Board games are a great addition to any elementary classroom, and STEM board games aren’t just fun but they’re also educational for your students! STEM board games give students a tangible way to practice and develop important skills that will help them inside and outside of the classroom. These STEM skills are also becoming more and more important as digital literacy becomes a vital skill set for young children to learn.
Rush Hour Jr.
Best for: Ages 5 and up
Number of players: One player
Price: $28
How to play: Students draw a card and set up the vehicle pieces to match the card setup. Next, they’ll need to slide vehicles back and forth to create a path of their ice cream truck to exit the board. There are more than 40 challenges for students to choose from that vary in difficulty.
Benefits: Rush Hour Jr. helps students develop logical reasoning through play and experimentation.
Robot Turtles
Best for: Ages 4 and up
Number of players: 2-5 Players
Price: $23.99
How to play: Students set up their board with the Turtle Tile in one corner and the Jewel in the center. Then, using code cards, students program their turtle to move by following the directions on their cards. Once the jewel card is reached, the next level of play is unlocked. Obstacles and pitfalls are gradually added to the board to increase the difficulty for players. First one
Benefits: Robot Turtles helps introduce students to the basics of programming in addition to building problem solving skills.
Math Bingo
Best for: Ages 5 and up
Number of players: 3-36 Players
Price: $14.79
How to play: This twist on the classic game of Bingo helps your students practice their addition and subtraction skills while playing along. Just like regular Bingo you’ll distribute game cards to each student playing and then a calling card that will feature an addition or subtraction problem for students to solve. If the answer is on their board, they can put a marker down on it. Once a student has four markers in a row, they yell out Bingo and win!
Benefits: This educational gamification can help your students practice addition and subtraction either in a full class activity or in small groups.
Gravity Maze
Best for: Ages 8 and up
Number of players: One or more players
Price: $29.88
How to play: Students pull a card which shows them how to set up the towers on their game grid. This card will also show them which additional blocks they need to use to get the marble to the finish line. If the student places the blocks in the right spots, they will be able to drop the marble and watch it roll from the starting position into the red block to win!
Benefits: This game helps students develop logical reasoning skills, a critical skill for future programmers, and spatial awareness.
Laser Maze
Best for: Ages 8 and up
Number of players: One or more players
Price: $28.34
How to play: What’s more fun for elementary students than lasers!? We’re not sure but if you find out be sure to let us know. In this game, students draw a card to see how to set up their board. Then, they’ll need to determine where to place their tokens to help guide the laser from the starting point to the finish line. When the laser hits the target, students win!
Benefits: This game helps students build logical thinking and problem solving skills.
Snap Circuits Jr.
Best for: Ages 8 and up
Number of players: One player
Price: $35.99
How to play: This game features over 100 different electronic projects inside just waiting to be built. By following the instructions for any given project, students can use the 38 different pieces inside to build a speaker, an alarm, a motor and fan, and more.
Benefits: This STEM kit includes plenty of circuits and pieces to help students understand how modern technology and electronics are built.
Math-Tac-Toe
Best for: Ages 6 and up
Number of players: Two players
Price: $24.95
How to play: Just like classic tic-tac-toe, this game pits two players against each other to see who can get three in a row first. Three different skill levels of playing cards are included to challenge learners of all ages. To play students select a playing card and then take turns rolling the dice that include two numbers and an operator. Using these three variables students will have to find a number on the board that is the answer and put a marker down on that square. Three in a row means tic-tac-toe and a winner!
Benefits: The game boards range from addition and subtraction up through multiplication and division so it can help a variety of young learners with their math skills in a fun and challenging way.
Looking for more STEM resources?
Ready to go beyond board games? If your classroom has access to laptops or iPads, you can use Kodable to help your students learn more about computer programming. Kodable is an easy-to-use free technology tool that uses self-paced levels and helpful in-game hints to get students engaged and learning coding.
Create your own Kodable account today to explore the #1 coding program for kids.
