10 Best Board Games for the Upper Elementary Classroom

Board games are great for the elementary classroom! If you are looking for the perfect gift for an upper elementary classroom, this Best Board Games Gift Guide is just what you need! Not only are the games on this list great for rainy days when indoor recess is the only option, but they also provide some fun ways to practice academic skills.

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There have been many times when I was looking for an engaging way to review a particular concept, and board games saved the day! For example, it is quite easy to set up a math center where students complete problems and earn a turn on the game if their answer to a problem is correct. Trust me…your students will work very carefully to make sure they get the right answer, just so they can have a chance to pull a Jenga block from the stack!

I asked upper elementary teachers in my Facebook groups, Fourth and Fifth Grade Chalk Talk and Ultimate Upper Elementary Teachers (by the way, you might love these groups…feel free to join up!) what their best board games for the classroom were, and I was not surprised to see that our answers were very similar!

Here are the top 10 board games for the elementary classroom!

Headbandz — Students love this fun game that has them narrowing down answers with logical question-asking strategies!

Jenga — Use skill, strategy, and luck to build the tower of blocks as high as possible without bringing it crashing down.

Connect 4 — Kids have enjoyed this game for years…it never gets old! What a great game for helping students develop strategic thinking!

Guess Who! — This easy-to-set-up game requires students to ask the right questions to narrow down their guesses to find the mystery character. This one was a favorite activity in my own classroom!

Battleship — Studying coordinate points and grids? This game is a great way to practice and master that math skill!

Mancala — Kids love the challenge of this ancient strategy game.

Trouble — Children race to be the first player to send all 4 of their pieces all the way around the game board.

UNO — Any list of the best games for the classroom would not be complete without the classic card game of UNO!

Tapple— Students will love this fast word game that is fun for everyone.

Blokus — The perfect strategy game that takes just a couple of minutes to learn!

Not sure you want to gift a board game?  Then check out these other Great Teacher gift ideas!

What do you consider the best board games that are not listed here? I’d love to hear about it! Please share in the comments!

Happy Teaching!