100 Games for Gifted Kids
Games for Gifted Children
As a homeschool mom to a gifted child I’m always on the lookout for items that will keep my son engaged, inspired and not bored. Gifted children tend to get bored quickly. Because they can analyze, adapt and master challenges at a quicker rate the challenge that at one time was fun and exciting quickly can become old hat. Inspiring your child with games for gifted kids that are challenging is a great way to keep them motivated.
Finding ways to challenge gifted kids can be overwhelming. That’s why today I’m offering you 100 Games that can challenge gifted minds. You’ll find affiliate links to most of the games which will take you to external sites where you can purchase any game that might be a great challenge for your child.
This post contains affiliate advertisement links.
100 Games for Gifted Kids
App Games for Gifted
Love them or hate them apps are a regular part of our lives these day. Rather than turning your heart away from them, perhaps it’s time to embrace app games so your gifted kids can be challenged again and again, with little, if any, expense.
- Geo Bee Challenge
- Hidden Object: Mystery Estate
- Hidden Object: Mystery Guardian
- Kookie – Tangram
- Minecraft
- Pegland
- SCRATCH (online)
- Simple Physics
- Unblock
- X Construction
Building Games for Gifted
There’s something to be said about letting little hands explore building. It serves as a foundation for understanding engineering principles. The best teacher is experience and building games put experience right in the palms of their hands.
Card Games for Gifted
Card games are great for helping gifted kids develop social skills. That’s because many card games are played in groups of two or more. Anytime you can get your gifted kids involved in gaming together they’ll naturally start to talk to each other.
Classic Games for Gifted
We often prefer new and improved. But, sometimes the best games are the classic games that have been tried and true. These time tested classic games are great for gifted kids because they require using logic and reasoning to complete.
- 3 Way Circular Chess
- 4 Way Chess
- Backgammon
- Chess
- Chinese Checkers
- Mancala
- Peg Game
- Rack-o
- Scrabble
- Simon
- Stick Bombs
Educational Games for Gifted
Let’s face it, sometimes gifted kids find traditional learning to be boring. But, you can encourage them to learn many things through educational games. I’m listing a few here, but there are many more, this is certainly not an exhaustive list.
- 10 Days Geography Game Series
- American Trivia
- Australian Managerie
- Aristotle’s Number Puzzle
- Carcassonne
- DaVinci’s Challenge
- Dominion
- Equation
- Qwixx
- Rory’s Story Cubes
- Scrambled States of America
- Timeline
- Hoppers
- Robot Turtles
- Zingo!
- Paradox Box
Logic, Strategy & Tactic Games for Gifted
Gifted kids and logic and strategy games go together like peanut butter and jelly. It just makes sense. That’s because these kids simply have great logic skills. So finding ways to challenge them means introducing strategy games on a regular basis.
- Abalone
- Blokus
- Brain String
- Chaos
- Color Stix
- Dizios
- Gravity Maze
- Iota
- IQ Twist
- Linja
- Q-Bitz
- Qwirkle
- Qwirkle Cube
- String Railway
- Swish
- Tetris Stress Blocks
- Tic Tac Ku Red and White
- Zertz
Maze Games for Gifted
What’s funner than a maze? I know my son has been thrilled with every maze he’s ever had his hands on. The Perplexus series were especially a big hit for him.
Single Player Games
Gifted kids can often also be introverts. Also, it can be difficult to find a counterpart to match them wit for wit. So, single player games can cause them to be challenged without the pressure of feeling like they have to stress over the social aspect of gaming.
- Brick by Brick
- Block by Block
- Colorku
- Craniatics
- DaVinci’s Helicopter Puzzle
- Gordians Knot
- Moonscape
- Noodlers
- Quadrillion
- Rush Hour
- Shape by Shape
- Solitaire Chess
- Unhinged
Word Games
Word games can be challenging. And, sometimes gifted kids find them to be super thrilling. They love the challenge of discovering obscure words
- Dabble
- Hit or Miss
- Jumbalaya
- Konexi
- Last Letter
- Smart Mouth
- Word a Round
- Word on the Street
- Yottsugo
I want to hear from you. What games seem most exciting for your gifted kid? What games did I miss that should be on the list? Join the conversation and share your favorite gifted games in comments.
You May Also Enjoy
- Discovering Gifted Education
- 100+ Resources for Homeschooling Gifted Kids
- 100+ Resources for Homeschooling Gifted Kids
This post is a part of the iHomeschool Network 100 Things Link Up. Visit iHN and take a look at all of the other fantastic linkups who also are sharing 100 Things.
15 Comments
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Rhonda Wilson-Williams
I teach Kindergarten. I have 18 kiddos this year. 8 are in the high to gifted range, so I needed info and help on how to reach and teach them. Thank you so much for the resources!
Renee Aleshire Brown
You are very welcome.
Simply Inspired by Tiffany
This looks really cool, I will check out some of these games with the kids.
Korinn
What about mastermind?
Renee Aleshire Brown
Oh that is a good game! I haven’t played it in years, but yes it’s excellent.
Mastermind: http://amzn.to/2pPqshB
Josh Shaine
Mastermind (whether 4 or 5 space versions) is a color variant of a game called Bulls and Cows, which uses the 10 digits the same way. A bull is a right number in the right place, while a cow is a right number in a wrong place.
There is also the word version of this, called Jotto. I was taught it with 5 letter words, but you can play with 4 or 10 or whatever! (10 letter Jotto is very challenging!) One player comes up with a word of X length. The other player(s) guess words of that length, rather than random combinations of letters, to try to narrow down the options and solve the puzzle. Rules for repeat letters vary, household to household. And usually we only tell how many letters are right, not whether their places are right or not.
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I was surprised to not see Set on your list of card games.
I was less surprised to not see Chrononauts, though I think it belongs there. You might also check out Once Upon a Time. And continuing on with card games, Dixit is a ton of fun, whether or not one is gifted.
One of the easiest options for the chess playing is to go to the Chess Variants websites and check those out! Lots of fun fairy chess versions to explore.
And… if you are not afraid of losing friends, I love Diplomacy.
Renee
Thanks Josh! These are some great tips. Some of which I’ve known about and others I did not. Love when readers share additional tips!! I also really like Coup, but when I was making the list I didn’t remember the name of it.
Nanette Smith
Add the card game, ‘Set’ to your list; excellent game!
Renee
Oh yes! Great game thanks for the reminder.
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loved fixer
Such games are very useful for the development of the most diverse abilities of your child and will be able to very much interest and train him in the game.
Renee
Totally! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Jimmy Posso
Nice website
Nikki Kiger
I agree- add Set! Also, I just ordered Forbidden Island- won Mensa’s Favorite Brainy Game 2010. I am excited to add this to my collection.