Christmas Present Ideas: Gifts For Kids Who Love Puzzles

This was a hit with my 5-year-old-nephew — and with the rest of the family, as this got passed around and around on Christmas Day last year. The maze track inside runs in all directions, so you’ll need a steady handy to gently turn the maze through 360° to reach the end without the ball falling off! There are others available in the series, so as your dexterity increases, you can step up the complexity of the challenge too.

Rebecca

Mapominoes is an addictive geographical card game for two to five players aged eight and over. As the name suggests, it’s essentially dominoes with maps.

The playing cards are dealt out, with the final one turned face-up on the table. Each card has a map of a European country, with common borders listed round its sides. Players take turns to lay a map card on the table next to its neighbouring country. There are also ‘transit’ cards to overcome seas and oceans and to make up for oopsies in play. Rounds are won by playing out your hand.

Read the ‘Strategy Hints & Tips’ section in the official rules sheet. This will give you some tactics from the off. Don’t let your competitive sibling steal a march on you by keeping it to themselves!

This game hits the sweet spot on the fun/educational continuum. As with all good games, you need a dollop of skill and a dash of luck to win. If you love Mapominoes Europe, there’s a whole world of Mapominoes editions to discover: Asia & Australasia, Africa, Americas, USA, UK counties… World domination awaits!

Anne

Using a pen and paper is so yesterday! OK, that might be a little OTT, but trying to get kids off screens for a game of boxes or hangman, say, might be a challenge you’re not up for. But if you have a great affection for Battleship — a pen and paper classic — Hasbro have come to the rescue.

In this new design, two combat boards combine smartly into a perfectly-portable, handled case, which contains all you need for this war of wits, stealth, strategy and, let’s face it, luck. Position your fleet then, armed with your hit and miss pegs, face your opponent and get sinking!

There’s lots of fun to be had and it can even get a bit exciting as the tension builds. Great for all ages, it’s novelty for the youngsters and nostalgia for the grown-ups. Win, win.

Cheryl

Another oldie but goodie is Connect 4. It’s essentially noughts and crosses in 3-D with sound effects.

Introduce the youngsters in your life to the satisfying chink of a happy yellow or determined red counter dropping into the vibrant blue grid of holes, and the harmonious clatter of those colours all crashing onto the table at the end of another tense, four-in-a-row showdown. Bliss.

These games are still kicking around for a reason. It’s time to show the kids why.

Cheryl

Bananagrams is a simple, fast, fun word game for two or more players aged seven and over. Like Scrabble tiles, the 144 letter squares are satisfyingly substantial. We also love the jaunty banana-shaped letter pouch!

The aim of the game is to be the first to get out all the letters in your hand, by forming words horizontally or vertically on your own word grid. You race against your opponents to play out your letters. There’s a draw pile where you can dump difficult letters (V!) by exchanging them for three new letters. Not allowed are proper nouns, abbreviations and misspelt words: don’t be a Rotten Banana!

Nominate a dictionary from the get-go to avoid validity squabbles. Check out variations on the classic game in the rule sheet. For peace and quiet to do your Christmas Eve present wrapping, we recommend the ‘Best of 10’ challenge. If your lot absolutely love anagrams and can’t get enough of being Top Banana, try the puzzle book Bananagrams! For Kids, for children aged seven and over.

Anne

This cute robot comes in many colours and guises – including a skeleton version and a dog. A wooden robot, connected with elastic, it can be shaped in loads of different poses and folds back into a neat cube.

Perfect for fidgeting with for children or adults, this one’s on my son’s Christmas list!

Christine

Is it a quiz? Is it a word game? It’s both! Qwordie is a neat little game for two or more players aged 14 and over. The aim is to be the first player to collect letter tiles to spell out the correct answer to a quiz question. The winner of each round gets to stack their tiles towards a winning line on the game tin. The game is won when the winning line is passed by a tile stack.

There are levelling mechanisms built in, such as steals and blanks, which make the game more evenly matched and interesting. Keep an eagle eye on your opponent’s hand so you can steal, block and gamble with aplomb. Relish their bafflement when you bluff!

My edition dates to around 2016. Most of the quiz questions are ageless, for example animal signs of the zodiac; others have been carefully worded so they don’t date. This can be a bit of a test of memory, for example Wimbledon Men’s Final winners between 2003 and 2014. I’d therefore recommend this game for competitive spirits of a similar vintage.

Anne

With a simple search and find premise, paired with plenty of unicorn magic, Where’s the Unicorn? is a great way to introduce the little ones to the world of puzzling.

Searching 17 bright and colourful scenes for the seven unicorns, plus 10 extra hidden items, will keep the kids occupied without a screen in sight!

And if unicorns aren’t really their thing, there are plenty of other themes to choose from, like Where’s the Dinosaur? Or Where’s the Meerkat? Or even Where’s Santa’s Reindeer? for a really festive adventure.

Darralyn

This classic saw my family through lots of games nights many years ago, and is still going strong.

Ideal for 8 years and above, it builds confidence, is secretly educational and never gets tired – as the combinations are endless. Highly recommended.

There’s also a Boggle Junior Letters version if you’re buying for younger kids and you don’t want them to miss out on the fun!

Christine