Can anyone suggest a board game or something similar that two boys aged 2 and 4 can play together?

[HeadFairy]

Please?

Orchard Toys have some good board games for quite young children e.g. wild world lotto. Snakes and Ladders was very popular with DS when he was about 3 or 4. There's also snap with picture cards.

Connect 4

second orchard toys.

they have a huge range of games from picture lottos to early counting/colour matching/shape matching.

my 2 play a lot of them, and are aged 5 and 2

Not exactly a board game but my two boys loved Red Light Green Light. Its simple enough for the 2 year old to understand as there are no complicated instructions. My two still play it now at age 7 and 5. (Its very expensive in that link though, you can get it much cheaper.)

They also liked Hungry Hippos, Elefun and Buckaroo (although the little one did cry when the donkey bucked to start with).

I agree with englishpatient as well though, Orchard toys do a lot of board games that are simple enough for little ones to get the hang of and they are usually very reasonably priced. This is their website but you can usually get hold of them in most toy shops.

Pop up pirates - but turn it round so that you win when the pirate pops up, rather than lose

DD1 got this game when she was 2, and she and DD2 still play it now (3 and 5).

ELC have some good stuff. DS loves this game.

And this one.

I would second elefun - my dds love it - 1 year old waves net around getting excited then picks butterflies off the floor to put in net while 3 year old plays it properly

Orchard toys didn't seem to have much for 3+ (I thought that was a good midway point for them)

Connect 4 is recommended for 6+... is it really that hard for younger children?

I like the look of the manic martians sunshine

Moosemama - is the redlight green light not too complicated for a 2 year old?

Hungry hippos looks good, lots of lovely suggestions everyone, thanks!

the orchard site is a bit misleading - if something is aged at eg 3-6, then it doesn't sho up on the 3+ selection

my two have loads of them, and really enjoy them.

Can a 2 year old play frustration? I know my ds is G&T but I would have thought it was a bit too advanced for the younger of the two boys.

Oooh yes, Elefun! DD3 gets involved in that one too (she's 15 mos).

oooh I like the look of elefun! My cm has a huge living room so I reckon she could put it in the middle and the boys could go bonkers chasing the butterflies around the room

DS and his best mate play if all the time. There also a Buzzy Bees game on the site they like.

elefun is good but the 4 yo will catch all the butterflies and the 2yo will cry.

What about those ones where things pop up and you have to whack them with a hammer?

YY orchard toys.

We loved shopping list, also things like knickerbocker glory (for colours) and the ladybirds game where they have to count the spots. They may not still make those ones (my DC are older) but there will be somethign similar.

Oooh also we loved a game with animals of certain colours on a train where you throw a dice (colours instead of spots) and get the purple monkey (or whatever). That was Orchard too.

Or any kind of picture lotto game, we would play those for hours

Dominoes? Maybe the kiddie version with animal pictures to match up? My DS loved it around that age.

Just be warned - elefun is not nearly as exciting as it shows in the pictures - it only lasts a few minutes and there aren't that many butterflies....

Oh thanks, that's a shame

Sunshine - I was desperately searching for that Manic Martians game to link to, as my boys love it. Couldn't find it anywhere - not surprising really as I was looking for Bopping Aliens.

Headfairy, basically the little traffic light fella says "green light" and everyone presses their buttons rapidly to make their cars move up the road, then he randomly says red light" and they have to stop. So all they have to remember is green for go and red for stop. If you keep moving after he says stop he will tell you to go back to the start. It does get a bit noisy, but its not complicated at all. The age guide is 5 and up, but ds2 was fine with it at a really young age (can't remember what age exactly, but very young). youtube vid of it here

Moosemama, thanks for that. I'm sure you're right, ds is two and he's always shouting at me at the traffic lights when we're in the car, "green means go mummy!!"

I recommend jitterbugs my 3.5 and 18mo can play it (with a semblance of rules) but be warned it isnt a quiet game