Sneaking in Education with Board Games – Preschool Edition
Greetings! My name is Melissa and you will often find me on
the “children’s side” of Labyrinth or teaching our First Moves Game Club for
Little Kids. Before working at Labyrinth I spent almost 15 years working as an
elementary and middle school teacher. Now, I find myself once again in the role
of teacher, but this time to my 5-year-old daughter. Using games to reinforce
concepts is something that has worked well in this unexpected homeschooling
adventure. Here are three of our favorite games and how we are using them.
Ticket to Ride: First Journey
(image from publisher: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3116341/ticket-ride-first-journey-us)
This game is a simplified version of the classic train game
Ticket to Ride. You collect cards of the same color to create train routes
between different destinations. This game has become a fast favorite! Not only
does it help with skills like turn-taking and counting, but it has also been a
great way to sneak in some geography. I ask simple questions like, “Why do you
think there is a picture of an alligator on Miami?” or “Is San Francisco or
Calgary closer to Winnipeg?” My daughter also has a wonderful time planning
routes between our old home in California and our new home in Virginia.
My First Bananagrams
(some rights reserved: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ )
This is the most blatantly education game on the list for
today. My First Bananagrams uses lower-case letter tiles for players to form crossword
style words. We use this both as a game and as a learning tool. We use the
letters to spell out sight words or to lay out the alphabet in order. For a fun
sensory activity these tiles can be hidden in a tub of rice or sand. They are
also fun to use to make crayon rubbings! As an added bonus the game comes in a
silly banana-shaped pouch.
Dragon’s Breath
We use this game as a “brain break” between more structured
Zoom School lessons. In this game you remove “ice” rings to free different
colored crystals. We use this game to reinforce basic counting and colors. It
is also great for teaching children about estimation, probability and fine
motor control. We estimate the number of crystals each person has before
counting the final totals. We discuss which colors are most likely to fall each
turn, and we also discuss removing the ice rings and collecting crystals.
I wish you all well on your homeschooling adventures and
hope you are able to find some time to incorporate some games into your daily
schedule. Stay safe and healthy!
Additional Notes
For those of you with older children (say between 10-15 years old), another option you all may want to consider is our online Kids D&D sessions, as these are also a great addition to current homeschooling practices. They offer the children a chance to socialize like they would at school, while being structured and guided by an adult who helps them to hone their creative storytelling skills as well as some basic math reinforcements with ability and skill checks. We'd like to also recommend D&D as a great family choice that can bring kids and parents together as a shared learning and storytelling experience.
If you've been using games to supplement your homeschooling methods, then why don't you let us know which games you've been using and what concepts they reinforce in the comments below?
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