Board game for toddler that adults will enjoy too

[GingerPCatt]

I want to start a family tradition of getting a board or card game each Christmas Eve for the family to play. I need something that might interest a toddler but that won't make DH and I want to kill ourselves. DS loves fire engines, cars, and Peppa. Any recommendations?

The Orchard Toys games are really well made and quite enjoyable. See here

HOw old?

Frustration is a good starter game.

You can't beat good old fashioned Snakes and Ladders IMO

You can get 3d ones, giant ones, character ones.

Toys R Us would be a great place to start looking

He'll be 2.5 at Christmas.

Ds has just got one for his birthday "monkey madness" where you balance the monkeys from a tree. There's a dice to roll to say how many go on at once.. A bit like buckaroo... He seems o be getting the hang of it, although we will have to work on the turn-taking

Dh and I have had a couple of games too

Lego shave a sheep, or another vote for snakes & ladders. Or, animal dominoes used to go down well in our house.

Tops&tails
Ker plunk
Snakes and ladders
Operation
Traffic jam
Hungry hippos

We got Monkey Bingo recently and we all love it (DCs are 4 & 2).

A decent quality (ie thick card not like playing cards, much better for toddler hands) memory game? Could get character ones or something a bit more generic like animals.

Agree with orchard toys, their games are lovely and there are some really simple ones like farm lotto and scaredy cat.

2.5 might be a bit young as it requires a lot of patience/fine motor skills but we all love Animal Upon Animal which was recommended on here last year.

To be honest I think 2 1/2 is too young for board games..they just don't get it, in my experience. But I'd second the recommendation for Orchard games once he is big enough....they really are excellent.

Beetle drive? We played that one Christmas when dd2 was a similar age, the adults got very competitive and a bit silly but was lots of fun.

Or along the same lines of older games how about Mousie Mousie says 6+ but isn't very complicated and am sure I played this much younger than 6 www.amazon.co.uk/Rocket-Games-Mousie-Retro-Board/dp/B00525YV1W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1382269780&sr=8-2&keywords=mousie+mousie

I picked up Fireman Sam snakes and ladders for £1.99 in home bargains a few days ago, it says 3+ but pretty sure my DS will be fine with it at Christmas when he will be 2.9 - for the price it's no loss if he doesn't get it, and it looks a lot more expensive!

It's this one

Snakes and ladders is hard to beat. Dd 10 still loves it

Orchard Toys' "Tummy Ache" is a good giggle for everyone

Orchard Games Doodles is good for 2 year olds.

Tummy Ache and Greedy Gorillas from Orchard are brilliant, but the first one my DS really loved was their Wild World Lotto. All are fairly tolerable from an adult POV. Unlike Bus Stop which makes me want to weep with irritation. Oh and Ladybirds or Spotty Dogs (both essentially the same) are other good early ones.

Agree about Snail's Pace Race, he still plays with it now aged 9.

Dd is the same age and loves Lotto/bingo games, Orchard toys Spotty Dogs and Lunch Box games. She also has one called Maisy's colourful counting game, which she lovrs and got the idea of v quickly, but tbh they are all a bit repetitive for adults!

I would say lotto games are the best, for the adult "enjoyment" (perhaps enjoyment is too strong a word) factor.

Ducking hell there's fireman Sam games! DS loves fireman Sam so will look into it.
Saw an add for a game where you steal eggs from a dinasour. Has anyone tried it? It looked like something DS would like.
Thanks for all the recommendations! Once I get a pay cheque I can start shopping.

Whatever Next is a good one too here

you roll a die and whichever colour space you either escape scot free or have to do an action or pretend to do something.... (put your finger on - not IN - your nose til it is your turn, pretend to be a puppy, sing a song... etc)

We have played this for many years now!

When DS was younger we used to put him on a team with either DH or I, playing against the other one. That seemed to keep him occupied and allowed us to get a little bit past fecking pop up pirate :o

The brain box games are fab for when he is a bit older, they are really easy to play but quite addictive!