If you just want to quickly look at our Best Of Games List you can scroll down to game #1 Settlers of Catan.
What are the benefits of playing games with children or adults who have ADHD and Dyslexia?
Board games bring families closer together, encourage friendships, teach life skills, lengthen children’s attention spans, and develop the brain.
These amazing side effects of having fun together work for anyone, but kids with a diagnosis (ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder) should spend extra time playing games because this is by far the most fun way to improve executive functioning skills and attention spans!
Games can be used to lengthen your child’s attention span even if he/she doesn’t have a diagnosis. Maybe your child just needs to work on skills he/she will need to start school.
There are endless benefits your whole family can enjoy from playing games.
Taking time to sit down together as a family, putting your phones and electronics away for some screen free time, and playing board games that induce laughter are just a few of the benefits.
Eklöv Family’s Best Games List
To read Games Posts with more in-depth lists click on the buttons below
To read the ”Best Of” list scroll down
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These are all games that kids with ADHD and Dyslexia can play! Click below to see Posts.
Settlers of Catan
(Catan in Swedish)
This is one of our family’s favorite games.
We pared the kids up with an older cousin or adult when they were younger and they were able to play just fine.
When Lage who has ADHD was younger he struggled to play to the end when a game dragged on without anyone winning.
He can still have trouble finishing long games if we don’t impose a stopping time.
We think the game is more fun with the expansions. Our favorite expansions are Seafarers and Cities and Knights
If you don’t have this game you should definitely buy it!
The family edition of the game is a bit more affordable than other versions. The Game Nerdz have a great price on their website if you want to check it out. https://www.gamenerdz.com/catan-family-edition/?=78
Below is the link to the seafarers expansion if you would like to add it to your board game collection.
https://www.gamenerdz.com/catan-seafarers-expansion-on-sale-add-to-cart-to-see-price/?=78
To get the Cities and Knights expansion check out the link below https://www.gamenerdz.com/catan-cities-knights-expansion /’?=78
Dutch Blitz
(Dutch Blitz in Swedish)
The point of the game is to be the first to get rid of your card stockpile by making piles starting with one and ending with 10. It’s a fast paced game.
It’s fast paced enough that most ADHD kids don’t get bored and give up.
Livingstone
(Livingstone in Swedish)
This game is fun for the whole family. We started playing this game when our oldest kids were seven and ten. They still like this game although they are now ten and thirteen.
Livingstone doesn’t require much reading. We help our younger kids read although we are usually on different teams.
The Livingstone board game is rare
Practically the only place I can find this game for sale is on Amazon.
You can buy it on Amazon USA and have it shipped to Sweden, but unfortunately it’s way over priced at 65.99$. That is more than double what I paid for the game and it doesn’t include shipping.
If you are one of my readers from America you should have no trouble getting ahold of the game.
It’s a fun game if you can get ahold of a copy.
Chess
(Schack in Swedish)
In Sweden kids start playing Chess in math class in the fourth grade.
Chess tournaments are organized between different schools. Many kids in Sweden are motivated to learn Chess and think it’s a fun game.
My kids started playing Chess quite young with their grandpa.
Classic games that both older and younger generations know how to play are a great way to bridge the generational gap, and encourage spending time together without screens.
Chess can take forever if you have two advanced players, but kids who haven’t worked out an advanced strategy yet usually don’t take long to play.
Most kids learn how to play by playing with an adult who explains the rules as they play. If you have a child who likes to read they can read the rules.
Below is a link to Mickey Mouse chess. My kids keep asking for this chess set.
https://www.gamenerdz.com/chess-mickey-the-true-original-collectors-chess-set/?aff=78
Carcassonne
(Carcassonne in Swedish)
We play this game often.
My middle daughter (Maria) could play this game from the age of six with help from an adult, but she quickly caught on and could play with her older cousins without adult help.
The basic game is like putting a puzzle together, but there are endless combinations and you get points for making roads and cities among other things.
There are many expansions you can add to this game if you get tired of the original version.
Carcassonne is awesome if you have kids in a wide range of ages.
