One of the best ways to help grow your child’s reading comprehension is through the playing of a comprehension game or board games specially designed for them. These games encourage spelling, vocabulary, reading, and language growth in a variety of ways – and they make for the perfect rainy day, pre-bedtime, or weekend activity. And kids usually don’t even realize they’re learning, which sometimes helps keep it fun for them. Below you’ll find 10 of the best reading comprehension board games for a range of ages between 4 and 8. Most, if not all of these games are great for the whole family.
10 Best Reading Comprehension Board Games
National Geographic: Secret Clue Animals
Age: 7+ (Community 5+) Players: 2-6 Time: 15 minutes
Coming from one of the most trusted publications in the world, National Geographic: Secret Clue Animals is one of the absolute top-rated reading comprehension board games out there. The newish game (2023) is as stunningly appointed as you’d expect from this image-rich company and provides hours of cooperative educational fun for the whole family. The game provides explicit instruction on comprehension strategies, offering clear and direct guidance to enhance understanding among students of various age groups and levels of difficulty.
At the start, one player is given a clue card which specifies three spots on the nine-card grid of animals laid out. This player must then draw three animal cards and place each of them as “similar” or “dissimilar” on the board. The other players then work together through discussion to decide which animal the cards are referencing and determine how they best fit what’s been played (i.e., is this similar or dissimilar?). If the group gets their animal deduction wrong, they flip a guess token and turn the animal sideways, noting that this guess was incorrect. The first player draws three more cards and everyone tries again. If, however, the guess is correct, the clue-giver resets the game board, and then the next animal deduction occurs. The group only has so many guess tokens, though, so they’ve got to find three animals correctly before they run out of tokens.
Is or Isn’t
Age: 6+ Players: 2-5 Time: 20 minutes
The adorable little creatures (monsters?) of Is or Isn’t want to come out and play with you and your kiddos! The learning game helps kids distinguish between synonyms, antonyms, and definitions, expand their vocabularies, and develop crucial language skills. Players must match the words to their meanings or opposites (depending on the gameplay) with the help of plastic playing discs, matching boards, and the game board. It’s a little bit like a vocabulary Bingo game with visual elements to help the littles learn identification.
The highly interactive, engaging game works at various difficulty levels, decided by you and the kids, meaning it ages up as the kids grow their skills. Basically, though, players take turns rolling a die, moving their pawns around the gameboard to match synonyms or antonyms and aim to fill up their individual player cards by covering their squares with tokens on matches made. The first player to fill a column or row with four tokens wins the game.
Extended play options allow players to act out the words with other players needing to guess them. When the words are guessed accurately, the player earns the token for their individual board.
Tall Tales: The Game of Infinite Storytelling
Age: 4+ Players: 2+ Time: Varies
Tall Tales: The Game of Infinite Storytelling is one of the absolutely best-crafted board games for reading comprehension you’ll find. It’s geared at kids 4 and up, welcomes 2 or more players, and the playtime varies as much as it needs to for the child’s development stage. The game comes with a bag filled with 50 story elements like rocket ships, cars, airplanes, stop signs, people, instruments, and animals. Players draw from this bag and pull objects out to use for their storytelling experience. Additionally, 24 colorful story cards help assist players in their adventures by adding prompts or other ways of playing.
The game helps children understand the main idea of stories by encouraging them to identify and focus on the central theme as they create their narratives.
The game may be played in 5 different ways.
Basic gameplay: One player draws 8 story pieces, one at a time, beginning their Tall Tales with one of the pieces, then expanding the story as they add the other 7 pieces.
World Tales: Following the basic game directions, players draw 8 pieces, then 1 story place card and use the card as the setting for their story.
Taller Tales: Players choose a number between 9 and 50. One player draws a single piece to use in their story. Then they draw another piece and include that in their story. The story continues until they use up the number of pieces they’ve chosen. Story place cards may be added to help with storytelling.
Group Tales: Both players draw at least 2 story pieces, with a minimum of 10 pieces drawn. The first player uses one piece to begin the story. Then the other players use their pieces to expand the story. This continues until all the pieces are used and the story is concluded. Story place cards may be used to enhance or prompt additional storytelling aspects.
Marathon Tales: Either one or all players use all 50 storytelling pieces and as many story place cards as desired to tell a long story. The story continues until every piece is used and the story concludes.
Some parents have opted to use the game to help with writing comprehension as well, inviting all players who are able to write to do so (while writing the story down for those who cannot), using 3-5 objects and one story place card to construct their written tale.
Also Read: The Absolute Best Story Board Games Around
Wordplay for Kids
Age: 6+ Players: 2-6 Time: 30 minutes
Six categories make the game of Wordplay for Kids both challenging and fun, with unique gameplay the whole family can enjoy. The categories include
Food or drink
Object or thing
Living creature
Something in the house
Boy’s or Girl’s name
Any word
Players must use the letter spinner every round to form a word containing those letters and fit the designated category for the round. Every letter in the word adds points, so players will aim for lengthy words instead of the fast, simple ones like “cat” or “Jeff”. But, of course, the game wouldn’t be much of a challenge without that timer.
Wordplay for Kids has become a family favorite for many, encouraging learning and fun together in a way that any age (6 and over) can compete with others and enjoy the madness equally. It develops vocabulary, reading comprehension, and spelling, and enhances children’s concentration and attention spans through engaging word building activities.
Miss Bernard is a Wild Card
Age: 6+ Players: 2-4 Time: 20-30 minutes
Unwrap the hilarity with the bonkers board game bent on helping your kids improve their reading comprehension: Miss Bernard is a Wild Card. The game comes out of the humorous world of Dan Gutman’s My Weird School book series, designed for elementary kids and their families. You don’t need to know anything about the books to enjoy the game (though you might want to check them out!) and anyone can easily learn to play. The well-crafted rulebook helps you navigate the game filled with reading, math, and strategic thinking skills for some hilarious fun.
