Playing Is Educational

When children learn, it’s more often through interaction than it is through memorization.  When children play games that are educational, it’s common for them to learn a great deal of information through nothing more than the simple practice of play.  Educational games have gained popularity in the last decades, especially with personal computers becoming common to most American households.  When you interact with a child through play of an educational game, you are teaching them social skills and also helping them to learn.  There’s no better activity for children than educational games to set them on the right path to real life success. 

Parents of children of all ages should strive to take time out of their week to play games with their children.  Whether it’s a simple shell memory game or something more advanced, you’re fostering your child’s future growth!

Children learn through play.  As the toddler grows into the young child his interest widens.  More and more, educational kids games will interest him.  Puzzles and simple crafts will catch his attention and he will spend longer hours working on them.  Even at this age, the child will still need parent supervision but clearly, he is on his way to discovering independence.

Educational games for kids are bonding moments, with the parent, sibling or friend.  They are obviously using their minds when putting together a puzzle but there are benefits that are not immediately apparent. The game appears to be simple, yet experts say that they nevertheless require conceptual and social skills. Dealing with a playmate, for example, can be stressful at this stage.  Suffice it to say that even the simplest of games can be a learning experience.

Your children can learn the value of money by playing money-related math board games.  They will also increase their arithmetic skills as they use coins and bills to pay for purchases, compute change, handle allowances and gifts, collect earnings, and make deposits into college savings accounts.

Math board games like Making Change Octominoes, Managing My Allowance, or Presto Change-O will help your children learn how to save money and take advantage of sales.  Your chldren’s lives will be enhanced because they learned these skills.

Does your child love horses?  Many kids begin their love for horses when playing with their “Little People” playset or from riding on their rocking horse.   

Well, now they can learn about the names, breeds, colors, and markings of fictional horses when they play with this educational game.

You might think you know what Bingo is, but do you know what Bingo could be? 

Most of us know about the standard Bingo with the numbers like B3, I8, N12, etc… 

But playing Bingo can be much more.  Can you imagine playing Bingo and learning about the human skeleton, learning about sight words, or learning about good food nutrition?  Well, you can do that and much more! 

Parents and teachers are constantly on the lookout for ways to make learning fun, and one of the easiest ways is to integrate learning into upbeat, lively, and interactive activities.

With that in mind, the following is a short list of board games for kids that will be so much fun they won’t even realize they are learning.

-Scrabble: The classic word game is an obvious choice. Watch spelling and vocabulary improve as your kid works with the tiles and is introduced to new words. Keep score if you want to introduce even more strategy and competition into the game.

-Connect Four: This is a simple game with a simple objective—connect four pieces in a line. But within that simple framework, there is a lot of room for strategy and fun. Your kid will thrive on and benefit from both.

-Clue: The game of murder and intrigue will have your kids delighted. And it will have you delighted because they are learning all about reasoning, process of elimination, and strategy.

-Twister: While this board game is not as immediately obvious as the other choices, there is a definite educational benefit to the game of contortion and chaos. Just like mental dexterity, motor skills and balance are very important, and this game can help hone those skills.