43+ Best Educational Board Games For K-12 (Updated 2023)
Educational board games are the best!
We have always enjoyed playing board games for kids as a family. But, since we have been homeschooling (5 years now) we now incorporate them into our homeschool day.
As we have been homeschooling I thought I would share our favorite educational board games. Trust me, they are so much fun the kids have no idea they are really learning!
Gameschooling is probably my favorite homeschooling tip. But what is gameschooling? Put very simply it is kids playing games while learning.
I have broken these board games into educational subjects for ease of reading, as there are loads!! In fact over 40 at the last count. If you know of one that I have not included please let me know in the comments below and I will add it.
These are the very best educational games on the market for kids of all ages.
**There may be affiliate links in this post. You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.**
Learning Board Games
As this is such a huge list I have included our top 7 favorite educational board games for each subject area. This wasn’t an easy task as we love them all.
These are our top 7 educational board games by subject:
- Math. Yahtzee.
- Language Arts. Blank Slate.
- Science. Genius Star.
- Geography. The World Game.
- History. Trekking Through History (absolutely brilliant, our current favorite board game.)
- Strategy. Chess
- General education. Trivial Pursuits.
If you have an only child and are looking for educational one player games for kids check out our latest post.
This is just a small collection of the educational board games we enjoy in our homeschool.
Math Board Game Ideas
I have heard from many parents of children who go to school that math is the hardest subject to teach.
The way math is taught is completely different from when I was a child. So I really understand the challenges.
It is amazing how quickly the kids pick things up when they are having fun! For even more math board games check out our top 20 favorites for kids aged 3+.
Best Math Board Games for Kids Under 8
If you are looking for our favorite board games about money you are going to love these.
Learning Resources Money Bags Coin Value Game. An award-winning money board game for kids, Great for identifying and counting realistic looking coins.
The game is simple to play, the kids roll the dice and move around the board that represents everything you need in life: money! Players note the financial amount shown on the space they land on and spin the spinner.
The spinner determines which coins can be used to make value on the space. When a player passes the finish line, all players count their money. The player with the most wins! For 2-4 players. Suitable for ages 7+. For board games for 7 year olds check out our top 25.
Sum Swamp Board Game is a fun way to practice math, and encourage basic drills through fun gameplay. Develop fluency in early math skills, perfect for ages 5+ for 2-4 players.
Mathemagical World is an addition & subtraction math board game for kids ages 5+. We have not played this as we only found out about it recently and Freddie is too old. But the 5-star reviews look amazing, it definitely looks like a really fun math game. You will also enjoy our favorite number board games.
Osmo – Math Wizard. Part of the Osmo coding family which we love, this game is perfect for kids learning math aged 6-8 years old. Check out our Osmo Coding Jam review for more information on this awesome game.
Brainbox Maths. A fast and fun memory game that does not need any pens, pencils, paper, game board, or even a table! Each round takes 10 seconds so all players are involved.
You can play on your own or with as many people as you want. A correct answer means the card is kept, if not it is returned to the box. The player with the most cards after 5 or 10 minutes wins!
You will also enjoy our free 12×12 multiplication chart printable that will help teach the times tables.
Best Math Board Games for Kids Over 8
Have fun while learning with these order of operations games:
Adsumudi. A fun math game for kids to practice multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. This game has three levels from easy through to hard which is perfect if you are playing with various ages.
Yahtzee. A great dice game for 1 or more players, ages over 8. This is often a game we will take on holiday as it comes in a small box and is lots of fun.
Proof! a fast-paced mental math game. Teachers’ Choice Award-Winning Educational Game, Ages 9+.
Prime Climb is a mathematical board game designed for 2 to 4 players. Roll the dice and add, subtract, multiply and divide your way to the center of the board. Picking up Prime cards and bumping your opponents back to start as you go.
The first to land both pawns on 101 wins the game! Everyone can learn to multiply and divide using Prime Climb’s unique color coding. Inspire deeper mathematical understanding while mastering arithmetic.
Prime Climb can be used as an aid for home educators to teach and reinforce KS2 and KS3 maths content. Simple enough for kids (ages 10 and up), and dynamic enough for professional mathematicians. Prime Climb is a perfect game for families.
Monopoly is a family favorite. If you are anything like us you will have at least two versions of this in your home.
In fact, I am now tempted with a 3rd version, as they have a Friends set! But it is a great math game for the whole family to enjoy.
Best Word Board Games
We love word games for kids whether they are online, printable, or a fun board game. I am going to share our absolute favorite word board games that you are also going to love.
I have broken them down into kids under 12 years old, and over.
Word Board Games for Kids Under 12 Year Olds
Bananagrams is a fast and fun word game that requires no pencil, paper, or board. All you need is a table. One hand can be played in as little as five minutes.
It is great for family fun as well as being educational. Bananagrams’ portability makes it perfect for travel. Just grab the pouch and go.
Scrabble – This needs no introduction and is a game that every family should have in their cupboards. It is a great game to play whether you homeschool or not. In fact, on some occasions, myself and my husband can be found playing it with a glass of wine!
Story Cubes. Roll the nine dice and begin your story. With just four lines of instructions, anyone can become a storyteller.
Rory’s Story Cubes are a fun way to inspire creative thinking. Encourage social confidence, develop language, improve vocabulary and promote problem-solving skills.
With every roll, there are over a million combinations to use for storytelling inspiration.
Boggle – Earn points by spotting words your friends don’t before time runs out. Shake the grid to mix up the letter cubes. Then lift the lid and flip the timer.
Players have 90 seconds to write down as many words as they can find on the grid before time is up. At the end of the round, score the words. If two or more players find the same word, that word doesn’t count. The player with the highest score wins.
