The 18 Best Nintendo Switch Games for Kids

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Social Simulation

The mega-successful Nintendo Switch game that helped millions of players get through some callous times is also the perfect starter game for kids. Animal Crossing: New Horizons will put all the young Switch owners in the best of moods as you explore their island and customize parts of it to your liking. In its current state, a nice serving of updates and expansions has improved the game via customizable vacation homes, more decorating options, special seasonal events, and so much more. Making sure one's summer getaway home looks pristine is such an enriching activity in this first pick on our list.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Racing

You can never go wrong with a new Mario Kart game, right? You know it and the kid that's about to welcome this racer into their lives will know it soon enough. Mario and the rest of Mushroom Kingdom's recognizable characters come together in this updated version of one of the most addictive Wii U games ever made. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the gift that keeps on giving thanks to a huge gathering of tracks, exciting local/online modes, and plenty of items that can trip up the competition. And thanks to this game's Booster Course Pass," you and your young one will never run out of tracks to race on.

• Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Up
• Genre: Sports

Wii Sports took the world by storm back when it first launched. And now the Switch has a version of that motion-controlled sports simulator that will be the life of the party with you and the kids in two. Nintendo Switch Sports offers the following lineup of digital sports games to play, including tennis, bowling, chambara (swordplay), soccer, volleyball, badminton, and golf. When it's raining outside, you might as well get the kids to do something active (and dry) with this pick on our list of the best Nintendo Switch games for kids.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Party

The Mario Party games are equally joyous and infuriating. And we say that because you and the young ones will laugh uncontrollably while playing through its hilarious minigames and become a bit enraged once some board shenanigans screw players out of their coins and stars. Nevertheless, Mario Party Superstars is pretty much a best-of compilation that features the best boards and minigames featured throughout the series and long-storied history.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Platformer

Any young Switch owner owes it to themselves to play this fascinating 3D platformer that follows Mario's latest crusade against his lifetime nemesis, Bowser. Super Mario Odyssey is such a rewarding and charming game thanks to its cute art style and abundance of fresh gameplay mechanics that keeps things fresh from beginning to end. With Mario's trusty hat "Cappy," young players will have a blast taking over random enemies and using their abilities to explore every corner of the game's global stage layouts.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Platformer

Before you introduce the young Switch owner in your life to Kirby and the Forgotten Land, be sure to introduce him/her to Nintendo's pink puffball of pain through this updated version of a Wii U classic. Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe retains the super fun side-scrolling platforming of the franchise that's been implemented from the very first game in the series. What's different here are the game's more cartoonish art style and an extra playable chapter featuring a once unplayable character. This one's not too demanding, so anyone can hop in and enjoy all the craziness that comes with sucking up enemies to steal their abilities for Kirby's own use.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Puzzle

The cool thing about Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is how it plays with one's conception of angles and what the naked eye can see. By moving the camera around as you help Captain Toad explore different portions of each stage, young players will be caught by surprise when they see different items to collect and new pathways to dive into on their way to the end goal. This game's two-player co-op options make for a good time if you want to help your child have an easier time completing each stage.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Platformer

Mario's cheerful dino buddy Yoshi has been featured in some great solo games. And the one we chose to feature here definitely deserves its spot here among the best Nintendo Switch games for kids. Yoshi's Crafted World takes place in a cutesy world made up of everyday objects that wouldn't look out of place in an arts and crafts store. This joyful platformer features all the jumping, gulping, and treasure-hunting Yoshi's solo adventures are known for. This one also has a two-player co-op mode, by the way!

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Platformer

You simply can't go wrong by picking up some platformers for the young Switch owner you're getting games for. And clearly, we love that genre of gamers since we've put a few platformers on here already. And lo and behold, we have another one here for you! Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury comes with the original Wii U package that lets up to four players hop and bop around creative stages, plus it features a brand new campaign that lets solo players move around a fully 3D environment called "Lake Lapcat" that's being terrorized by a massive-sized Bowser.

• Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Up
• Genre: Third-Person Shooter

The Splatoon games pretty much take the activity of paintballing and turn things up a notch. Splatoon 3 is the latest entry in the third-person shooter that's all about inking the most ground across wide-open battlefields and it's the best one to date. The multiplayer formula still works to perfection, plus the co-op "Salmon Run" mode makes for a great side activity when the young Switch owners you're playing with want to try something a little different. On the solo front, Splatoon 3 features a well-crafted campaign filled with clever stage layouts that will test one's brain power as they have to utilize different methods towards opening explorable pathways.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: First-Person Photography

If the young Switch owner you know has a thing for Pokémon and the fascinating activity of photography, then be sure to gift them New Pokémon Snap. Just like in the N64 original, players will play the part of an up-and-coming Pokémon photographer that's responsible for taking pictures across several gorgeous island locales. It's up to you to get the best pics and angles of common and rare "Pocket Monsters" in order to aid the research studies of Professor Mirror and his assistants Rita and Phil. Young gamers will be pushed forward along a predetermined track via the "NEO-ONE" vehicle and embark on an exciting trek so they can photograph cute creatures in their natural habitat.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Role-Playing Game

Kicking off a young gamer's journey into the wide and wonderful world of Pokémon is best done by introducing either one of these games to them. As an OG player, you'll take great comfort in watching them interact with the original 151 Pokémon within the famed "Kanto" region. On top of all those classic pocket monsters being present here, both games also add their "Mega Evolved" forms from Pokémon X and Y and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, plus their "Alolan Forms" from Pokémon Sun and Moon. This easy-to-play JRPG is a super valid pick on this list of the best Nintendo Switch games for kids.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Platformer

We already mentioned Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury as two of the best Mario platformers on the console. There's another one starring the mustachioed platformer and it revisits the traditional side-scrolling hop and bopping that you definitely remember playing back in the day. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is that game and it produces some four-player co-op platforming fun across 164 courses. This 2.5D platformer works as the perfect starter game for young Switch gamers that want to explore the "Mushroom Kingdom" after seeing The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

• Rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 and Up
• Genre: Action-Adventure

The LEGO games are always the easy go-to picks whenever you want to keep some kids entertained for hours on end. The best and latest one is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which doubles as the biggest LEGO game to date and a perfect first foray into George Lucas' iconic space opera. Every movie, from the prequels right on up to the standalone spinoff films, gets equal representation here either in the form of full campaigns, playable characters, spaceships you can take into orbit, and more. Swinging lightsabers and wielding laser pistols to take out some "Stormtroopers" is a bundle of fun.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Platformer

2017's Super Lucky's Tale gets upgraded to near perfection here via this enhanced edition called New Super Lucky's Tale. And as far as "my first platformer" games go, it's an approachable adventure that has a super low barrier of entry. Young players will get to take control of the cutesy anthropomorphic hero Lucky, who can journey to spectacular worlds through the magical "Book of Ages." 2D side-scrolling and open 3D hub exploration are combined here to offer the best of both worlds in the genre of platforming.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Adventure

Chicory: A Colorful Tale will appeal to young gamers that want to play something that looks and feels like a digital coloring book. As those curious gamers venture through this game's vibrant world of "Picnic Province," you'll get to inject actual color into it with your trusty brush and reveals its true beauty. And during Chicory's artful escape, you'll run into tons of cutesy anthropomorphic allies along the way. Coloring in every section of this game's whimsical world with a co-op buddy magnifies the fun factor this game exudes. Draw on anything and everything to your heart's content.

• Rated E for Everyone
• Genre: Dancing

One of the easiest recommendations to make is any one of the Just Dance games. And we've chosen to honor the latest release in the dancing simulation series on our list of the best Nintendo Switch games for kids. Just Dance 2023 Edition is simple and straight to the point - everyone gets up out of their seat and copies the dance moves displayed onscreen while some of the most earworm-worthy songs play in the background. It's easy to get caught up in all the party-worthy fun this game produces as you and your little tykes get loose to "Dynamite" by BTS, "Telephone" by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé, and more.

• Rated E+ for Everyone 10 and Up
• Genre: Sandbox/Creation

Kids love Minecraft, don't they? It's only one of the most revered, distinguishable, and financially prosperous games ever made! For the creative kids in your life, they'll have the absolute time of their lives crafting their own concoctions in the form of avatars, buildings, and more. Minecraft is also home to some fun multiplayer dungeon raids where everyone can dig deeper underground, jump over lava, and keep away all those threatening "Creepers." There's so much to see and do in this game, so anyone who steps into its expansive world will never run out of things to do.