Interested in buying the game?
If you are thinking about buying this game I suggest buying all the expansions in the Big Box, it’ll save you money in the long run.
You can check out the link to the Carcassonne Big Box at the GameNerdz below.
https://www.gamenerdz.com/carcassonne-big-box-2017/?aff=78
They also sell My FIRST Carcassonne
https://www.gamenerdz.com/carcassonne-my-first-carcassonne/?aff=78
My daughter recently discovered a Carcassonne spin off game at a friends house called Carcassonne South Seas that she thought was fun. Check that out below.
https://www.gamenerdz.com/carcassonne-south-seas/?aff=78
Blokus
(Blokus in Swedish)
Board game from Mattel seems to be for sale in most countries.
This game is one that my daughter who is extremely dyslexic caught on to really quickly.
She was given this for Christmas one year. This game is a great gift.
Yahtzee
(Yatzy in Swedish)
This game helps kids recognize numbers on a dice which is thought to help kids understand how many items make up a number.
My older kids always play this game with an adult or older cousin because even though they are ten and thirteen their ADHD/ADD and Dyslexia makes keeping score in Yatzy overwhelming.
You need to read and do math to keep score in Yahtzee.
The need to do math problems or try to read while others are waiting on you makes my kids stress out.
My thirteen year old with ADHD predominantly hyper usually doesn’t have enough patience to finish the game.
He needs some encouragement to finish or we need call him back when it’s his turn.
My daughter who is ten and has ADHD predominantly inattentive really likes this game and can play several times in a row.
This game is great for kids with ADHD, ADD, and Dyslexia as long as there is a designated score keeper who doesn’t struggle with reading and math.
We take this game on outings to the beach.
Telestrations
(Ryktet Går in Swedish)
This game is similar to playing telephone where you whisper a sentence to the next person.
At the end of the line the sentence is misunderstood and becomes something completely different.
It’s the same concept. It’s just on paper.
My 13 year old started playing this game when he was nine.
He thought it was super fun to see how crazy the stories turned out in the end, so he purposely misunderstood sometimes to get a laugh out of everyone.
The best part of this game is that kids think it’s so fun they forget they are forced to read!
Rook
(This game isn’t really available in Sweden unless you buy it from a company in the USA that ships to Sweden. You many need to pay a toll to get your game released from the post office.)
I grew up playing this game whenever my mom’s family had a get together.
Rook was ‘The Game’ to know how to play.
I talked my grandma into teaching my brother and I how to play when I was five and my brother was three.
I still laugh when I remember my grandma answering a knock at the door while we were trying to play rook at her kitchen table.
I was partnered with my brother and my grandma had to play with a ‘Dummy’ a pile of cards turned upside down because we were one person short.
This was the only time I noticed my grandma was embarrassed.
When her neighbor who had been nice enough to bring grandma a pie asked what she was doing grandma replied she was playing Rook.
Her neighbor wanted to know who she was playing with and grandma couldn’t quite get herself to say she was playing with a three year old, a five year old, and a dummy!
The Rook card game is the perfect blend of strategy and luck.
The game requires some explaining the first few times you play, but it’s easiest to learn if you just try to play and learn as you go.
Once you know how to play it’s not hard.
Risk
(Risk in Swedish)
This game is for older kids.
My daughter who is ten and has ADD and Dyslexia hates this game.
My son who is 13 and has ADHD and Dyslexia loves this game. He is interested in World war I and II which could make the game more interesting for him.
Risk can take forever to play if you don’t set a time limit. It requires some reading, but you can have someone outside the game read the quest and generally be available if help is needed. The game doesn’t require much reading.
ADHD predominantly Hyper, Dyslexia and Games, Tips for Parents
My son was hyper as a child. He still is hyper, but his hyperness expresses itself in different ways now that he is 13.
It’s more like a nervous energy which takes on different forms.
When he was little he didn’t have the concentration skills to sit down and play a game.
If he wanted to be included in a board game we would call him to come whenever it was his turn.
He would run off to play between every turn. This is ok.
