10 Spanish Board Games For Kids
As a non-native Spanish speaker, I’m always looking for more ways to incorporate Spanish into our day. Since I come from a board game loving family, it only seems natural that I’d be looking for games in Spanish to share with my daughter!
When my daughter was a baby, I spent a lot of time researching toys that had audio in Spanish and would support her Spanish language development. Now that I have stronger Spanish language skills, I’ve been collecting board games that have a lot of visual support or that have written language in Spanish.
For Spanish toys and games for babies, check out this article here:
The Best Spanish Toys For Bilingual Babies
Table of Contents
Why Board Games?
Playing board games is a natural way to use language because you’re having a conversation around a common talking point. There are often phrase that are used repeatedly when playing board games, allowing you to use and memorize these phrases in context, “tu turno!” (your turn) or “lanza el dado!” (throw the dice!)
Board games include a lot of picture support which is ideal for building vocabulary. When you’re looking at a picture of something and then talking about it out loud, you’re more likely to remember the vocabulary.
Some of the games that I’m sharing today are actually in Spanish. That means that the game board/cards/dice have text that’s actually written in Spanish.
Some of the games have absolutely no written language as part of the game (Think “Uno!” or “Dominos”) but come with directions in Spanish or lend themselves to lots of conversation that promotes Spanish language development.
Spanish Games For Kids Aged 2-6 years old
We have all of these games in our home and we love every single one of them! Most of them were my daughter’s first board games. All of these games have no written language associated with them, meaning that they are solely based on pictures. The directions for most of them come in Spanish and are easy to use to work on basic Spanish language and concept skills.
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Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game
Here’s the version that we have! We have really enjoyed this game and it aged well with my daughter up until Kindergarten age.
This was my daughter’s first board game and is the most simple of these games. It’s an engaging game that works on color recognition and fine motor skills – perfect for toddlers! Spin the spinner to see which color acorn you need to pick from the tree using the squirrel tongs and add it your trunk. Watch out for the storm!
This game doesn’t come with any text written on the board or game pieces, so there’s no inherent “language” that you need to play this game. I like that the instruction booklet comes with directions in multiple languages. I only used the Spanish language instructions and pulled the vocabulary and wording from that.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Tu turno” (your turn)
“Cual color es?” (Which color is it?)
“Busca una bellota azul” (Look for a blue acorn)
“Gira la ruleta!” (Spin the spinner!)
Richard Scarry’s Busytown Eye Found It!
This is the version that we have. The picture cards are perfect for working on Spanish vocabulary and repetitive phrases.
This is another great game for young children. The board is actually 6 feet long (so cool!) and it comes with super cute magnifying glasses that you use to search for different images hidden throughout town.
When my daughter was first learning to play we wouldn’t use the timer since it would take her so long to find the objects. Now we have to use the timer because she can find so many so quickly. This is a cooperative game, meaning that all of the players are working together to get to the end of the board to stop the pigs from eating all of the picnic food!
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Usa tu lupa” (Use your magnifying glass)
“Ves alguna bandera?” (Do you see any flags?)
Spot It!
There are so many versions of Spot-It available. We have the Harry Potter version, but regardless of version, the game play is the same. Such good Spanish vocabulary practice!
There are a few styles of this game and all of them have the same rules. We happen to have the Harry Potter version, but all the versions work the same. Each set comes with several different mini games that you can play using the spot it! cards. The basic idea is that you need to match one of the pictures on your card to the pictures on the card that is flipped in the center. This fast paced “I Spy” game is easy to learn and does a great job building Spanish vocabulary.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Veo la varita!” (I see the wand)
“Voltea una carta” (Flip a card)
Uno!
Another classic card game that’s perfect for working on numbers and colors in Spanish! We also have the Harry Potter version of this one…
This classic game is perfect for working on colors and numbers in Spanish. Like with Spot it!,we actually have the Harry Potter version of this game, so it’s a little different, but the idea and some of the common phrases are the same. Players try and get rid of all of their cards by matching their color or number to the card in the center. When my daughter was first learning to play, we would show each other our hands. That way I could make sure that she wasn’t missing moves and I could help her to learn some basic strategy.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Necesitas una carta roja o una dos” (You need a red card or a 2)
“Tengo un comodin!” (I have a wildcard!)
