House Of Joyful Noise

10 Educational Games for Grade School Kids

May 17, 2012 By Laura Leave a Comment

     Games can be such great fun!  Whether just your kids are playing one together, with their friends, or the whole family is having a game night, it’s time well spent together!  Most every game calls for everyone to bring their skills to the table, while having a good time, usually laughing a lot, getting competitive, and just enjoying the fun.

     But many, many games are actually a great way for our children to learn as well!  At the grade school ages, many of the classic games us adults grew up with, and others that have come out since, can really aid in building up our kids’ academic skills, and re-enforcing many as well. All while they think they are just playing!  I say it all of the time…..LEARNING SHOULD BE FUN!!  When learning is fun, kids want to learn more, and usually what they learned while having fun, tends to ‘stick’ better.

     There are more kids’ games on the market than can even be counted.  No doubt, most all of them can be educational on some level, when you really break it down. In this post, we’re taking a look at just 10 (mostly) classic games, that are known to be really fun games, but also offer valuable learning skills for our kids.  Whether you are a homeschooling family or not, none of us can ever learn too much, or have too much fun!!  So here’s 10 fun games we thought of suggesting for you, and why we think they are educational too:

 

BANANAGRAMS

“The anagram game that will drive you bananas!”

Ages: 7 and up   Players: 2-8

Bananas is similar to Scrabble, with the letter tiles. The concept of this game is to race your opponents to build your own crossword grids.  The first to use all of their letters shouts “Bananas!”

Teaches: Spelling, new Vocabulary, Math skills, and Sportsmanship Skills

 

SCRABBLE

“Every word’s a WINNER!”

Ages: 8 and up     Players: 2-4

Scrabble is a word game in which players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles, on a game board marked with a grid. The words are formed across and down, crossword style, and must appear in a standard dictionary.

Teaches: Spelling, new Vocabulary words, Math skills, critical thinking, and sportsmanship skills 

 

BOGGLE

“The 3-minute word search game.”

Ages: 8 and up  Players: 2-4

The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters.

Teaches: basic Spelling, basic Math, critical thinking, and sportsmanship skills

 

YAHTZEE

“The Classic Shake & Score Dice Game.”

Ages: 8 and up   Players: 2+

This is a 5 dice game, where the object is to score the most points by rolling the dice to make certain combinations. The dice can be rolled up to three times in a turn to try to make one of the many combinations.  Once a combination has been used in the game, it cannot be used again. Rolling 5 matching dice gives you a Yahtzee! Highest score wins.

Teaches: Operations of Math,critical thinking, and sportsmanship skills

 

PAYDAY

Parker Brothers’ Classic “Where Does All The Money Go?” Game

Ages: 7 and up   Players: 2-4

In Payday kids learn to have a job, lend money, pay bills and interest, and deal with unexpected expenses.  (Dang, we need to get this one! lol)

Teaches: Math, Money Management, Personal Finances, Life skills, Responsibility

 

MONOPOLY

“The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game”

Ages: 8 and up   Players: 2-8

As the players move around the board, they buy and sell properties, build houses and collect rent. Monopoly is a great money game for kids learning how to count money and make decisions.

Teaches: Math, Money Management, Life skills

 

ALL AROUND THE USA

“The Ten Minute Memory Recall Game.”

Ages: 8 and up      Players: 1 or more

This game gives players 10 seconds to study an illustrated card and memorize as many details as possible. The players then roll the dice to determine which question they’ll be asked what was on the card. This clever memory game teaches players little-known facts about the 50 states while boosting visual perception and recall skills.

Teaches:  Geography, State Facts, Reading, Visual Perception, Concentration, Memory

 

 

APPLES TO APPLES Junior

“The Game of Crazy Comparisons!”

Ages: 9 and up    Players: 4 or more

Players will delight in the crazy comparisons while expanding their vocabulary and thinking skills. The 576 cards provide hours and hours of fun! The kids and junior card sets contain no duplicate cards. The sets may be combined for thousands of new comparisons.

Teaches: Language, Reading, Vocabulary, Critical Thinking, Comparing, Convincing Skills

 

 

STARE

Ages: *10 and up   Players: 2-10

(*Our triplets have been playing it since they were age 6, no problem.)

From the box:

“Quickly – you have 20 seconds to stare at the image on the card. It might be a movie poster, an old advert, a comic, a funny photo, or maybe even a work of art. When the timer runs out, you’ll be asked a series of questions about the image – What color is the woman’s hat? How man teddy bears do you see? In which hand is the man holding the gun?

“How much can you recall? Don’t worry, wild guesses count. Answer correctly and you keep going – unless your luck runs out first! Will your powers of concentration hold, even as you burst out laughing?”

Teaches: Observation skills, Concentration, Visual Perception, Memory, Reading

 

QWIRKLE

“Mix, Match, Score, and Win!”

Qwirkle consists of 108 wooden blocks with six different shapes in six colors. Using the blocks, players attempt to score the most points by building lines that share the same shape or color. The simple setup makes this an instant winner for younger kids, while adults will enjoy strategizing to win.

Ages: 6 and up    Players: 2-4

Teaches: Sequencing, Colors, Shapes, Strategy

* * * * * *

That’s our 10 for this post!!  So tell us…..Which games of these listed does your family have? Which ones do your kids love to play?  Are there any you’d like to get, now that you’ve read a little about them?  I’ll be chiming in the comments to give you our own answers, too. We’d love to hear what you have to say,  and we’d also really LOVE it if you added any educational games for this age group, that you think are great!  We know there are lots, so give us the scoop!