Games are great because you can use them to help your kids learn new information, practice skills or review concepts they’ve already learned. They can even be a form of assessment! Some games may not be directly related to the content areas you’re covering, but they help develop critical thinking skills that are so important for kids to have. My friend Heather is great at using games and she has a big list of games she’s used with her kids.
Making your own games is a sure way to tailor your play to what you’re covering in school. You can do something as simple as making your own Memory-type game or playing Jeopardy on the white board or you can get into making your own board games. If you don’t want to sit down and draw all of that out, check out some of the free printable game boards that are available. In Heather’s post I shared earlier, she also talks about having your kids make games.
If you don’t feel like making your own games from scratch, there are other options out there for you! My son and I used this Math Facts Chutes and Ladders a couple of years ago for review and it was a huge hit! You can use the board you already have, so all you need are the game cards! There are also many pre-made games available to print for free. Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational is a terrific source for games. My son and I played this What Gets a Capital Letter? game this week and really enjoyed it. (And how cute are those personalized movers?!)
So if you find things getting a little stale, change things up and bring out a game! You’ll all learn something (or practice or review it!) and you’ll have a great time together–and that’s one of the main perks of homeschooling!
