An easy educational game using Play-Doh to reinforce learning at home. Photo credit: Julia Cameron
As school starts back up for some families, others are still navigating the world of online learning and homeschooling. While some kids are thriving with the new setup, others are struggling. The combination of so much screen time and so few hands-on activities is leaving a lot of kids frustrated. For all of the parents scrambling to find ways to help their children succeed with at-home learning, this article will give you some easy educational games to play with kids at home.
At LOOP NOLA, we provide fun educational activities in a safe, outdoor environment. These are just a few of our go-to activities when we’re playing education games with our students. If you’re looking for a small family-friendly outing for your child or their homeschool pod, check out our programming options for this school year.
We realize that a lot of families either can’t get to us right now or need to keep their schooling completely in-house. If that’s the case, here are a few educational games that you can play at home with your child to make their learning more memorable.
5 Easy Educational Games To Play With Kids At Home
All of these easy educational games are great for children in Pre-K through 1st grade. Combine them with the lessons that they are working on for school as a fun way to reinforce learning.
Scavenger Hunt for Colors
Goals:
Help your child learn to identify colors.
Items needed:
Examples of the colors you will use in the game
Directions:
Set a distinct boundary for the game. For example: living room, bedroom, backyard, etc.
Show the child the color that you want them to go find.
Have the child go look in the designated area, find something that matches the color they’re searching for, and bring it back to you.
Modifications:
Give them a time limit to make it more challenging.
Have them spell the color when they bring the item back to you.
Play-Doh-Nary
Goals:
Reinforce the concepts that your child just learned.
Items needed:
Play-Doh
Directions:
Select a few concepts that your child has just learned about that can be used for this educational game. (Ex: If they have just learned about food chains, you could select a snake and a mouse)
Use the Play-Doh to form the items that you have chosen and have your child guess what they are.
When your child guesses correctly, swap roles and let them form something that represents what they learned while you guess what they are making.
Modifications:
This is just a more tactile version of Pictionary. You could have them draw the concepts rather than use Play-Doh.
Backyard Bingo
Goals:
Reinforce concepts that your child is learning.
Get your child excited about using the concepts that they have learned.
Items needed:
Drawn or printed BINGO cards with the items that will be found on them
Pen/pencil/etc.
Directions:
Create some BINGO cards that include items that your child can find around your house or in your yard that relate to what they’ve been learning (Ex: if they are learning about habitats, have them find a hole in a tree, a bird’s nest, etc.)
Give your child the BINGO card and have them go find the items to get as many BINGOs as they can.
Modifications:
You can give them some kind of “prize” for the number of BINGOs that they get.
You can make the items on the BINGO sheet harder or easier based on your child’s age and ability level.
Stained Glass Art.
An easy educational game for kids learning about nature.
Stained Glass Art
Goals:
Help your child learn to identify the various parts of plants (Ex: stem, leaves, pedals, etc.)
Let your child explore their creative side
Items needed:
Flowers or other small plants
Clear packing tape
Construction paper (cardboard can be substituted to make it more sturdy)
Directions:
Cut the construction paper so that it resembles a frame. A rectangle is easiest, but feel free to get creative.
Pick some flowers or small plants with your child.
Talk through the various parts of the plant so that your child is confident in each part.
Attach some packing tape to one side of your construction paper frame so that the sticky side of the tape is in the center of the frame.
Stick the flowers and plants to the tape to make whatever pattern you would like.
Place packing tape over the flowers so that they are sealed in the frame.
Hold your new picture up to the light to see pretty colors shine through the flowers.
Modifications:
You can make the frame as small or as large as you would like.
You can let your child get extra creative by decorating the frame.
You can add little slips of paper to the picture to identify the various parts of the flowers.
Pollinator Relay
Goals:
Your child will have a better understanding of what pollination means and how important pollinators are.
Your child will get some exercise.
Items needed:
A bucket (or similar)
Numerous items to put in the bucket
A starting line
A relay line
A watch (or phone with a stopwatch feature)
Directions:
Explain the concept of pollination to your child and emphasize how important pollinators are. This Cool Kid Facts website is great for gathering pollination facts.
Place the bucket at the start/finish line and place the items that will go in the bucket at the relay line. Make the distance between the two lines far enough apart that your child will get to run between them.
Explain to your child that they will be the pollinator. The starting line will represent one flower, and the relay line will represent another flower.
Their goal is to run from the starting line to the relay line, pick up one of the items, and return to the starting line and drop the item in the bucket as quickly as possible.
Give them a set time limit and see how many items they were able to move in that time frame. For each item that they moved, tell them that they successfully pollinated one flower.
Modifications:
You can make the distance between the two lines as close together or far apart as needed for your child and your available space.
If you have more than one child, it’s easy to turn this into an educational game that will get them all involved. Make it an actual relay race and see which team gets the most “pollen” to their flowers.
If it is a hot sunny day and you have the available equipment, you can make it a splashing game. Rather than having items for the child to carry between the lines, have them carry water in a cup. They are sure to splash the water around while they’re running and have some fun in the process.
Bringing educational games to life
All of the games listed above are very easy educational games to play with kids at home or at nearby parks. With a little creativity, you can adapt them to various grade levels and types of lessons. When kids get to take what they’re learning in the classroom and turn it into something tangible, they are more likely to remember the material.
If you are in the New Orleans area and would like your child to participate in educational outdoor activities, contact LOOP NOLA for more information about our Wetlands Ecology program. Lessons are geared toward 2nd-8th grade science standards and reinforce learning with fun educational games. With added numerous COVID-19 precautions and limited group size, your kiddo is sure to have a safe, fun time learning about the environment!
