What Educational Games Should I Play With My Child?

Children are quite literally amazing. They have the ability to soak up information and still see the fun in anything.

However, as a parent it is important to provide balance. Play time is excellent for building creative situations which can allow your child to grow. It can be used to help them learn or simply unwind.

Allowing your child to play is easy, but deciding which educational games should be used and how often is much more difficult.

In fact, it is worth considering using child care Canterbury, which has a number of excellent facilities and they will promote educational play with your child, leaving you free to enjoy play time.

But what if your child is exceptionally inquisitive or you just wish to provide them every opportunity possible? This is when you can play educational games with your child. The following are good starting points:

Children Up To 5

At this stage their minds are eager to learn and very curious. An excellent way of helping them to learn is by doing simple puzzles with them. The process of figuring out which piece goes where and feeling the shapes of the pieces will help your child with cognition and coordination.

Providing you make it fun and don’t spend more then 15 – 30 minutes at a time on one activity, your child will enjoy this type of educational learning and develop quickly.

Children between 5 and 10

At this stage your child retains their curiosity but often has a shorter attention span. This means that you need short games which will change them.

Strategic games, such as draughts or even chess can be extremely beneficial as it will help them to assess and resolve problems.

You will also find that the use of computers can be beneficial as there are many math and spelling games available in electronic format. The trick is to not spend too long on the computer and to complete the task with them.

Older Children

Virtually any board game can help to teach your child how to play fair. They can be used to show them the value of money and how it can be spent or saved. In this process, math and even reading and spelling can be tested and improved.

At the same time you’ll be spending quality time with your child and helping them to develop into a rounded person.

The Bottom Line

One thing that games can be used to teach effectively is that there are always winners and losers, this is true in life and being a loser one time does not mean you will never be a winner.

Losing when playing games can help your child to be a graceful loser, which is a valuable and even essential life skill.

Any game you play with your child can have an educational method. You simply need to look for the message in the game and gently remind them of it during play. Providing you never make the game appear to be about learning, your child will be happy to do it.

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash