Games are a fun and meaningful way to connect with your family. And they’re a great tool for reinforcing skills that children often work on in therapy! As a therapist, I work with clients of all ages, and one of my favorite ways to support skill-building that carries over outside of sessions is through board games. Playing games at home can help develop emotional regulation, curiosity, patience, following directions, concentration, and so much more. Something I often remind parents is that most therapeutic growth actually happens outside of the therapy room because, realistically, we only see our clients once a week, while the rest of their time is spent with family, at school, or with friends.
So I’ve compiled a list of family-friendly games that are not only fun, but also powerful tools for emotional development and connection. Before reading on, here are a few suggestions to help create a positive, skill-building game environment at home:
1. For those who struggle with following rules: Agree on the rules before starting the game. If a child tries to change them mid-game, kindly but firmly redirect with a reminder of what was agreed upon.
2. For those who struggle with emotional regulation: Expect that certain games may stir up big feelings. Offer extra patience and use regulatory phrases like: “It’s okay to have big feelings, but it’s not okay to act on them. Would you like to take a break?”
3. For those with sustained attention challenges: Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes of play. This helps them understand the game has a clear beginning and end. This gives them choice and structure around continuing or stopping the game when the timer goes off.
4. Use frequent encouragement: Intentional encouragement can go a long way when your child is working hard to regulate themselves. Notice aloud when they listen well, follow directions, or show kindness to others during the game.
1. Guess Who
● Who will love it: Ages 5+
● What is it: A deduction game where players ask yes/no questions to guess their opponent’s character.
● How is it therapeutic: Encourages curiosity, listening, and clear communication while practicing patience and turn-taking.
2. Candy Land
● Who will love it: Ages 3–7
● What is it: With no reading required, race to chocolate mountain using colored cards.
● How is it therapeutic: Supports emotional regulation through wins and losses and builds frustration tolerance and direction-following.
3. Operation
● Who will love it: Ages 6+
● What is it: A buzzer-based game where players use tweezers to remove silly ailments from a patient without touching the sides.
● How is it therapeutic: Sharpens fine motor skills, builds frustration tolerance, and encourages calming strategies during high-stress moments.
4. Uno
● Who will love it: Ages 6+
● What is it: Be the first to get rid of all your cards by strategically playing wild cards, skips, and reverses.
● How is it therapeutic: Boosts impulse control, emotional regulation, and sportsmanship.
5. Connect 4
● Who will love it: Ages 5+
● What is it: A two-player game where you try to get four discs in a row.
● How is it therapeutic: Strengthens focus, planning, and frustration tolerance.
6. Checkers
● Who will love it: Ages 6+
● What is it: A two-player game of strategy and capturing moves.
● How is it therapeutic: Helps with focus, patience, and thinking before acting.
7. Chess
● Who will love it: Ages 7+
● What is it: An advances game of infinite moves and strategy where each piece has ways of moving across the board.
● How is it therapeutic: Teaches long-term planning, requires focused attention, and emotional regulation when pieces get captured.
8. Battleship
● Who will love it: Ages 7+
● What is it: A guessing game where players try to locate and sink each other’s ships.
● How is it therapeutic: Builds patience, perspective-taking, and turn-based communication.
9. Chutes and Ladders
● Who will love it: Ages 3–7
● What is it: A simple spinner-based game of ups and downs.
● How is it therapeutic: Provides a wonderful opportunity to process disappointment and celebrate wins while practicing turn-taking.
10. Ungame
● Who will love it: Ages 5+
● What is it: A non-competitive game prompts reflective and personal questions with two decks of cards that are either casual questions or more thought-provoking queries.
● How is it therapeutic: Creates space for empathy, validation, and deeper connection through sharing.
11. Talking, Feeling, Doing Game
● Who will love it: Ages 6+
● What is it: A board game designed by therapists that uses prompts to explore feelings.
● How is it therapeutic: Directly builds emotional vocabulary, empathy, and healthy expression.
12. Goodminton
● Who will love it: Ages 4+
● What is it: A beginner-friendly paddle game using either slow-moving or fast-moving birdies.
● How is it therapeutic: Builds gross motor coordination and promotes cooperative play through physical movement.
13. Paddle Catch Ball
● Who will love it: Ages 3+
● What is it: A two-player game using Velcro paddles to toss and catch a ball.
● How is it therapeutic: Encourages teamwork, focus, and following directions while building body awareness.
14. Conversation Ball
● Who will love it: Ages 4+
● What is it: A soft ball printed with prompts you can answer while tossing and catching the ball.
● How is it therapeutic: Builds social-emotional language, encourages turn-taking, and encourages connection.
I understand that playing games can stir up a lot of feelings for everyone involved. My hope is that this list brings more fun and connection into your home- not stress! What’s so magical about board games is that they allow you to work on important emotional skills without it making it the entire focus. So, the next time your family is looking for something fun to do, come back to this list and pick a game. Most importantly, share a few laughs, enjoy the moment, and connect with one another.
