Eight-year-old boys and girls are curious and love to learn, which is why educational toys make such great gifts. Looking for some brilliant educational games for 8-year-olds? We’ve asked our expert panel for their top picks from mind-boggles IQ puzzles to brain teasers to art sets, here are some of their recommendations!
Top Games and Puzzles
- Horrible Histories the Board Game
- Through Others Eyes – Optical Science Kit
- This or That 50/50 guessing game
- Timeline – which came first?
- Engenius Contraptions – Perpetual Marble Run
- Matchstick Puzzles
- Dog Crimes – who’s to blame?
- Human Body Cube Book
- Go Genius World
- IQ Circuit
1Horrible Histories the Board Game, £19.95£19.95
A hilarious journey through the past
Based on the popular book series, this board game provides history lessons and laughs all in one box! Move around the board by answering from the 600 multiple-choice questions or performing a historical (and hilarious) action. Designed for 2 to 4 players — great for transporting the history classroom to the dining room table!
2 Through Others Eyes – Optical Science Kit , £25.99 £25.99
See the world like a dog, a bee, a shark & more with unique glasses!
Do you want to see like a T-rex? How about an eagle? This exciting science kit contains a pair of special plastic glasses and 11 pairs of interchangeable lenses. Using the instruction booklet to guide you, mix and match them to simulate the vision of more than 17 other creatures – blue and yellow to see like a dog, or faceted and wide angled to see like a dragonfly! Also includes a fascinating leaflet all about the science of sight. A real ocular spectacular!
3 This or That – 200 Quirky Questions , £7.99 £7.99
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Which weighs more, turkey or velociraptor?
Explore lots of unexpected facts in this fun and fast card game for two or more players. Players must race against each other, as teams or individuals, to answer one simple question: This or That? Which came first – the crocodile or the T-Rex? Google or Netflix? Avoid the red herrings and maybe even learn an interesting truth or two – like the fact that Oxford University is 330 years older than the Aztec Empire! Very entertaining.
4 Timeline Card Game – Which came first? , £12.95 £12.95
Out of Stock
Chess or Cleopatra? Table fork or playing card?
Each of the 55 cards has a different event or invention with the date it occurred, from the invention of the sundial to the creation of Facebook. Just play your cards in the correct date order to win, not as easy as you’d think! Did Cleopatra come before or after the invention of Chess? Which came first, the playing card or the table fork? Frankenstein or Snow White? You’ll be surprised at what you don’t know!
5Engenius Contraptions – Perpetual Marble Run, £29.95£29.95
A fun physics lesson!
Looking for a building project? This brilliant plywood marble run comes in laser-cut sheets — follow the picture instructions to push-fit them together. Once that’s done, assemble the spiral run and add the electric motor. Finally, watch as the marbles rise up and shoot down the spiral and zig-zag track — over and over again, thanks to the power of perpetual motion! A satisfying and mesmerising twist on a textbook physics lesson.
6Matchstick Puzzles, £9.95£9.95
Brain teasers in a box
This deceptively small set is bursting with 50 tricky geometric puzzles. Ready to challenge your IQ and your powers of deduction? Try turning four of the included (non-flammable) matches into fifteen without breaking any. Or how about changing the direction that a fish is facing by moving only three matches? If you’re stumped, don’t worry — all of the puzzle cards have solutions on the back. Truly illuminating!
7 Dog Crimes – Who’s to Blame Logic Game , £16.95 £16.95
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Use deduction skills to solve canine crimes & sniff out suspects!
Who tore up the homework? Who pooped on the rug? This fun whodunnit game is full of crimes to solve, from beginner to expert. Each of the 40 cards presents a canine crime and a series of clues to help identify the culprit. Use the supporting evidence to place the dog figures around the board in the right order – whoever ends up sat at the crime scene is the perpetrator! Test your logic skills and prove that you’re the smartest hound around.
8Human Body Cube Book, £8.95£8.95
Anatomy in cube form
Future doctors will have hours of fun turning and learning with this amazing cube book! The six ‘pages’ turn inside out to reveal six more pages, all filled with incredible facts about the human body’s major systems: the heart, lungs, digestion, blood, brain, nerves and more. Irresistibly tactile and totally addictive! Next stop: medical school.
9 Go Genius World – Play & Learn Game , £21.99 £21.99
Learn about capitals, countries, tallest mountains & saltiest seas!
From Albania to Zimbabwe, this entertaining board game for 2-4 players is the educational trip of a lifetime. Travel around the board answering multiple choice questions, on everything from capitals and countries to the tallest mountains and saltiest seas! Can you name the longest river in the world? Or which country Komodo dragons come from? The more you play, the more you learn, as you compete for the most points to earn a well deserved genius stamp in your game passport. Who’s the brightest?!
10 IQ Circuit – 120 Challenges , £15.95 £15.95
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Can you connect the dots to complete the circuit?
Test your skills of logic and deduction with this tricky single player puzzle game. Simply place the ten double-sided game pieces into the base, connecting all of the gold circuits and completing the puzzles from the guide. There are 120 challenges in five difficulty levels to enjoy. But look out – the puzzles get more complicated as you go! Beautifully designed and with a handy travel case, this fun game is a real winner. Just don’t blow a fuse!
Looking for more educational games for kids? Check out the full range on our website!
Why did the kid throw the clock out of the window? She wanted to see time fly!
