15+ Household Items to use in Place of Board Game Pieces

While we haven't lost any of our game pieces, I know a lot of people do and then end up throwing the entire game away or just never play it. We ended up using Barbie shoes as our pieces the other day and it inspired me to make a list of things that could be used in place of game pieces.

1. Barbie shoes
2. Barbie or other pretend food (we used our cakes from Strawberry Shortcake's baking set another time)
3. Little People if the game spaces are big enough (or other characters from toy sets, Octonauts, Sofia's family, etc)
4. Coins, this can also be good for discussing the differences between the coins when each member of the family has a different one
5. Polly Pocket clothes
6. Pieces of candy
7. Legos
8. Pieces from other games
9. Bits of broken crayon
10. Different colored paper clips
11. Calico Critters babies
12. Dyed uncooked pasta in different colors
13. Water bottle caps in different colors or with symbols drawn on them
14. Little pieces of paper with stickers stuck to them
15. Old marker caps
16. Beads
17. Different colored plastic straws cut down to size

for a list of my favorite board games for preschoolers, refer to this previous post.

Family Game Nights with Our Preschooler

Family Game Nights are some of my favorite nights there are! Playing board games with your children is often a great way to get some learning in in a really fun way! They can learn math concepts, taking turns, following rules, and how to be a good sport. That last one is important to be learned at home before they're playing games with friends and get upset if they loose the game. You can also teach strategies and things of that nature!

Not only are board games excellent for learning, but having family game nights helps the family to bond too. It can be made a tradition and just another way to make sure you always remain close with your children even when they're teens. It's great family time to get people talking and laughing together.

Some of my favorite family game night games we have for our preschooler:

1. Candy Land! This game is a classic!

2. Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Grr-ific Game. Based on the popular PBS Kids show Daniel Tiger this game is great to get kid's acting things out, and talking about emotions. It's a great first version of charades I think.

3. This game says it's for ages 6 and up but don't miss out on playing it with your preschooler! You'll have to explain it to them and give them some pointers along the way, but that's true to any game! I really enjoy playing this game with my daughter! I find it's one adults can enjoy a lot. Here's a link to purchase a similar version.

4. Twister Moves! This is supposed to be for much older kids to play together but we have fun trying out best at it just us!

5. Don't Break the Ice is totally a classic that kids really enjoy! Makes a great gift for a 3 year old. 

6. Cranium Hullabaloo is so much fun! It's an active game to get the kids moving and burn off some energy!

7. Hungry Hungry Hippos is a game that goes quick and is sure to bring laughs from the kiddos and even the adults!

8. Chutes and Ladders is good for building math skills and also talking about some behaviors that can be rewarding or have consequences. 

9. We have quite a few different versions of memory, we have a Minnie Mouse one, Doc McStuffins, and then some I have made myself. Any version is super fun and exercises the brain! Here's a link to a big selection 

10. We also like to play Bop It! We have an older version than this one, but still

11. We have an old version of Simon that's fun as well, but here's the new one

Some more games we hope to incorporate in our family game nights soon:

1. Monopoly Junior 

2. Disney Princess Enchanted Cupcake Game


3. Educational Insights The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game


4. WordTeasers - Small Fry



There is also many ways to make your own board games! Here's several ideas