There are thousands of games for kids available today that are not only fun to play but also encourage learning. Board games, word games, card games and puzzles keep children entertained for hours. My son loves games! He has so much fun playing games, he doesn’t realize he’s learning at the same time.
Puzzles: from the time kids are old enough to hold chunky wooden puzzle pieces in their hands, they love fitting them all together to make a picture. Puzzles teach children the fundamentals of reading, writing and problem solving. My son used to love the ABC puzzles. He learned his letter recognition by matching the A with the Apple picture in the ABC train puzzle.
Scrabble: One of our favorite games is Scrabble. Even before he could spell, my son loved “making words” with the tiles. He caught on quick and sometimes we even let him use his “word” if he could add the points on the tiles correctly. Scrabble is great for learning how to form words, sound things out and even addition. We use the tiles for a great visual aid in studying for spelling tests.
Monopoly: Everyone wants to own Boardwalk! Monopoly teaches you so many things that really happen in life. The big learning process is about buying real estate, what a mortgage is, what taxes are and of course how to count money correctly.
Chess: One of my son’s favorite games is chess. He learned it in cub scouts for a badge, now he can beat his dad! Chess teaches logic, reasoning, and cause and effect. There is also memorization for each piece and the rules for each one.
So, go ahead, turn off the TV, get out a board game and watch your kids learn while having fun!
Happy Playing!