Excellent Activity Books for Kids

We have all three books in this series and my children adore them! Not only are they filled with super fun mazes, search & find pages, matching games, and puzzles but they have beautiful illustrations. These stunning hardback books also make wonderful gifts. Be sure to check out the Around the World in 180 Days Puzzle Adventure too. (Ages 5 to 10)

I can't decide what I love more, the incredible illustrations, or the super fun puzzles. My kids have been poring over these pages daily since I bought the book last month. It's a keeper! (Ages 5 to 10)

These Querkles books have been a huge hit here! They are essentially just complex dot to dot pictures, but the end result really is a masterpiece. If you enjoy this animal version, be sure to check out Querkles: Masterpieces too. (Ages 8 and up)

I bought some of these Paint by Sticker books for a road trip last year and they've been on demand ever since. And if glittery unicorns aren't your thing, they also have Zoo Animals. (Ages 5 - 10)

This is a super cool series of interactive choose-your-own adventure books! They're educational, but don't worry, your kids won't even notice because they'll be having too much fun solving puzzles, playing games, and doodling their way through a historical adventure. I can't say enough good things about these books. Make sure you check out Escape this Book! Titanic too. (Ages 9 - 13)

My kids were fighting over this one so I had to buy them each their own copy. Readers have to draw their way through this space adventure while trying to find the missing artifact. It's very compelling! Check out The Pursuit of the Pesky Pizza Pirate too! (Ages 7 to 11)

Do your kids love Gerald and Piggie as much as mine do? If so, this one will be a real winner! Puzzles, coloring, collages, and more, all narrated by everyone's favorite elephant and pig combo. (Ages 4 to 9)

My kids love How-to-Draw books, and this one is particularly adorable with simple instructions for drawing really cute animals like sloths, pandas, and llamas. It really is super cute. (Ages 8 to 12)

Highlights has a whole bunch of different activity books. Most recently in our arsenal are these hidden picture books. Each book in the four book set has 32 pages with over 350 hidden objects . . . so these will keep your kids busy for a good long time. My kids give them two thumbs up! (Ages 5 and up)

You can't go wrong with a Mo Willem's Pigeon book! This is a nice thick activity book with puzzles, games, drawing instructions, and more. Younger kids might need a little help with some pages, older kids can do it all on their own. (Ages 5 to 10)

I loved Mad Libs when I was a kid and my own children love Mad Libs now. This is extra fantastic because it's a 21 chapter Mad Libs mystery novel that you can solve over and over again. Highly recommend this for Mad Libs fans. (Ages 8 to 12)

This might be one of our most favorite activity books for kids right now - it's almost always out on the kitchen table these days. It's jam packed with games, puzzles, and activities. And it deserves bonus points for the adorable illustrations! (Ages 6 to 12)

I've loved Ed Emberly since I was in elementary school. He'll never go out of style. You can't go wrong with any Ed Emberly drawing book, but this is one of our favorites. (Ages 6 and up)

National Geographic has tons of fantastic Sticker Activity Books. We have several of them and I'm always impressed how much learning happens while they kids think they're just having fun with stickers. (Ages 4 to 8)

This makes math fun! It's filled with interesting and informational mini-essays followed by simple math questions that get you thinking. The idea is that you can do a page every night at bedtime and brush up on math skills in just a few minutes. My kids also have fun using them during the day and quizzing each other. Each page has math questions for a variety of skill levels. (Ages 6 and up)

We've been using Brain Quest workbooks for years. You can get them for every grade level and they're just a fun, simple way to supplement education at home.

There's something very fun about a book that's just asking to be destroyed. It's full of super fun science themed activities/crafts that kids can do on their own mostly just using the book. (Ages 7 to 9)

Learn about all of history's great artists while making great art of your own, imitating the styles of renowned artists like Picasso, Degas, Monet, etc.. (Ages 5 to 10)

This is a collection of very fun brain games that will keep your kids entertained over and over again. I bought this one a couple years ago, but it's still in rotation here. (Ages 8 to 13)

I bought this book in 2011 and it is still one of the most used books in my house! It has just about every game you can think of in it. Card games, mind games, word games, outdoor games, ball games, party games, car games! It's one of the best purchases I've ever made.