Most of today’s parents grew up with video games in their lives and understand the value of gaming beyond mere entertainment. Video games promote cognitive development, problem-solving skills, hand-eye coordination, and, in some cases, even physical fitness. All that and they are even fun, too!
When it comes to games for your kids, though, it’s sometimes hard to distinguish which video games are simple time wasters and which ones can let your kids be creative and develop their worlds and stories. As a dad, I’m always looking for games that offer creative experiences, and there are a few standouts in my house that provide safe and exciting places to play, limited only by a child’s imagination.
Here are five games of a few different ilk that can spark that creativity in your kid. The best part is that they are all games you can play together or let them explore on their own.
Create Literally Anything With Minecraft
The best-selling video game of all time, Minecraft is what they call a “sandbox” game. It is an open-world game that allows players to use a variety of materials to construct houses, villages, portals to Nether regions, and virtually anything imaginable. Kids can go wild creating massive mansions, sculpting terrain, acquiring and taking care of pets, and more. One user even created a life-size model of the USS Enterprise! It’s like infinite Lego!
There are three modes to Minecraft: Creative, which allows players to access infinite resources and build and create projects without disturbance. Survival Mode requires players to build a safe haven while defending themselves against monsters, mobs, and even their own hunger. There is also a Multiplayer mode that you can log into to play against others online. As always with online gaming, approach with caution, but it’s an excellent way for kids to play with their friends, supervised, of course.
Platforms: Switch, PlayStation 3-5, PC, Xbox One and X/S, iOS, and more.
Lego Builds and Re-Builds On Creative Storytelling
Speaking of Lego, Lego games are outstanding for many reasons. The first is that they look fantastic and utilize straightforward controls. They are objective and story-based, which gives kids a sense of accomplishment as they navigate the levels and exercise the problem-solving parts of their brains to complete the tasks. There is also a Free Play mode, where kids can explore the worlds of Star Wars, Jurassic World, The MCU, and more, picking up side missions and stories along the way.
The best part of the Lego series, particularly The Skywalker Saga, is that its focus on storytelling is an excellent way for kids to learn about the craft. Numerous cut scenes focusing on plot and character development make the game fun to explore and give nice breaks for kids to take in what they’ve accomplished, all in a world they are familiar with. They are all-ages games and in our house, The Skywalker Saga made for a much better introduction to the Star Wars universe than a 2.5-hour movie about trade negotiations.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
We wrote a list of the best LEGO video games to play with your kids.
Wordscapes: A Small Game With Big Creative Upsides
When it comes to games that can help your kids level up aspects of their creativity, don’t discount mobile games, even free ones. Wordscapes is a free-to-play game that resembles a crossword puzzle. Users are given a grouping of letters and asked to make words of them to fill in a grid. Achievements unlock cute little animals that you can quasi-care for on the home screen.
While that may not sound exciting or expansive like Lego or Minecraft, my 7-year-old loves to play it with me. Through Wordscapes, she is improving her vocabulary, spelling, and logic skills as she tries to figure out what words she can make. The only downside is that she’s already way better at it than I am.
Platforms: Android, iOS
Create Custom Levels and Games in Super Mario Maker 2
For a lot of us, Mario is likely our first foray into video gaming in one way or another. That familiarity makes Super Mario Maker 2 a slam dunk for one kid, many kids, and the whole family. The game allows users to create their own Mario levels from assets taken from all across the main Mario Games.
Kids can create super hard levels to try and trip up their parents, custom overworld maps, and entire custom games based on pre-made levels from Super Mario 3, Super Mario World, and even Super Mario 3D World. Super Mario Maker 2 also includes a new Story mode in which players travel through 100 Nintendo-created courses to collect enough coins to rebuild Princess Peach’s demolished castle.
Platforms: Switch
You Can Just Dance If You Wanna
A slight departure from the other games on this list, I wanted to include Just Dance because the truth is, most gaming is sedentary. You sit on the couch and hit buttons. While that is fun, as mentioned with the previous games, it gives kids a chance to exercise their minds. Just Dance, however, gets them up off the couch and moving. Fitness and exercise are key components in developing a creative mind, and combining them with popular hits and fun dances is a win-win.
The 2025 update of Just Dance features 40 new songs from Lady Gaga, Green Day, Ariana Grande, and more. There are also alternate and unreleased routines to try out to the music, meaning that hearing the same song over and over again can be refreshed with some new moves. The previous versions of Just Dance also sync with the newest release, so you can keep dancing until your heart’s content!
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox One and X/S, Switch, Android, iOS, and more.
We’ve also created lists for the best Nintendo Switch games for kids and the best PS5 games for kids, so you can go beyond what you find above, and maybe even find some new favorites to play as a family or to let your children explore on their own.
