, and my daughter LOVES pretty pretty princess. There is also this game I can't remember the name of, but it has wooden elephants you stack up on each other and who makes it fall is the looser, my kids love that. Candyland takes to long for a 2 1/2 year old, they loose interest.

I think simple memory games are good for small toddlers (you know the ones with flipping cards) or look around Toys R Us for games appropriate to the age . . . I'm not sure there are that many, actually!

This isn't a board game, but I just tried Ants in the Pants with our 2 and 3-year-olds. I was surprised that even my just-turned-2 year old could flip the ants into the pants!

Hi E.,

I sell Discovery Toys and we have a game called Roll & Play. It is for ages 18 months - preschool. It is not a board game but it encourages vocabulary & social development, verbal communication, creativity & following directions. You just roll the soft colorful cube, pick a card of the correct color and act out the activity. Everyone in the family can play. Check out my website www.discoverytoyslink.com/grananastoys or if you want I can send you a catalog. Let me know if you are interested.

L. Crowe
###-###-####
____@____.com

You could try a very abbreviated version of Memory, starting with only 4 or 6 cards (2 or 3 pairs) at first. Don't even follow the traditional rules at first, and give her like 3 tries before taking your turn. Once she gets the hang of it, start adding more cards.

If you're really crafty and have time, you can buy heavy card stock and make your own 'memory' game with pictures she recognizes (mommy, daddy, baby, pets, your house, etc.), and make them larger like flash cards.

My kids love Hullaballoo by Cranium. There are "cranium pads" that you scatter all over the floor that have different things on them like characters, colors and instruments. There is a thing that plays music and tells everyone to "hop to a purple cranium pad" or "crawl to a red cranium pad", etc. and then when the music stops, he says "are you standing on the piano? (for example) if so, you're the winner, now do a victory dance" It's educational because they have to listen to the instructions then find a certain color, instrument or character. It's a lot of fun, especially the more kids you have but we've played just with myself and my 2 daughters and had fun too. I babysit and the kids love getting this game out. Very few pieces too, just the pads and the main part that plays music, which is good. Easy for them to pick them up and put away.

We started with UNO in the spring... but we took out all of the "other cards." IMO, it was great for learning numbers and colors. And she LOVES yelling out "UNO!" My daughter just turned 3 and for her birthday she got Candyland... that's a favorite (of hers) as well.

You might want to try Chutes and Ladders. It will help her with learning how to count and with taking turns. I know they make it with the regular way, with Dora, and also Sesame Street Charters with it. She might find that fun. Good luck.