Guess Who?
Yes, we have the Harry Potter version of this one, too – no judging! This is great for working on Spanish descriptors and questioning.
This is probably the best game you can get to help younger children learn how to ask questions in Spanish. Each player picks a person card at random. Each turn they try and guess which card the other player has by asking them a yes or no question. As with so many of the games in our home, we also have the Harry Potter version of this game!
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Tu persona tiene pelo largo? (Does your person have long hair?)
“Tu persona es una mujer?” (Is your person a woman?)
Sequence For Kids
We have this version here. My daughter learned this game when she was 3 years old and continues to enjoy it. Great for Spanish animal vocabulary!
Like the adult version of the game, Sequence for kids is about getting four chips in a row before someone blocks you. This version uses animal cards (mostly zoo animals). Players play a card and put a chip in that spot on the board. Each player tries to get 4 in a row while the others can block them. As with Uno!, we started off playing by showing each other our hands so that my daughter could understand how to play and learn some strategy.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Tienes tres seguidos ahora!” (You have 3 in a row now!)
“No me bloques!” (Don’t block me!)
Loteria
Our Loteria set is from Scholastic but there are tons of versions available! I love that the directions and print on the cards are in Spanish.
Loteria is a common Mexican style bingo game that has several variations. We have a small and basic set from Scholastic Book Clubs that I bought for my daughter when she was 3. Each player gets a board with various animal pictures on it. The caller calls out a card and each player looks to see if they have it on their board. The first person to fill up their card and yell, “Loteria!” wins the game. You can get sets with really beautifully illustrated cards and most of the versions have the name of the animal in Spanish on each card.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
Tienes un buho en tu carton? (Do you have an owl on your board?)
Tu carton esta llena! (Your board is full!)
Dominos
Dominos are a great way to boost vocabulary or to work on beginning number skills. When my daughter was very young, we used a picture set and worked on animal vocabulary. As she got a little older we switched to a number set.
Dominos is a classic game and, depending on the set that you get, it can really work on your child’s language skills. Dominos is a simple game of matching one of your pictures to the picture that is in play. You can get dominos that use numbers or pictures and that have a variety of patterns and colors. My daughter got her first set when she was 2 years old and it was an animal set, which was great for working on her animal vocabulary in Spanish. We also have a beautiful number set from my grandmother which goes up to 12 and works well with number words.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
Tienes un leon que puedas usar? (Do you have a lion that you can use?)
Tienes una pareja? (Do you have a match?)
Tienes que eligir! (You need to pick!)
Dragon Dash
We started playing this when my daughter was 3! It was a great introduction to path building games and also good for using directional words in Spanish.
I hadn’t heard of this game until a family member recommended it for my daughter when she was three years old. The game play is a littlpve different than most traditional board games since it is a cooperative game – everyone wins or everyone loses. (This was a great feature when my daughter was little and hated to lose!) Players pick “path” pieces and try to build a connecting path through the forest to get to the other side, without getting blocked by the dragons. The game brings up great conversations about strategy/critical thinking and also works on graphing skills.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Puedes girar esa pieza?” (Can you turn that piece?)
“Como podemos evitar el dragon?” (How can we avoid the dragon?”
“Como puedo conectar esta pieza? (How can I connect this piece?)
Sleeping Queens
Love this one! We learned so much Spanish vocabulary from playing this game and the directions come in Spanish so they are a great reference tool for non-native speakers like me.
This is one of our all time favorite games! My daughter got this right before she turned 5 years old and it’s a lot of fun to play and also work on beginning math skills.
You can play it with varying degrees of strategy and math, so you don’t have to worry about your child being too young to solve math problems. There are so many opportunities for Spanish language learning here! Players use their King cards to wake up the Sleeping Queens and create addition equations with their number cards to get new cards!
Like many other games that I’ve mentioned here, there is no actual text in this game, but the instruction booklet comes with directions in Spanish with names for all of the cards and card types in Spanish. I used the instruction booklet to help build the Spanish vocabulary we needed to play the game and that helped me a lot! We learned so much basic math vocabulary in Spanish and my daughter’s ability to work with numbers vastly improved after we started playing this game.