Upwords. High-staking, word-building game for kids 8+. The higher you stack, the higher you score! In Upwords, each player starts with 7 letter tiles. Play words across or down to make new words or stack on top of tiles to change a word.
P for Pizza. A Word Race to Build a Giant Pizza Slice. Tuck into this fast-paced word game where the aim is to shout out a word that links the letter on one card to the category on another. This one is on our Christmas list this year! It looks so much fun.
Blank Slate is another firm family favorite that we play at least once a month. It is a fun family-friendly word association game and we love it.
Word Board Games for Over 12 Year Olds
Scattergories is a firm family favorite. We love it so much we have created some free holiday scattergories printables of this game.
Last Word is a new one for us and is aimed at kids over the age of 14 so certainly not for the younger children. Each round players blurt out answers to “Subject” and “Letter” combinations in a race to beat other players and get the last word before the buzzer!
Science Board Game Ideas
For even more science board games check out our favorites.
Genius Star. The aim of the game is to fill the 11 colored shapes in the 7 positioned blockers to complete a “STAR”.
There are 165,888 possible solutions in the 48 triangle spaces grid. This is a new one I have recently come across and I loved the look of it so much it is now in my shopping cart!
STEM Family Battle. Challenging STEM trivia game while kids team up against you and learn as they play. Full of traps, sneaky shortcuts, and secret details. Aimed at older children.
Science Ninjas. Teach kids how molecules form and chemicals interact!
Periodic. A game of the elements. Where players move across the periodic table to collect elements using the periodic table. For 2-6 players for ages 10+.
Dr. Eureka Speed Logic Game. Race to solve the formula by moving your molecules from tube to tube without touching them or dropping them! For kids aged 8+.
FReNeTiC Board Game. Unfortunately, this is only available in the UK.
This game has it all. It is great for math as you have to add up the scores. Science as you are learning the periodic table. English language as you are creating words. There is also a little strategy thrown in.
It is like a clever scrabble where you have to make words with tiles on the board. But, it is so much harder, all of the tiles are from the periodic tables! I can not recommend this game highly enough, but you can read my full review of Frenetic board game before you buy.
If you are looking for homeschool science kits for kids check out our recent post.
Geography Board Games
These are a few of the geography board games we recommend:
Flags of the World. Name the country, and claim the flag in a trivia trip around the world! Ideal for geography lovers. Flags of the world is a family game with multiple-choice questions about every country.
Learn about countries and capital cities as you collect Flags to win. 2-5 players; age 8+.
From Edinburgh to Constantinople and from Lisbon to Moscow, you’ll visit the great cities of Europe.
Collect and play train cards in order to place your pieces on the board, attempting to connect cities on your ticket cards.
The player who has the most points at the end of the game wins.
The World Game is a fantastic card game, aimed at children over the age of 8.
Continent Race is a geography game for kids. It was created by 6-year-old Byron during a long hospital stay. He combined his passion for geography with a desire to help kids learn and have fun. For 2+ players.
Guess in 10 – Countries of the World is a great trivia game for kids 8 and up. This is such a good game, we have a few of the guess in 10 games, and they really are fun for all the family. You can make it harder or easier depending on who is answering the questions too.
Trekking The National Parks. Winner of the Mensa and Parent’s Choice Award is a great game for the whole family.
Top Trumps – Wonders of the World. Featuring thirty of the best sights that Earth has to offer. It includes the world’s most dangerous volcano, a gigantic South American glacier, and the only living thing visible from space. The world’s a pretty awesome place.
History Board Game Ideas
Trekking Through History. An amazing game and is in our top 7 favorite board games. It is not only a history game, it is a fantastic strategy game that can be played both during the school day and for family game night.
Read our detailed Trekking through History review to find out how and why we love it.
CHRONOLOGY. The Game Where You Make History.
This was our absolute favorite game we played over Christmas. I knew it looked great, but it was even better! Freddie has just turned 12 years old, and he managed to beat us. Now, this was more luck than knowledge, but it is definitely going to help his history knowledge, and mine!!
Catan Histories for children aged 12+, a rise of the Inkas board game. This is also a strategy game, but I included it here as I couldn’t find many board games for history!
History of the World for kids over the age of 14.
For even more history board games check out our top 20 and have fun going back in time with the kids.
Strategy Educational Board Games
Chess. Another game that needs no introduction.
Pandemic. This is a great game of strategy, and if you would like to read my full review of Pandemic check it out here.
Ingenious is a game that is in a league of its own. Quick to play, beautiful, and one of the more “clever” board games for kids.
Although it sounds simplistic, the game actually is a real challenge. The game has a nearly unlimited amount of strategies and a unique scoring system. Every game is different and challenging.
Carcassonne. Players build the area surrounding this impressive city, one tile at a time. They then place a follower on fields, cities, roads, or monasteries to score as many points as possible.
These followers will become knights, monks, farmers, and thieves, depending on where they are placed. Check out our full review of Carcassonne.
Ticket to Ride. A cross-country train adventure. The longer the routes the more points you earn. Check out our full review of Ticket to Ride.
Civics Board Games
Trivial Pursuit I know this is not just a civics educational board game, but it needed to sit somewhere! This is of course an absolute classic that every family should have.
It is aimed at 16+ but we played this version over Christmas with our 12-year-old, and with a little help he certainly got some of them correct. If you prefer making it a little easier though, there is a family edition.
Election Night is a super fun way to learn essential math, geography, and civics while strategizing your way to The White House.
Board games by age
- Board games for 7 year olds
- Board games for 8 year olds
- Board games for 10 year olds
- Card games for teenagers
What are your favorite educational board games? Please let me know in the comments below.
Last Updated on 1 June 2023 by homeschoolof1