Puzzles for Kindergartners

November 27, 2018 9:55 AM

What are some good puzzle games I could buy for my kindergartner?

A family member recently bought him Rush Hour Jr and he played through the entire deck in about a day. He's also recently played quite a bit of Monument Valley I & II with another family member and by himself. I'd like to find more puzzle games he might like.

Ideal puzzle games would:
- be physical rather than digital;
- have multiple levels of difficulty;
- involve manipulating objects (i.e., not pencil & paper based);
- be playable solo;
- be small and portable.

posted by noneuclidean to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Best answer: Our kindergartner enjoys this Roller Coaster Challenge game a lot, definitely hits your first four bullets although it's not that small/portable.
posted by Perplexity at 10:03 AM on November 27, 2018

Best answer: The SmartGames games seem similar to Rush Hour Jr. in concept and size. My 4.5 year old has their Three Little Pigs game and is just getting the hang of it (with a lot of fooling around and making up stories about the pigs). I think that next year when she's in kindergarten it will be a perfect difficulty level. It's rated ages 3-6, but it was really beyond her until recently, so I wouldn't jump too far ahead in their age ratings.
posted by Kriesa at 10:08 AM on November 27, 2018

Best answer: Two other games similar to Rush Hour that my son has are Crankity and AnimaLogic.
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:21 AM on November 27, 2018

Best answer: Laser Maze Jr is a lot of fun. This Square by Square looks good; we have something similar but you build towers...my google skills are failing me, but I'll post when I find it.
posted by LKWorking at 10:32 AM on November 27, 2018

Best answer: I bought Bandido on a whim, and it's a fun game for adults, but I think a 6-year-old can also handle it. It's good for solitaire or as a cooperative game with others. You're racing against the clock to block open tunnels. I found mine at Barnes & Noble.
posted by hydra77 at 10:59 AM on November 27, 2018

Best answer: A set of tangrams meets all of your criteria.
posted by mbrubeck at 11:00 AM on November 27, 2018

Best answer: Ah, I remembered what the other game is: Equilibrio. The structures get more complex as you go along, but my 6yo can do several of the easy ones.
posted by LKWorking at 12:29 PM on November 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: These aren't technically puzzles, because there's no one solution, but they can be played endlessly: Kaleidographs
posted by sageleaf at 12:31 PM on November 27, 2018