Even if your child is running off when it’s not his/her turn he will learn skills like turn taking from playing games.
Lage doesn’t have extreme dyslexia, and although he struggled to read for several years, it finally ‘Clicked’ and he now enjoys reading.
He was ten when he started reading more.
He is now thirteen and enjoys games that require reading like risk (if the game doesn’t take too long).
Some games may need an imposed stop time, so kids with ADHD/ADD know how long the game will take.
Lage can get fed up with even his favorite games if they drag on and on without a times limit.
ADHD Predominantly inattentive (ADD) and Dyslexia.
Things for parents to be aware of when playing games with children who have this combination of diagnoses.
My daughter is ten and a half and still struggles with reading.
When she was tested for dyslexia a couple years ago and they found, she had a more extreme form of this disorder.
I can’t expect her to play the same games or read the same books that her brother did at the same age.
Maria likes to play games, but she often insists on being paired up with an adult or older cousin when playing more advanced games like Settlers.
Having a partner when playing games helps her stay focused.
She can sometimes hyper focus on an aspect of the game that will not increase her chances of winning, or space out and not pay attention to important details which impact how well she does in the game.
When she has someone on her team they can redirect her or remind her of what is important.
This helps her lean the game and probably appeals to her competitive personality because it increases her chances of winning.
She doesn’t often run out of patience for games or run off between turns, but she doesn’t like to be in a position where she has to read publicly.
I think the pressure of having to read publicly in a time restraint makes her nervous and causes her to shut down and forget words.
Most of the time she automatically passes any cards to her partner who whispers them in her ear, if we are playing an advanced game that requires some reading.
She likes games, and I won’t pressure her to read when we play more advanced games because I don’t want to take the fun out of it.
If you can keep the fun, kids will learn anyway.
ADHD and Games, Tips for Parents
If your child has ADHD you may need to play short games at least to start with.
I suggest picking a game for your child that allows YOU (the parent or adult) to decide how long you will play the game.
If you child has a very short attention span, start with 5-10 minutes, then play the same game every day and increase the time by a minute a day.
This should slowly increase your child’s attention span.
When your child feels the game has become extremely boring, buy a new one or trade games with a friend.
Just remember that it must be a game where the players can adjust the time played.
If you want to play harder games let him/her run off between turns as long as he is in earshot and can easily be called back to take his/her turn.
Dyslexia and Games, Tips for Parents
If your child struggles with reading, explain the rules of a new game, the first few times you play.
Hopefully your kids will soon remember the rules and will be able play with a friend, without the need for your help.
When you have kids with dyslexia or other reading disorders you have to take into consideration that games which require large amounts of reading will not work for them unless you pair them with an adult.
Some games won’t work at all if they can’t read by themselves.
Gestures is one game that comes to mind. It requires quick reading. We tried this game with Maria and it was a disaster.
If you have an older child who struggles with reading, you can buy a game for younger kids which requires some reading, but doesn’t overwhelm the child.
This is a good way to sneak in some reading that your child won’t find frustrating.
If the game is at their actual reading level but every once in a while adds just a little bit of a challenge then you have found the right game.
A teacher friend recommended different forms of Lotto or Bingo Lotto, like simple words Lotto or Building Language lotto.
I even saw a learning phonics Lotto!
Other games that require just a little reading are Headbandz, Charades, Telestrations, and Basic Settlers.
Check out my other posts about games we love for different age groups. Click below.
10 Games 3-6 year olds, with ADHD and Dyslexia, can play!
15 Awesome Games for 5-7 year olds, with ADHD and Dyslexia!
20 Amazing Games for 7-10 year olds with ADHD/ADD and Dyslexia!
Games transform Kids
My family likes to play these games despite ADHD, ADD, and Dyslexia. We adapted all our games posts into categories by age.
If you need book tips or more information check out our page OUR FAVORITE RESOURCES. Our Favorite Resources
(Source) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200504/laughter-the-best-medicine
(Source) https://www.harborsidewb.com/
(Source) https://bpsmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13030-019-0146-3
Copyright Annie Eklöv