The game can be used with both fictional and non-fiction text, making it versatile for various reading comprehension activities.
To play, collect cards that build out a bizarre five-card sentence, but the first words must rhyme. The silly game plays up the concepts of open and honest speech (“Miss Bernard” encourages the students to talk openly and as weirdly as they desire!) while teaching reading comprehension, math, and other school-worthy skills.
Whoever wins the most points over the three rounds of play wins the game.
Last Letter
Age: 8+ Players: 2-6 Time: 5-15 minutes
To help your older grade schoolers develop deeper reading comprehension skills, grab a copy of the wildly fun game known as Last Letter. Every player starts out with a hand of colorfully illustrated cards (61 total in the game), each depicting concepts of connected, yet different, things. To play, each person must name something depicted on the card that begins with the last letter of the previous card. For example, the Flea Circus card may then be followed by the Sahara Desert card, which could be followed by a card containing Trees. Once players name the object successfully, the card is discarded. But anyone may play their card in this simultaneous game. So, if player one lays down a card and says “donkey,” player two could then immediately lay down a card with a yo-yo on it. The goal is to get rid of your cards as quickly as possible but to do so, you’ve got to be accurate in your naming of objects.
Additionally, Last Letter helps children with predicting outcomes by encouraging them to anticipate results based on the given information on the cards.
Last Letter is perfect for a family game night, family reunion, travel adventure, or rainy day fun – whatever you like. The play is unlimited and gloriously fun and silly for all ages 8 and up.
Word Seeds
Age: 4+ Players: 2-4 Time: 15 minutes
Set in a whimsical garden full of plants and possibilities, Word Seeds is a beautifully appointed reading comprehension game that families can’t get enough of. Each player goes through the gorgeous garden decoding words and planting seeds as they go. The game contains 3 levels of phonics flashcards to help develop different learning ages from 4 to 8. The best part is that parents and older siblings enjoy the game just as much as the littles – making it the perfect family-fun literacy game.
Every copy of Word Seeds includes 132 decodable words to play your way through. If kids need a sight word game, there’s a version of that, too. Kids then smoothly transition to this older version as their comprehension grows.
Scrabble Junior: Disney Junior Edition
Age: 5+ Players: 2-4 Time: 30 minutes
For kids ready to read, take on spelling, and explore language, Scrabble Junior: Disney Junior Edition is the ideal choice. The game is just like the original classic for grown-ups but geared specifically toward kids 5 and up. The game themes on Disney characters and fun for easy relatability for everyone with its lovely artwork featuring Minnie Mouse, the Puppy Dog Pals, Mickey Mouse, Mira, and others. Additionally, the game offers different ways of playing and using the Scrabble pieces, depending on their comprehension level, meaning the game ages with them. One side of the board works for letter matching. The other side plays more like the original game, with crossword-style word formation. It’s the perfect choice for early learners eager to pick up their first storybook.
Race Across the USA
Age: 8+ Players: 2-4 Time: 20-30 minutes
Combining geography and reading comprehension, Race Across America is the ideal game for adventurous families with kids 8 and up (some folks say as young as 6). The game comes from Scholastic and lives up to the reputation of the brand of highly educational and fun games they’ve created over the years.
In Race Across America, players must visit six states in the United States, answer geography questions, and race back home to claim the title. The questions are tailored to the grades of the children playing, as well, meaning you can easily have 3rd graders and 6th graders at play together, while still stumping the parents who’ve possibly forgotten their own geography since grade school. The game also encourages friendly competition and collaboration as kids join forces to win (or at least beat the parents). And with the vast available content for the 50 states, the game has loads of replayability and flexibility, no matter how often you play.
My First Bananagrams
Age: 4+ Players: 1-4 Time: 10-20 minutes
Designed specifically with young readers in mind, the classic game of Bananagrams now comes in the My First series. The game has the same basic principles of the original but with adjustments made to suit kids 4 and up. My First Bananagrams welcomes 1 to 4 players into the 10- to 20-minute game time, and uses lowercase letters for basic reading comprehension actions in a fun package.
The game actually aligns with early learning school curriculums and creates a step-by-step progression towards playing the full version of Bananagrams as their comprehension grows. You can easily play this game as a family, enjoying the love of learning and reading together, no matter how old you are.
Conclusion
Ready to take your kids on a reading adventure? Be sure to grab a few games for the journey! They won’t even realize they’re learning while having a total blast with games like Race Across America, Miss Bernard is a Wild Card, or Last Letter.
FAQ on Reading Comprehension Board Games
1. What age range are reading comprehension board games suitable for?
Reading comprehension board games are designed for a wide range of ages, typically from 4 to 8 years old. However, some games, like Last Letter and Race Across the USA, are suitable for children aged 8 and up.
2. How do reading comprehension board games benefit children?
These games help children develop essential skills such as spelling, vocabulary, reading, and language abilities. They also enhance comprehension skills through interactive and fun gameplay, making learning enjoyable and engaging.
3. Can the whole family participate in these board games?
Yes, most reading comprehension board games are designed for family participation. They offer various difficulty levels to accommodate different ages, allowing everyone to join in the fun and learning together.
4. Are there any board games that combine reading comprehension with other subjects?
Yes, games like Race Across the USA combine reading comprehension with geography, providing an educational experience that covers multiple subjects.
5. How do these games support a child’s learning outside of school?
Reading comprehension board games offer a playful approach to learning, helping children practice and reinforce skills learned in school. They provide an opportunity for children to develop their comprehension strategies and reading skills in a relaxed, enjoyable environment.