Game Suggestions

My 7 year old still likes Candyland and Sorry. She also likes to play memory games, we have Toy Story and Mickey Mouse.

Zingo was always a favorite in our house for multiple age levels.

trouble
spot it
go fish

Candyland and Chutes and Ladders were always popular at our house.

candyland
chutes and ladders
sorry
hi ho cherryo
memory
ants in the pants
don't break the ice
cootie

Uno is a favorite at our house. We have a card holder or search Pinterest for directions to make them out of plastic lids. There is also a Uno Moo game that is more for younger kids.

Others we like are:
Chutes and Ladders
Spot It
Candyland
Headbands
Zingo
Memory
Jake and the Neverland Pirates Obstacle Course
Jake and the Neverland Pirates Who Shook Hook game
Don't Spill the Beans
Hungry Hippo (if you can stand the noise!)
Pop the Pig
Mancala

When our son was three we often had to play the game with two of us following the rules and letting him just do whatever he wanted to. It was a good lesson in patience for our daughter.

Board games are great! Sometimes the best thing you can do is to play with the younger one, and just let the older one come along for fun! Good job!

I think card games are frustrating for little kids who can't hold the cards at all. So you might want to think about Uno which can result in very large hands. There are racks available and also card holders, but Uno has instructions like "skip" and "reverse" which require some reading. We've let the little one lay the cards out on the floor behind a pillow (important only if the 7 year old makes a big deal about studying her cards or if the 3 year old really cares about keeping them secret). However, it takes longer to play that way. If you just go for the matching colors, it works okay. You can also pull out the "instruction" cards and just play with numbers/colors.

Hi Ho Cherry-O is one a lot of little kids play, and older ones as well. Candyland and Chutes & Ladders are pretty time-honored games with a certain amount of chance that gives little kids an equal footing with older ones. They also don't last forever which is important for younger kids.

Another game that is largely counting (with limited reading) is Sorry - but there are 4 game pieces to move and there's some strategy involved. If your little one will let you help, you can try that one. Like Chutes & Ladders, there are set-backs that occur if one player's piece lands on another player's piece, so prep your little one that sometimes you get sent back to the beginning. But it's a good investment because kids of all ages can play - we played well into our kids tween years.

Later on, I really recommend games like Monopoly or anything with money - I think kids are raised with parents using debit cards and they don't understand cash, counting, money values, and coinage. These are long games of course and too complex for little kids, but keep that in mind for down the road. While it's not a board game, I really recommend toy cash registers with money (there are some with play groceries, a basket, and so on).

While they aren't board games, I think Pick-Up-Sticks is great for manual dexterity and fine motor skills, It's also very portable and great for places where you have to wait for service. Simple card games like Go Fish and War are good for matching and learning numbers. Any age can play once you solve the card-holding problem. But there are racks available to help with that.

It's great to have non-electronic games - and board games always work during power outages!

My dd liked Uno. 3yo plays with cards open, and it's great color/number/matching practice. :)

Kids on stage, memory with characters they like, zingo, headbands but the 3 year old would need some help.

My 6 year old likes the game Sorry a lot, not my favorite one to play but he loves it!

Kid versions of Uno are great to start with.

Also, if you can agree to have someone play as a "team" with the 3yo, you can try something like Catan Dice Game.
It's a resource game, where you roll the dice to acquire resources to buy roads, buildings or knights.
My daughter likes rolling the dice, and I determine which we'll keep and what we'll buy (though I ask her a lot of questions about what she thinks).
I found it at Target.

I plan on getting Catan Jr for my kids this christmas, but I do not recall what the age range is.

Another fun game can be Nobody but us Chickens. She doesn't have to use strategy, just lay down a card each turn. The older players can determine the outcome of each turn, and it's a quick, fun game.

I have another game called Goblins Drool, Fairies Rule which is a rhyming game. Being able to read makes it go much faster, but I just read the cards out one at a time and ask "does 'kelly' rhymn with 'droop'..." and help her. You play with all cards face up, so no problems with holding them.

Catan Dice and GD,FR are both small enough that I carry them in my purse, so have them at hand to play when we're waiting in a restaurant, etc...

Finally, check out BoardGameGeek for game reviews and suggestions!

We like The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game, eeBoo Tell Me a Story - Fairytale Mix-ups and eeBoo The Picnic Game.

HTH!

Favorites in the household were: hi Ho Cherry O, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Memory. Also, card games of Old Maid and Go Fish. We had a card holder, when my son was real young, which made a huge difference.

Favorites at our house:
Monopoly junior
Candy land
Kerplunk (we have a toy story version)
Sorry (we have a Disney version)

We also like uno attack, but my 4 year old needs help handling the cards. The other games he can play on his own.

Lots of great suggestions already.

My daughter loved the classic board games (you can still find them in the stores).

Some of her favorites are Hedbanz and Uno. They also make a kid monopoly, it only has one dollar bills and it doesn't take forever to play.