With two weeks of Winter Break on the horizon, we know that families are looking for off-screen activities to stimulate their students’ brains while school is out of session. Luckily, our district is full of experts whose specialty is making learning fun!
Check out some game recommendations from Spokane Public Schools staff that are both fun and educational!
Robot Turtles (ages 4-7)
Recommended by Denise Olsen, Arlington Elementary School
“This is a fantastic way to sneak in early coding skills without a screen. Kids use cards to move their turtles around the board, learning sequencing and problem-solving as they go. It feels like a game, but they’re actually practicing the basics of programming logic.”
Game Description: This engaging STEM toy transforms abstract programming concepts into tangible learning experiences that children can easily understand and enjoy. Children create step-by-step sequences by arranging coding cards in the desired path pattern, then transfer these commands to the mouse by pressing the matching buttons.
Scrabble Junior (ages 5+)
Recommended by Denise Olsen, Arlington Elementary School
“Perfect for building confidence with words. The board has pre-printed words for younger players to match letters, and older kids can start forming their own words. It’s a fun way to boost spelling and vocabulary while playing together.”
Game Description: Kid-sized words and colorful pictures make it fun to match letter tiles to words on the grid. Players move their cute character tokens up the score track as they score points. When all of the tiles have been placed on the board, the player with the most points wins!
Animal Upon Animal (ages 5+)
Recommended by Jameus Hutchens, District Technology Services
“A stacking and balancing game that is fun for both young kids and adults. Kids get to learn some cause and effect and logic thinking about how to best add the large chunky wooden animals to the stack.”
Game Description: Each turn starts with a roll of the die, keeping everyone engaged and strategizing their next move. Quick to set up and easy to learn, the rules are as simple as roll the die and stack your animals high!
Jenga (ages 6+)
Recommended by Natasha Yanuszeski, Holmes Elementary School
“It requires you to think ahead before making your next move. You are moving, thinking, and you need a strategy to win.”
Game Description: This is the blockbuster of all stacking games! The original wood block game. The rules are simple enough for the whole family to play: just stack the blocks into a tower without letting it fall! But it's fun for all ages, too, as some blocks from the bottom of the tower are pulled to make it taller! Who will make the tower fall' For any number of players.
Skip-Bo (ages 7+)
Recommended by Kolby Bronson, Franklin Elementary School
“I think a great game that families could play would be Skip-Bo, it definitely helps with number sense and problem-solving skills.”
Game Description: Skip-Bo is the ultimate sequencing card game from the makers of UNO! Players use skill and strategy to create stacks of sequentially numbered, ascending cards (2,3,4…) until they have no more left to play.
Honorable mentions for ages 4-7: Sushi Go, Rhino Hero, The Magic Labrinth, Yahztee, Qwirkle, Spot It!
Boggle (ages 8+)
Recommended by Denise Olsen, Arlington Elementary School, and Craig Numata, District Finance & Business Services
“Players shake up the letter cubes and compete to find as many words as possible before time runs out. It’s great for improving word recognition and quick thinking - and kids love the challenge.” – Denise
“I love Boggle because one round can be played in 5 minutes (3 minutes of play, 2 minutes of scoring). It is a great game for learning to spell, see words in different orientations, encourages writing words quickly, and it appeals to my competitive nature.” – Craig
Game Description: Shake the grid to mix up the letter cubes. Then lift the lid and flip the timer. Ready, set, seek! 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 2 or more players find the same word, that word doesn’t count. The player with the highest score wins.
Dixit (ages 8+)
Recommended by Jameus Hutchens, District Technology Services
“A game with beautiful art where you practice storytelling and creativity. You tell a story or use a word or phrase and you want one of the other players to pick your card but not all players. It is a great tool for kids to think creatively, use language skills and have fun at the same time.”
Game Description: The players have hands of oversized cards with various artistic pictures. The active player secretly selects one of his cards and gives a very brief description. The other players secretly select their own cards which match the description. The chosen cards are shuffled and revealed, then players vote on which was chosen by the active player.
Love Letter (ages 10+)
Recommended by Jason Newbury, Spokane Garry Middle School
“Families will appreciate that Love Letter requires almost no setup and is quick to learn because players only make one choice per turn: pick one card to keep and another to play. But as students learn how the different cards interact, they can use deductive logic and probability to develop surprising strategies.”
Game Description: Love Letter is a game of risk, deduction, and luck for 2 to 4 players. Your goal is to get your love letter into Princess Annette's hands while deflecting the letters from competing suitors. From a deck with only sixteen cards, each player starts with only one card in hand; one card is removed from play. On a turn, you draw one card, and play one card, trying to expose others and knock them from the game.
Kingdomino (ages 10+)
Recommended by Jameus Hutchens, District Technology Services
“A game where you build your personal kingdom out of Domino like tiles. You get to make choices of taking a better tile on your turn but will be picking later, on the next turn. Kids get to practice logic and math skills of addition and multiplication.”
Game Description: Kingdomino uses tiles with two sections, similar to Dominoes. Each turn, each player will select a new domino to connect to their existing kingdom, making sure at least one of its sides connects to a matching terrain type already in play.
Latice (ages 10+)
Recommended by Craig Numata, District Finance & Business Services
“Our family’s favorite is Latice. It has a lot of strategy, thinking a couple turns ahead, and pivoting when the player before you takes your spot.”
Game description: Latice is a strategy game where you match tiles by color and shape.
Word on the Street (ages 10+)
Recommended by Craig Numata, District Finance & Business Services
“Word on the Street is also a great game for large groups and people that don’t need to be there the entire time. Two teams, but people can walk up and contribute at any time. They also can take a break, and it doesn’t hurt the play of the game as long as at least one person remains on the team.”
Game Description: Draw a category card and set the timer to think of the best possible word to fit the selected category. Move the consonants in your chosen word to your side of the street before time runs out! First player to move a letter all the way off the board claims the letter tile. The first wordsmith to collect 8 letter tiles wins!
Honorable Mentions for ages 8+: Flip 7, Forbidden Island, Carcassonne, Cribbage, Upwords, Scattergories, Apples to Apples Junior, Ticket to Ride, Codenames, Sushi Go, Beat That!, Azul, Splendor, and Clank!
Fun math games with a normal deck of cards!
Recommended by Nikki Carney, Math Intervention Teacher at Longfellow Elementary
“Go Fish is great because you can play matching numbers Go Fish (numeral id) or making 10 Go Fish - lots of variations.
Here's a resource for games that can be played with a deck of playing cards (Trash is a favorite for all ages). I recommend all of these because it helps build math skill as well as social skills and is easily accessible!”