20 Mind-Boggling Child Development Games & Activities

Everything you do together with your kids can help children’s brain development, but some mind-boggling child development games and activities can speed up this process. We know that children learn best through play. So why not spice up our quality time with some child development games and child development activities that stimulate kids’ minds more? Below you can find some amazing ones.

Mind-Boggling Games and Activities for Kids’ Memory

Memory games have lots of benefits. For example, they boost visual recognition, concentration, and short term memory, which is important for improving your long term memory. In this part, we brought some child development games for memory.

1. Memorize and say

Show your children a set of cards (animals, colors, flowers…) and then ask them to recite the cards in the order you showed them. You can start with a certain category, like shapes, and then mix the different categories together. You can take turns and add up to the cards until one of you can’t say them in the order. Just make sure you give them enough time for identification and retention.

Variations: Based on your children’s age, you may also use the written form of the pictures to help their spelling.

Suited for: 6 and up

Number of players: 2+

What you need: Picture cards

2. The missing item

This mind-boggling activity can make great fun when played in large groups. Place a set of things on a tray or in a box and give your kid 30 seconds to see and memorize the items. Ask your little player to close his eyes and then remove an item. He should find what the missing item is.

Use fewer items with little kids and make sure they are familiar with them.

Variations: You can use cards when you don’t have access to different items.

Suited for: 3 and up

Number of players: 2+

What you need: Some items- a tray/box

3. Memory train 

This isn’t only a child development activity. In fact, parents and adults can also play this game at parties and be one hundred percent sure that everyone will have fun. Just start off with this line: I went to X and took A & B. The next person should repeat your sentence and add his own sentence. 

For example, I went on holiday and took an umbrella and a horse. Then the second player adds one item (or more depending on your rules) to your list and says the sentence out loud from the beginning. When someone can’t remember all the sentences they’ll lose.

Tip: Try to use as many weird and funny words as you can.

Variations: Use the words that start with a certain letter.

Suited for: 7 and up

Number of players: 2+

4. Tongue Twisters

Among all mind-boggling activities, tongue twisters are one of the most hilarious ones; even so, they are really helpful as brain development games for children. Try to say, “the top cop saw a cop top” 10 times fast!

5. Recite the alphabet backward

Have you ever counted down as a kid? This is the same, but with the alphabet and of course harder! You can change it into a game where everyone does it and the winner is the one with fewer mistakes.

Variations: Speed it up

Suited for: 6 and up

Number of players: 1+

6. The magic cup game

One of the classic mind-boggling child development activities on our list! First, place three cups on the table and a tiny ball under one of them. Then shuffle the cups and ask your kid to guess which cup is the magic one. This game improves concentration in children which is one of the first steps for successful learning. In case you don’t have access to the things you need, there is a free online version on this website.

Variations: Speed it up

Suited for: 3 and up

Number of players: 2

What you need: 3 cups- a ball

7. Draw a word/letter on my back

The only thing that children need to play this mind-boggling activity is their fingers! (and of course, knowing how to write). Player1 traces a word onto the back of the child in front of her or him (player 2). Player 2 should guess the word. For more than 2 players, use letters instead.

When there are 3 players or more, have them stand in a line. Whisper a letter to the last child (player 1) and say: Go”. S/he traces the letter onto Player 2’s back and Player 2 does the same for Player 3. The relay continues until the letter reaches the first kid on the line. He or she then says the letter. 

In case you want to use this child development game more excitingly, you can divide kids into two teams and change it into a competition. The winner is the team who guesses the correct letter sooner.

Suited for: 8 and up

Number of players: 2+

8. Memory card game

You need two identical sets of cards for this child development activity. Place the cards faced-down in two rows. The first player chooses two cards (one from each row) and flips them over. If identical, he wins the cards and gets to play again. If not, they should be faced-down again and the next player takes a turn.

Variations: In case of having only one deck of cards allow matching the same value and the same color.

Suited for: 4 and up

Number of players: 2- 4

What you need: 2 decks of cards

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Mind-Boggling Educational Games and Activities for Kids

It is almost certain for everyone that game-based learning is the most effective way to help children build various skills. So, why not put some games and activities to do with our kids in our free time to promote children’s brain development? 

Today, the use of technology has been raised in educational environments. So, we decided to include some technology-based activities on our list of mind-boggling child development games and activities.

9. Coding

Coding for kids is full of fun, gamified approaches where children can make their own games, animations, and artworks. It’s like killing two birds with one stone; not only do your children acquire necessary skillsets through coding, but they also make their brains sharper by improving their cognitive abilities.

Find age-appropriate coding courses and learn more about the best programming languages for kids.

