An award-winning game, Blokus is easy to pick up but also requires a good deal of strategy to play well.įor those moments when your kid is looking to spend time alone or with a few friends, KNex is a great option. If youre searching for another board game for your child, look no further than Blokus. Monopoly can be a difficult game, but your 9-year-old will savor the challenge.
If not, Monopoly will definitely give them a sense of handling money. Maybe youve started giving your 9-year-old an allowance. Highly popular and nearly ubiquitous within our culture, knowing these games is sure to help your child make friends (or foes!). And anyway, every kid should learn chess and checkers. Thinking steps ahead is the name of the game when it comes to chess and checkers. Stratego, which involves a good deal of preplanning in the layout of your army, is a great choice for this age group. planning/strategizing skills are noticeably better than those of younger kids, explains Kennedy-Moore. In both cases, however, its important that you keep your 9-year-old engaged and encourage interactive games that require language and conversations, as child development and early learning specialist Stacy Benge, M.S., reminds us.įor that reason, the 7 games and activities that best fit the developmental stage of your 9-year-old are diverse: This moodiness and competitiveness leads to a child who bounces between wanting to play in a big group and wanting to be alone or with a close friend. They can be moody and anxious, compared to more energetic eight-year olds, and are often critical of both themselves and others.
How else will you know what game to buy for your kids birthday? (Kidding!)Īge 9 is a period of competition and criticism, as psychologist Eileen Kennedy Moore, PhD, author of the parenting course Raising Emotionally and Socially Healthy Kids, explains: 9-year olds are often very competitive, but they tend to be better than younger kids at handling winning and losing graciously. Deciding which games are right for your fast-growing child is a critical component of parenthood. Kids love to play, but not every game is a good fit for every age group.