20 Best Brain Games for Kids

Table of contents

1.	Importance of Brain Games for Kids
2.	20 Brain Games for Kids
3.	Conclusion
4.	Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
5.	External References

15 January 2021

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Brain development starts as soon as a child is born into the world. Rapid neurological transformation takes place in the early childhood days.

Mind games for kids or child brain development activities are extremely important to facilitate these changes going on in the brain and body of a child.

It is worthwhile to note that these child brain development games are also used to teach important academic concepts in a fun and easy to understand way. 

Also read:

• 25 Interesting Memory Games for Kids
• 50 Block Games for Kids

We will discuss how kids' brain games are important and list down 20 brain games for kids to try out during their vacations, weekends, or playtime. 

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Importance of Brain Games for Kids

There are many mind games for kids that help them understand their surroundings. Mathematics can be a difficult subject to teach kids but child brain development activities and games can make it a lot simpler for children. IQ levels can be improved by playing intelligent games for kids at regular intervals instead of indulging in violent mobile or PC games. 

It might take some time for your child to get interested in kids' brain games but the efforts will be fruitful. Download the PDF below for some mind-blowing brain games.

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Brain Games for Kids

Download

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20 Brain Games for Kids

We have already come across the importance of brain games for kids and now we will discuss the various options of child brain development games for kids. 

Sudoku

Age: 5 years and above 

Benefit: Imparts Mathematical Thinking and Logical Reasoning skills. Brain activity is improved by playing at regular intervals.  

How to play: 

• There are a total of 81 blocks in the game of sudoku.

• The game aims to fill all the blocks in the 9 X 9 grid. 

• Kids need to make sure that the numbers are not repeated in each row or column.

Puzzle

Age: 3 years and above

Benefit: It improves visual-spatial skills and IQ levels in Children. 

How to play: 

• Puzzles come with playing pieces and parents need to choose the difficulty level as per the age of the child.

• Show the image of the puzzle to your child and ask them to put the pieces together to complete the puzzle.

• The game of puzzle can be played with or without a timer. 

Rubik Cube

Age: 8 years and above

Benefit: Helps kids develop patience and problem-solving ability. Mental mapping skills are also improved in kids. 

How to play:

• A playing box with 2x2 or 3X3 blocks is used.

• We suggest using a 2X2 block to teach the game to your child.

• The objective is to make sure that each face of the cube has the same color.

• Rotate the blocks to make sure each face only has one color. 

Crossword

Age: 7 years and above

Benefit: Kids can learn spellings and improve their vocabulary.

How to play:

• You can find crosswords in kid's activity books or print them.

• These sheets contain blocks arranged in randomly connected strips.

• Clues are provided along with each crossword.

• Guess the word and fill up the blocks, make sure all the letters of the word fill the spaces. 

Brainvita or Peg Solitaire

Age: 5 years and above 

Benefit: Helps your child understand the strategy and mathematical reasoning. 

How to play:

• A board with dents is used to play this game along with marble playing pieces.

• Your child needs to cross-over marbles to remove them from the board.

• All the marbles from the board need to be removed to win the game.

Maze

Age: 4 years and above

Benefit: Cognitive skills are improved in a child playing this game.

How to play:

• Maze games are available on activity books for kids. Online activity sheets can also be printed. 

• Your child needs to use a pen or pencil to mark the way to the center of the maze. Alternatively, some mazes require your child to come out of the maze from the center.

• Out of the multiple available routes, your child needs to analyze the right one.

Mirror image

Age: 5 years and above

Benefit: Visual-spatial skills and logical reasoning is improved in kids

How to play:

• You can find activity sheets with mirror image games.

• There are three to four mirror image options for a given image.

• Ask your child to choose the right mirror image. Points are awarded for the right choice.

Touch the color

Age: 3 years and above

Benefit: This game helps in motor-skill development and aids brain development in kids.

How to play: 

• You can be the color master and choose a color with your eyes closed. 

• Ask kids to find an object which matches the color and whoever finds the right color first is the winner.

Role Play

Age: 2 years and above.

Benefit: Communication skills and social skills are developed in kids.

How to play:

• You can find different role play kits based on your child’s preference.

• They can choose from a variety of role-playing games. You can buy them a doctor’s set, a painting set, or a teacher set for role play games.

Chess

Age: 5 years and above. (Choking hazard)

Benefit: This game helps to develop mathematical and logical reasoning in kids. It will also increase the IQ level of your child. 

