If you’re looking for super fun games for your little one to play virtually, we have you covered. Playing games can help keep kids engaged when video-chatting with their loved ones.
It’s also a fun way to connect with their friends or family who may live too far away to get together often. Luckily, with Caribu, your kids have a safe place to video-chat and play games.
Here is our list of 10 fun games for kids to play on video-chat apps!
1. Connect Four
You may be thinking, Connect Four? Don’t you need little checker pieces and a special gameboard for that? Actually, no! We’ve created an online version that is easy to play while video-chatting. This game is a perfect starter game for young gamers.
The two players need to simply pick their favorite color to mark the circles on the board. Each player then takes turns marking a spot on the board. Make sure to start at the bottom of the board, and build your way up. The first person to get four in a row (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) wins!
2. Tile Puzzles
Does your kid love puzzles? On their next video-call with grandma, they can pick a tile puzzle to solve together. There are many puzzles to choose from: some with a picture of their favorite character, and others that are cute holiday-specific puzzles.
Once the players pick their puzzle, the rest is easy! You play the tile puzzle game by touching the tile piece you want to move, and then touching the space you want to move it to. This continues until you solve the puzzle!
3. Tic Tac Toe
One of the first strategy games kids play is Tic Tac Toe. Even though this game has been around for centuries, it’s still a favorite for kids today. Now, they can play this game over video-chat with their family. Simply pull up a Tic Tac Toe sheet and start playing!
Before you start playing Tic Tac Toe, pick someone to be Os and another to be Xs. On the grid (think large hashtag), take turns marking the squares with your assigned symbol. The first person to get three in a row wins! This game is great for kids as early as three, even if they don’t quite understand the strategies behind the game.
4. Hidden Objects
If your kids love “look and find” books, they can now play the hidden objects game over video-chat. On Caribu, there are many hidden object sheets to choose from. The goal of this game is to find all of the hidden objects in the picture. Hidden object pages range from easy to more challenging. This game is more cooperative than competitive, meaning you work together to find the objects.
5. Word Maker
How many new words can you make out of “bumblebee?” In the word maker game, your child and their virtual opponent (or partner) will see how many words they can come up with. To make it a fun game, they can come up with words secretly, and after their allotted time is over, they can see who came up with more words. Or, they can work together to build new words. Whatever makes the game more fun for you both!
6. Mazes
Kids love mazes. Finding their way through the twists and turns in a maze to find the end is very exciting! We have many different mazes with a variety of difficulty levels. Kids can work together with their aunt over a video-call to find the way out of the maze, or they can video-chat with their grandpa and show him how they can solve the maze on their own!
7. Pictionary
It’s time to test those drawing skills! For your child’s next video-call with their cousin, set up a Pictionary game. On Caribu, there is a Pictionary page that has a list of words to draw. You can also use a “Blank Drawing Sheet” and each player comes up with their own words to draw for the other person.
To play Pictionary, players take turns drawing different items, and the other player must guess what the drawing is. Pictionary can be very helpful with reviewing vocabulary words or spelling words. If you’re looking for more words to draw, pull out their spelling or vocabulary lists for some inspiration!
8. Dots And Boxes Game
One game that kids can play over and over again over video-chat is Dots and Boxes. Click on the Dots and Boxes sheet to start. You’ll see a grid of simple dots. The way to play this game is to take turns connecting two dots with a vertical or horizontal line.
If you’re the one to complete a one-by-one box, put your initial in that box. If you complete a box, you also get to draw another line. Continue playing until there are no more dots to connect. Each player adds up their number of completed boxes, and whoever has the most boxes wins!
9. Memory
A favorite game to play over video-chat is memory. Everyone loves it, as it’s simple for kids to understand, and adults usually have fond memories of playing when they were young. On Caribu, there are many different memory games to choose from.
To play memory, simply take turns trying to find matches by touching the tiles to “flip them over.” If the tiles you flip over match, you get to go again! If not, simply flip them back over, and it’s the next player’s turn. Continue this until all of the matches are found. The person with the most matches at the end of the game wins!
10. Scavenger Hunt
If your little one likes to move around instead of sitting in one spot during a video-call, scavenger hunts are likely the game for them. While they’re having a video-call with their loved ones, pull up one of our indoor scavenger hunt pages. Scavenger hunts are great for independent exploration, critical thinking, and problem-solving!
With each item they bring back, they can show it to their uncle and talk about what they found. Did they find something soft? What did they find? Why did they choose that item? The grownup in the game can ask these questions to start a conversation with the little one. Scavenger hunts give the kids room to roam, and the adults a chance to engage with them, building their bond with one another.
Conclusion
The next time you have a video-call planned, pull out this list and pick an entertaining game for your little one to play with their family! No matter your child’s age, there’s sure to be a game for them.
They can choose from cooperative games, where they work together to solve a problem, or they can choose more competitive games where the goal is to have a single winner.. No matter what type of game they choose, they’re sure to have loads of fun on their next video-call!
You bring the family, and Caribu will bring the fun! On our app, you can video-call with your friends and family, and challenge them to an epic game tournament!
Sources:
Tic-Tac-Toe | Iowa Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education
Using a Modified Version of Pictionary to Help Students Review Course Material | NCBI