How to Choose an Educational Game

There are two prime parts of a game:

1. The SKILL being taught, drilled or reviewed. Is it exactly what the child needs? Meeting the need is often easier with a home-made game, as rarely has a purchased game been created with your child at this point in his educational development in mind.

Examples:

I was teaching a group of children to read. One little boy could not distinguish the difference in the short i and short e sounds. I doubt I would even be able to find a game geared to his need. However, I was able to make several games for him to play in order to drill these sounds. Eventually, he recognized the difference and went on to be a fine reader.

A child has learned what multiplication is but has difficulty memorizing the 6 and 8 times tables. A fun card game can be made to drill just these two tables. The child can play until he has them mastered.

Teaching geography to a 3 year old? I am currently doing just that. My grandson is fascinated with maps and globes. He has memorized oceans just from "playing" with a map. He has learned so many terms that I have made a board game to use these. He can also locate several places on the map. Would I find a geography game at this level? But I can make games for him.

I can make games on the exact topics, at the exact level, with a method of play that MY child enjoys.

2. The FORMAT or method of play. While some children prefer active outdoor type games, others would rather play a strategy filled board game or an exciting fast-paced dice game. With the large variety of game formats available, it is easy to find a few each child will especially like.

Candyland is a format. It has certain rules of play with a path gameboard. It has cards that match the gameboard and indicate the move for the player. This format is easily adapted to skills other than color recognition. One I made had the vowels on the spaces in a random order. The playing cards had pictures of objects that contained short vowels (bed, cat, cup, etc.) Players draw a card, name the object and move to the next space with the indicated vowel.

Old Maid is a fun card format that most children enjoy playing. Any skill that comes in pair is a possible Old Maid game. One I made was with rhyming pictures. The "Old Maid" was a drawing of my son with a crown. We called it "King of Rhyme." So the player who ended up with this card was actually the winner instead of the loser.

Bingo is the easiest format to make and play because everyone knows the game. The bingo playing cards can be the traditional 25 spaces with a FREE SPACE in the center. However, other sizes work well. I like to use just nine spaces when playing with very young children, or if I want to put a larger picture or more information in the space. The skills that can be placed on bingo games is endless.

Other things to consider are:

3. The COST involved. While it could cost as much as $25 to purchase a pretty boxed game to drill the US states and capitals, this same amount could be used for materials to make several games drilling this same skill. By having several different games that drill the same material, it is often possible to play for an extended period of time which means quicker mastery. When a child tires of one method of play, another game can be selected, however, the same skill is still being worked on.

4. The TIME involved to make games. Often this is the biggest reason offered for not making games. However, if the children participate in the making of the game, learning is already beginning. Older children may be encouraged to write questions and answers on cards as a unit is being studied, thus learning and making the review game at the same time. Children are also eager to play games they have helped to create.