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Tienes una ecuacion!” (You have an equation!)
“No robes mi reina!” (Don’t steal my queen!”
“Voy a despertar a una reina dormiente.” (I am going to wake up a sleeping queen.)
Unlock Kids
This is a super fun detective game that doesn’t have any text to go with it. The pictures are very cool and it allows for a lot of deductive reasoning and has multiple modes of play. This is the one that we’ve played, but there are also other versions as well.
This board game was a find from our “library hopping” adventures! We started playing this game when my daughter was 6 and she really enjoyed it. There are 3 different games within the box and each one has 2 different levels of play. The game can be played just with picture cards, no app or reading necessary.
While the directions were not in Spanish, the game is easy to navigate without any specialized vocabulary. Basically you just try and solve the mystery by putting together different combinations of cards and using reasoning skills. This set is definitely worth checking out!
Here are some common phrases that we use with this game:
“Vamos a probar esta combinacion” (let’s try this combination)
For some other great Spanish board game recommendations, check out these articles here:
10 Spanish Games And Board Games For Kids
I’m always on the look out for new and fun board games. If you have any recommendations or have any good Spanish board games, let me know about them in the comments!
Happy Learning!
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This sounds like a GREAT way to incorporate more Spanish into your life! Especially playing games that you’re already familiar with in English, as that can help you learn those words in Spanish – well, that makes sense to me at least, but I’ve never learnt another language before, so that may not be how it works Either way, it sounds like you’re doing an amazing job at becoming bilingual AND having fun whilst doing so!
Yes and we’ve been lucky that so many of the instructions for the games also come in Spanish, so we can learn more vocabulary that way as well 🙂
Thank you for sharing this. I love board games as well, pity that I didnt think about this when my son was younger and we moved to the Netherlands, to help him with the language also at home. I’m curious, how much improvement you see on your daughter thanks to the games? 🙂
I think that any amount of minority language exposure at home can be valuable, but I would say that the games that really help us to learn a new language are the ones that require more strategy. For example, when we play “Uno”, we’re working on key color and number words, but not really gaining more than that. When we play a game like “Richard Scarry Busytown Eye Found It!”, which is a cooperative game, we’re talking about the best ways to move around the board and what items to look for and we’re really improving our conversational skills.
There are some great suggestions here for sure. Board games are a great way to have a family night in x
Yes they’re perfect for quality time together, too! That’s the best part really, that you can use them for boosting minority language skills and also create a fun family tradition 🙂
What a fabulous list of Spanish board games, Uno would have to be one of my favourite games of all time. It is so amazing that you can use the medium of games to improve your Spanish.
Board games are so fun and they’re fun for kids and adults – so it’s really a win win for us! It’s surprising to see how much they’ve helped us to improve our Spanish, too!
Board games are good for kid’s brain and help to improve thinking abilities, language skills. Thanks for sharing it.
It’s so true! Some of the games that we play, like “Sleeping Queens”, really work on critical thinking skills and you can see their language and thinking skills improving each time you play 🙂
Love how you included some common games and added a way to incorporate Spanish whether you have a spanish version or not. Great way to learn a language!
Yes! And there are so many board games that don’t really have any written language component to them and come with instructions in Spanish, so they’re perfect for working on Spanish skills!
board games are so much fun! for kids and adults alike. definitely want to use it more with my nieces
They are really fun and they are an engaging way to build language skills in whatever language that you’re working on! It’s also a great way to bond and get quality time together as a family 🙂
Thank you for sharing the list of board games .These will be helpful for my kids who are learning Spanish language at school. Fun way to learn.
It’s great that your kids are learning Spanish at school! I’m sure that their teacher incorporates games into the day since they’re such a great way to help kids interact with the language and they’re engaging.
These are nice! I am not really familiar with some of these board games but I believe my kids would enjoy Busytown. Will definitely check them out. Thank you for sharing.
I hadn’t heard of many of these games when I was younger – most were recommendations by friends and family. “Busytown” is a great one for working on language skills and the game board is actually 6 feet long so that’s super fun! Have fun with some new board games!