The image matters as much as the count. Scenes with plenty of variety, such as busy street scenes or landscapes with lots of colour, give you clear areas to work on and tend to feel achievable. puzzles and games that are all one colour, or that repeat a pattern, are far harder because you cannot rely on the picture, so save those for someone who likes a proper challenge.
Christmas is when board games and puzzles earn their keep. With the family together and a stretch of quiet days, a good game gets everyone off their phones and round the table, from the youngest cousin to the grandparents. The trick is having a mix ready: a quick game for the afternoon lull, a party game for the evening and a puzzle for someone who wants a quiet corner.
Solo puzzle games are useful when you need to keep one child occupied without a second player. The Genius Square and Genius Star are self-contained, so a child can roll, place and solve on a tray table or a picnic blanket without anyone else joining in. Card games such as Flip 7, available from The Happy Puzzle Company, come into their own when the whole family wants a quick round at a campsite or in a holiday cottage.
Snakes and Ladders is one of the first board games most children learn, and for good reason. The rules could not be simpler: roll the dice, move your counter, climb a ladder if you land at the foot of one and slide back down if you meet a snake. There is no reading and no strategy to master, so even three and four-year-olds can join in and stand a fair chance of winning.
Playing time is worth checking before you start. Many escape games run for around an hour to ninety minutes, so it helps to set aside a clear evening rather than squeezing one in. Some are single-use, where you mark or fold the components as you go, while others can be reset and passed on to friends once you have finished, which is handy if you want to share the fun.
Fast games are the backbone of the evening. Card and tile games such as Flip 7 and Mobi play in a few minutes, so a child who loses a round is straight back in for the next one. Dexterity and throwing games like Tossit get everyone up and moving, which helps if the little ones have been sitting still for a while. These are all available from The Happy Puzzle Company alongside its own titles.
Christmas is when board games and puzzles earn their keep. With the family together and a stretch of quiet days, a good game gets everyone off their phones and round the table, from the youngest cousin to the grandparents. The trick is having a mix ready: a quick game for the afternoon lull, a party game for the evening and a puzzle for someone who wants a quiet corner.
Solo puzzle games are useful when you need to keep one child occupied without a second player. The Genius Square and Genius Star are self-contained, so a child can roll, place and solve on a tray table or a picnic blanket without anyone else joining in. Card games such as Flip 7, available from The Happy Puzzle Company, come into their own when the whole family wants a quick round at a campsite or in a holiday cottage.
Snakes and Ladders is one of the first board games most children learn, and for good reason. The rules could not be simpler: roll the dice, move your counter, climb a ladder if you land at the foot of one and slide back down if you meet a snake. There is no reading and no strategy to master, so even three and four-year-olds can join in and stand a fair chance of winning.
Playing time is worth checking before you start. Many escape games run for around an hour to ninety minutes, so it helps to set aside a clear evening rather than squeezing one in. Some are single-use, where you mark or fold the components as you go, while others can be reset and passed on to friends once you have finished, which is handy if you want to share the fun.
Fast games are the backbone of the evening. Card and tile games such as Flip 7 and Mobi play in a few minutes, so a child who loses a round is straight back in for the next one. Dexterity and throwing games like Tossit get everyone up and moving, which helps if the little ones have been sitting still for a while. These are all available from The Happy Puzzle Company alongside its own titles.