Are you looking for games that your kids can play with their friends and family whether they are in the same room or miles apart? You’re in luck! Some of the best games for kids can be played both over a video-call or in the same room.
We’re not all lucky enough to have the people we love close by, but we can find ways to help your kids build relationships with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, regardless of distance. Keep reading for some of the best two-player games for kids to build these relationships and keep them coming back for more.
1. Hide And Seek
“Ready or not, here I come!” Are there six words more synonymous with childhood than these? Kids love hide and seek – the counting, the hiding, the suspense of being caught, the searching, and the victory of finding their opponents. Kids can play this game for hours, often hiding in the same spots, and it’s a great game for two people.
If you are playing with a toddler, they are notoriously bad at hiding, typically doing nothing more than covering their eyes. Yet, it’s still a great game to play with them. It helps strengthen their balance, coordination, and problem-solving skills.
Creativity comes into play when you are playing hide and seek over a video-call. Instead of hiding yourselves, each of you can find a stuffed animal or little figure to hide. Grandma, you look away from the screen (either on your mobile device or tablet), while your little one hides their toy.
When they are finished, you can ask them to bring you around the room to find the toy. It’s best to lay out some ground rules though, like staying in one room. Trust us on this one!
2. Snowman
For kids who are reading and writing, Snowman is a great game to introduce to them (for those of you older than 10, it’s pretty much the game formerly known as Hangman). Whatever you end up calling it, this game helps reinforce spelling words, vocabulary, and improves logic skills.
Snowman is played by one person writing dashes on a piece of paper (or a blank drawing sheet if you are on a video-call) to represent each letter in the word or phrase. For example, if your word is F-A-M-I-L-Y, there would be six dashes.
Next, the other player starts guessing letters. If they get it correct, add the letter on the appropriate dash. If they get it wrong, add a piece to the snowman.
As for how to draw a snowman, each letter you get wrong, you add on another piece of the snowman. Here is the order:
- Big circle for the bottom
- Middle circle
- Small circle for the head
- Stick for the left arm
- Stick for the right arm
- Hat
- Left eye
- Right eye
- Smile or a frown
In the classic hangman game, there were nine mistakes available, and the same goes for snowman!
3. Follow The Leader
As many of us know, kids love to boss grownups around! Follow the leader is a fun game to let them have a little control but also teaches them how to follow directions. If you are in the same room together, you can walk around doing the same things.
If the leader kicks their foot out with each step and shouts “floofy fluffy!” the follower should do the same. Whatever silly movements or sounds the leader makes must be followed!
Follow the leader is such a fun game to play virtually, as well. On the next video-call your child has with their Aunt Ashley, suggest playing the virtual version of this game. Whatever the little one does, the grownup must do.
If you have a stand for your device, this may be a good time to use it. You can stand up, sit down, move your arms, make silly faces and make funny noises.
4. 20 Questions
What kid doesn’t love to ask questions? In this game, you can put their question-asking to the test. One person picks a word (any word will do), but keep your audience in mind.
If you are playing with a five-year-old, you’ll want to keep the words within their vocabulary level. Choose something fun like soccer, different action heroes and their foes, or even something as simple as a banana that you spot over in the kitchen. Once the word is chosen, the other person starts asking yes or no questions. They have 20 questions to see if they can guess the word.
If you are playing with a little one four or younger, you may want to switch this game up a bit and give them clues for the word you chose. You can even give them a storyline to help give them clues. If there is more than one child, they can use teamwork to figure it out.
This is a fun game for the car, at a restaurant, or even over a video-call. It is engaging for little ones, and it doesn’t require a lot of movement.
5. Freeze Dance
We love a good dance party! Put on your kids’ favorite music (whatever they are fans of) and watch them wiggle and shake. We feel pretty confident that it will probably be the cutest thing you have seen all week. Dancing is incredible for kids because it helps strengthen the body, improves coordination, stimulates the mind, and brings out their creativity.
Freeze Dance is one of those fun multiplayer games. Whether you are in the same room or interacting over video-chat, you play it by starting your music.
After a minute or so, stop the music, and when it stops, everyone must FREEZE! The poses you and your little one will end up making can turn out super funny, triggering a ton of belly laughs. The game continues like that until everyone is all danced out. In this game, everyone’s a winner!
6. Memory
If you are looking for a game that can boost your own concentration and focus along with your child’s, memory is a perfect game. In this game, there are cards laid face down and you take turns flipping them over, trying to find a match.
When you find a match, you get to go again. The game continues until all the matches are found. Whoever finds the most matches wins!
Are you wondering how you can play this game over a video-call? Don’t worry, that is where Caribu comes in! Memory is one of the many games your child can play while talking to their loved ones.
7. I Spy
We love games with our kids that are fun to play, help them learn, and improve their focus. I Spy does it all! In this game, one person finds an object in the room and says “I spy with my little eye, something green!”
Of course, you can choose any color. Then, the other player gets to guess what the “green” object could be. Once they guess it, they get to choose the item to guess.
If you are playing with an older child, you can mix it up by using letters. For example, if you see an apple, you can say “I spy something that starts with A!”
If you are playing through video-chat, instead of choosing something in your house that you can see, choose something that you see through the screen. When you choose something where they are, you know for sure that it’s something they can also see.
8. Rock, Paper, Scissors
In this classic game, all you need are your hands. Rock is a fist, paper is a flat hand, and scissors look like a peace sign. Once you have your hand motions down, you both say, “rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” and turn your hand into one of the three objects.
Who wins? Well, rock smashes scissors, paper covers rock, and scissors cuts paper. Kids love this repetitive game, and it helps improve their hand coordination.
This game is simple to play on video-chat; just make sure your hand is visible to the other player. How does the game end? You can play for as long as you want! Best out of three, or best out of 33. As long as everyone is having fun, you should keep playing!
9. Spot The Difference
If you are looking for a game at the end of the day to settle everyone down, Spot the Difference is a great option. You and your little one can snuggle up and spot the differences on one of our many spot the difference pages.
Or, your little one can end the day with a call to grandpa playing Spot the Difference. Instead of being up and running all around with some other games, when they play Spot the Difference they can sit, relax, and concentrate on the game. Bonus: they will love spending time with one of their favorite grownups!
Let’s Get Playing
Whichever game you decide to play with your little one, they will love the extra attention they get from you. If your child is playing these games over video-chat with a loved one, it will help them stay more engaged and build strong relationships, even if they are miles away.
If you need some quick games that are family-friendly for a game night besides what we listed in this article, check out this list:
- Board games
- Origami (available on Caribu)
- Checkers
- Scavenger hunts (available on Caribu)
- Chess
- Puzzles
- Card games
- A dice game
- Magic tricks
- Battleships
- Strategy games
- Outdoor adventures
- Obstacles
- Tic-tac-toe (available on Caribu)
Caribu loves bringing families together in a fun, engaging way. With any game you choose, bring us in for the fun. We have memory games, puzzles, sticker activities, Spot the Difference, blank coloring sheets, and MORE to make all of these games come to life for the whole family!
Sources:
Young children are terrible at hiding – psychologists have a new theory why > News | USC Dornsife
Here’s Why Dancing Is So Good For Kids | Goodnet
Fun and (Brain) Games | Harvard Graduate School of Education