How do you make educational board games for sixth graders?  Board games are kinda out of style since the invention of the psp’s, xbox’s and the wii but educational board games can be fun if constructed with color, intrigue and interest.

There is a wealth of information about board games on BoardGameGeek.com.  So I did a cursory search for games marked as "Educational" published since 2000, and here are some results:

In addition, a couple of games that I like very well which teach good spatial reasoning skills:

Blokus – Players attempt to get rid of all of their pieces by playing them on a grid. The only key is that a player’s pieces must be placed so they touch at least one corner of one of their existing pieces, but cannot touch one of their own pieces along a face. Teaches visualization, strategy, and tactics. A very fun game that can be enjoyed by young and old. Available at mass merchants such as Target.

Rumis – Players are again getting rid of pieces by adding them to the board.. but the pieces in this one are three-dimensional. Players are placing pieces onto the board, but must place the pieces so that they touch at least one of their other pieces along a face. Teaches visualization, strategy, and tactics. A very fun game that can be enjoyed by young and old. Available at mass merchants such as Target.

Ubongo – Players have a set of "tetris" pieces, and are given a series of puzzle boards where the player must make the selected pieces fit within the figure before the timer runs out. Teaches visualization, strategy, and tactics. A very fun game that can be enjoyed by young and old. Available at specialty game stores.

If you don’t have time to create a board game here are some great educational board games that sixth graders as well as you and your family can enjoy!

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