Best for ages 3 to 5

What kids learn: To take turns, count spaces, and accept rewards and consequences.

The basics: Spin the wheel to move your pawn up the board. Land at the base of a ladder and you get to climb up. But if you stop at the top of a chute, you'll slide back down.

Keep in mind: At this age, games are more about the journey than the destination. Your kid may actually want to go down the ladder. Let him.

Game tip: "For a preschooler, this game could evolve into an elaborate fantasy, or he may get bored and quit in the middle," says Parents advisor Kathleen McCartney, PhD, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.