How to play:

• There are 16 playing pieces on each color side. You need to start teaching the basics to our child before actually playing the game.

• The game aims to checkmate the king of the opposite color. This needs to be done by eliminating all available moves and attacking the current position of the king.

Building Blocks

Age: 3 years and above  

Benefit: Improve mathematical abilities in kids. It helps to understand concepts of geometry and symmetry.

How to play:

• You can buy building block sets available across kid's merchandise shops.

• There are different varieties of building blocks but we suggest you pick-up sets with bigger blocks for toddlers.

• This will help them understand the basics of connecting blocks.

• The aim is to build different structures using the colorful blocks provided in the set.

Tic-tac-toe

Age: 2 years and above.

Benefit: Helps to develop logical reasoning in kids.

How to play: 

• You can draw a 3x3 grid and ask your child to pick a dot or cross.

• Keep marking and blocking signs until one person aligns all three signs together. 

Dice war 

Age: 3 years and above

Benefit: Helps to teach basic mathematics to toddlers

How to play: 

• Each player needs to keep an equal number of pebbles or marble.

• Ask both the kids to roll the dice consecutively. Now ask them which number is greater and what is the difference.

• The kid with the lower number needs to give his pebbles or marble to the other player. The number of pebbles or marbles to be transferred has to be equal to the difference.

• When a player is left with no marbles or pebbles the game gets over.

Count the shape

Age: 3 years and above

Benefit: Helps kids identify different shapes and their geometry.

How to play:

• Take a shape game activity sheet. 

• Ask your child to mark the number of a particular shape in the given image.

• He or she needs to get the number right to win the game.

Treasure Hunt

Age: 3 years and above

Benefit: Kids develop the problem-solving ability and motor skills.

How to play:

• You can take a few chocolates and hide them somewhere in your house.

• Now make a few clues about the location in a way that each clue leads to another.

• Ask our child to solve the clues and find the chocolates. 

Spot the difference

Age: 2 years and above

Benefit: It imbibes logical thinking and creativity in kids.

How to play:

• ‘Spot the difference’ games are available on kids activity books. 

• Ask your child to find the differences between two images and encircle them with a pencil.

• Your kid wins the game if all the differences are encircled. 

Scrabble 

Age: 5 years and above

Benefit: Improves qualitative aptitude and vocabulary

How to play:

• You will need a scrabble board and tiles for your child to play this game. 

• Junior Scrabble has a few letters on the board. Ask kids to create words and he/she gets a point for that.

• The aim is to create meaningful words with the given letter tiles, the winner needs to score maximum points by making words.

Pictionary

Age: 6 years and above

Benefit: Helps to improve logical reasoning and conceptual visualization.

How to play:

• Get a Pictionary board game for your child and make sure you have at least 3 players.

• If there are two kids, you can be their picturist. Kids need to guess the word by interpreting the picture to score points.

• Kids keep scoring points to move around the board, whoever finishes first is declared the winner.

Sequence Numbers

Age: 7 years and above

Benefit: Improves basic mathematical skills and develops mathematical aptitude.

How to play:

• You need to get a game board and chips to get started, you can buy a game set with all the play pieces and board.

• Kids need to make a sequence by solving maths equations and the first kid to complete 2 sequences is the winner. 

Monopoly or Business

Age: 8 years and above

Benefit: Develops financial skills and taxation fundamentals in kids.

How to play:

• You need to buy a monopoly or business set with a property board, game money, playing cards, and pieces. Homemade game sets can also be used to play.

• Kids need to move around the board buying, renting, and mortgaging property.

• Whenever a player is bankrupt, he or she is eliminated from the game and the last player surviving is declared the winner.

These are some intelligent games for kids who want to sharpen their mathematical aptitude, logical reasoning, and language skills. You can choose one or many games from the list depending on your kid’s age group. Please do keep in mind that certain games contain parts that may cause choking hazards. 

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Conclusion

If your child is particularly lagging behind his fellow classmates, it is time for you to introduce brain games for kids. These are interesting and engaging ways to make your child realize the importance of scholastic activities. Prolonged participation in such games will help your child with academic performance. Even if you feel your child is fairly performing, do try these fun games to ease any examination pressure. 

About Cuemath

Cuemath, a student-friendly mathematics and coding platform, conducts regular Online Classes for academics and skill-development, and their Mental Math App, on both iOS and Android, is a one-stop solution for kids to develop multiple skills. Understand the Cuemath fee structure and sign up for a free trial.

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