Suited for: 5 and up

Number of players: 1

What you need: Smartphone/tablet/computer

10. DIY STEM projects

Children are normally curious about the environment and always try to comprehend their surroundings better. So, take advantage of this situation and make them do some mind-boggling activities.

Make a cloud form in a jar. First of all, you need some very hot water, a clear jar, and a hairspray. Pour hot water into the jar. You should be seeing the evaporation. Then, spray some hairspray into the jar so the evaporated water can clean into particles. Put a bag of ice on the jar and wait a little bit to see your cloud! 

Just bear in mind that this experiment needs adult supervision.

Suited for: 8 and up

What you need: heatproof jar- hot water- ice- hairspray

You can find more DIY STEM Projects on this site.

11. Language learning

Ever heard that kids learn different languages better? In fact, learning a second language is a child development activity that boosts their brainpower. Problem-solving, critical thinking, and improving memory are only a few perks of language learning. Make language learning fun with the use of language learning apps like Duolingo.

12. Math game: Dice War

Give 10 game tokens (or just use pebbles) to each player. Take turns, roll the dice, and count the numbers on the dice. The one with the biggest number is the winner and gets to steal a token from the other player. This child development game is both funny and exciting; and also a good way for younger kids to improve their basic counting skills.

Suited for: 4 and up (needs basic math skills)

Number of players: 2

What you need: A pair of dice- game tokens (or pebbles)

13. Sudoku

Solving sudoku or crosswords is a classic way to sharpen kids’ brains. In fact, studies show that playing Sudoku improves memory in children aged 7-11, and helps adults keep their brains 10 years younger.

Suited for: 8 and up (needs basic math skills)

Number of players: 1

What you need: Sudoku sheets- paper- pencil

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Mind-Boggling Puzzles for Kids

Brain teasers, riddles, and puzzles all have one thing in common: they encourage children to think in unconventional ways to reach a solution. If you’re looking for amusing child development activities to pass time, use these options to teach your kid to think “out of the box”. The activities below are taken from The Everything Kids’ Math Puzzles Book.

14. Brain benders

Brain benders help children to use logic and make conclusions based on the given facts rather than simply guessing.

Example 1: Use numbers instead of letters and ask kids to guess the word. 

1DRFL/ wonderful  CR8TV/ creative

Example 2: Can you take four nines (9, 9, 9, 9) and arrange them to make an equation that totals 100? You can only use each nine once, but you can use any math function.

15. Prisoners game

Players should each have 5 markers (prisoners). Player 1 places his prisoners on the top row, and Player 2 places his prisoners on the bottom row. Each row is numbered from 1 to 5. Players take turns rolling the dice and subtracting the smaller number from the bigger. If the difference matches a cell number, the prisoner kept in that cell goes free.

Suited for: 8 and up (needs basic math skills)

Number of players: 2

What you need: 5 pennies and 5 nickels- a pair of dice- paper and pencil for keeping score

16. Mazes

Mazes are great child development games to boost kids’ brainpower and problem-solving skills. They also improve hand-eye coordination. For older children, use seamless geometric and starry pattern mazes which are harder to solve.

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Physical Games and Activities for Children’s Brain Development 

Physical activities and children’s brain development are interlinked. Studies show that children who are more fit tend to do better on a test of memory. In addition, exercising pumps more oxygen to the brain. But, why does it matter? Well, oxygen helps some certain hormones release. These hormones provide a good environment for the growth of brain cells. 

Below you can find some simple physical activities that help children’s brain development.

17. Jumping Jacks

A lot of parents are familiar with doing jumping jacks and most physical education teachers teach students how to perform this child development activity. Just ask your kids to keep their arms at their sides, elbows straight, and feet together. Then, have them make an “x” with their bodies; by jumping their feet apart and lifting their arms over their heads. Ask them to finish their move by bringing their hands and feet back where they started. Doing 10 Jumping Jacks is enough for beginners.

Suited for: 5 and up

Number of players: 1+

18. Running

Running is another child development activity that stimulates kids’ brains. The good point is, it can be done anywhere outside the house and it’s free! Encourage them to take smaller and quicker steps to avoid striding.

Suited for: 2 and up

Number of players: 1+

19. Unstructured free play

So far, we have talked about structured and even supervised mind-boggling activities. Sometimes you only need to let your children play on their own to make them better critical thinkers. So, lose it up and let them get messy, be creative, and learn about themselves.

20. Yoga for kids

Yoga brings harmony to both body and mind. In fact, some specific poses even boost brainpower. Lotus pose, diamond pose, and plow pose are some of these child development activities. To make it more fun, work on the animal poses beside them.

Of course, everyone has a certain natural ability but we can train ourselves and our kids to exceed our limits. These games and activities are only the first step. Do play them and please share your experience with us!

Editor: Michael Mitryakov | Writer: Negin P

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