You grew up on board games, playing all the classics as a kid. Or maybe you’re a relative newbie to the gaming world, only having realized how much you love board games as a teenager, college student, young professional, or even as a parent or grandparent. Regardless of when or how you got hooked on co-ops like Legends of Andor, puzzle games like Ubongo and Dimension, or classic card games like Lost Cities, there’s a young son, daughter, niece, nephew, or grandchild you may want to share your interests with.

Sound about right? It’s never too early to introduce the younger generation to board games, and while the ones you grew up with are a great way to start, board game publishers are coming up with new and exciting options to supplement the tried and true favorites.

Here at Thames & Kosmos, we may be new to the board game world, but when it comes to creating fun, high-quality products for kids, we’re in the know. We started out distributing science kits that kids can use outside of the classroom, offering a fun, relevant, and engaging way to learn about complicated scientific topics. In 2015, we branched out into board games, and this year we’re releasing four new children’s games, offering something new for board game lovers to share with the five- and six-year-olds in their lives. Yes, these games are geared towards a young age group, but they’re fun for adults, too (especially those adults who look forward to seeing a child actually enjoy board game time, rather than wishing they could just spend the day on the electronic device of their choice).

Take Monster Trap, for example. The setting for this cooperative game for children ages 6 and up is just the right amount of silly to capture the attention of a young gamer-to-be: In Monster Trap, you live in a mansion that’s full of goofy monsters. The problem is, Grandma Freida’s outside and she’s terribly frightened of monsters. Working together, players must use the sliders to push the monsters though the maze to the middle of the mansion and into the monster trap before Grandma sees them! Adults who are looking forward to the word-guessing party game Word Slam, and the upcoming series, EXIT: The Game, may find Monster Trap especially worth a try; all are designed by the prolific game designer duo, Inka and Markus Brand.

In Jungle Party, designers Stefan Dorra and Manfred Reindl offer a new take on classic memory games. Players try to navigate their way across bridges to be the first to reach the Toad King. To do this, they must remember which animals are swimming in the river and which ones are hiding under the bridges. Whoever slides the right animal tile into the correct river channel will be one step closer to the finish! Memory tactics is an important skill to learn — not just for a gaming enthusiast, but for anyone. Jungle Party is a fun way to practice and nourish this skill at an early age.

Also coming this summer is the undersea search game, Lagoonies. Similar to Monster Trap, the fun backstory will hook kids immediately! Mischievous sea sprites swim, play, and tease the big ghost octopus in the enchanted coral reef. Suddenly, the grumpy octopus reaches out his long tentacles and creates a whirlpool of bubbles! Can you use your magical bubble magnifying lenses to find your sea sprite friends, pick them out from the look-alikes, and bring them safely to the hiding hole in your reef? How many can you find before the octopus stirs things up again? Who knows: Today you could be playing this game of pattern recognition, coupled with a little bit of luck, with your five-year-old…a few years from now, maybe they’ll have graduated to more complicated games with similar mechanisms like Dimension or Codenames.

Every once in a while it’s good to move around a bit while playing a board game — especially when you’re a kid. In Harry Hopper, game components are hopping and toppling, making it a fun and active game for rambunctious children. Each team has a grasshopper of a different color (dark green and light green). Much like pool, the object is to make your grasshopper token hop, jump, and knock over the blades of grass of your own color before your opponent does the same. With a game mechanic that allows kids to launch a (safe!) plastic insect into the air, Harry Hopper is an easy sell to kids, and it just might be the perfect introduction to the atmosphere of friendly competition that board games provide.

If you’re at the point where you want to share your passion and enthusiasm for board games with kids in your life, dusting off the favorites from your own childhood is a good place to start. But don’t forget to keep an eye out for new releases, too! You never know what’ll spark a lifelong interest, and you may even have some fun trying out these new games geared towards the next generation.

Monster Trap and Harry Hopper will be available June 2017, while Jungle Party and Lagoonies will hit stores in July 2017. Check out fun videos for these games and others at www.youtube.com/thamesandkosmos.