Learning games make learning Fun!

Learning games make learning fun! Here are some that I made up or modified!

Over the Summer kids tend to forget a lot of what they learned in school, and they resist doing any “school” work over their vacation months. To combat this, learning must be disguised as something else, something fun. Learning games are a great way to improve memory, critical thinking, problem-solving, counting, spelling, reading, and more. I’ve created and/or used learning games that don’t feel like work to engage school-age children over the Summer break.

1. Create a scavenger hunt

Scavenger hunts are a great way to engage critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As a camp leader, I have created several different scavenger hunts over the years, but I am especially proud of the one I created last year. Each clue was a riddle that would lead the kids to the next clue. Testing their reading and critical thinking skills. Each riddle was on a puzzle piece, so when all the clues were found they had to put the puzzle together, which was the shape of a treasure map. The treasure map had a dotted line showing the “path” to the treasure. Each puzzle piece has a letter on it spelling out the treasure’s hiding spot. Having the riddles as puzzle pieces challenge their problem-solving skills. Having the puzzle spell out the location of the treasure forces the kids to both spell out the location and practice reading the word they wrote. Each riddle (which I made sure each kid had a chance to read a clue) had them practicing how to sound out words, as well as engaging their critical thinking skills to figure out the solution to the riddle.

2. Sight Word Games

Sight words are very common for kindergarten students to bring home. The point is to practice them so much, that they develop the skill of automatically knowing the word when seen in books and other contexts, that so many adults take advantage of as they don’t even realize they are reading. Creating different games with sight words makes learning more manageable, more focused, and more fun! No kid wants to sit and stare at a list of words and read them over and over again, that’s boring. I developed/handmade 3 different games using sight words.

1. Matching

A normal matching game, where you have to turn over 2 cards to try to find the pairs that are hidden, is a great tool to use with sight words. Creating a sight word version, I printed out the sight list twice, cut out each word, and mounted them on construction paper (both to obscure seeing through the printer paper and to make the cards more durable). To make the game more effective, have the kids read out the words they turn over, this encourages them to practice sounding out the words. Reading the words out loud also (hopefully) has them remember the spot where the word is, so they just say the word as they turn over the card (not even needing to read it!).

2. Hide and Seek

This game gets your kids up and moving. Start by typing the sight words into a bingo card, one word per square. Next, mount the individual words onto different coloured paper (I used teacher stars from the dollar store) and hide them around the house. Give your kids the bingo card and markers/crayons that match the mounting paper and send them on a hunt! They have to find each word and colour the box, the word is in, the same colour as the mounting paper the hidden word is on. This game has been requested more than once to me over the summer. It engages symbol matching and reading practice, without the kids even realizing they are doing schoolwork.

3. Sentence Creation

Using the same cards made for sight word matching, lay the words out to make them all easy to see. Then randomly pick a few (I normally have them pick 2-3 cards) and ask them to create a sentence using the selected words (conversation magnets can be used for the same purpose). After they know the sentence, have them write it out on a sheet of paper. This allows them to practice reading, writing, and sounding out any additional words that make up their sentences.

Creating and using games to engage children in learning teaches them that learning can be subtle and fun. Doing schoolwork shouldn’t feel like a chore, especially in kindergarten and primary grades. If schoolwork feels difficult or unpalatable to your kids and you force them to do it anyway, you are creating a negative correlation between school and the work it requires. Make learning fun and take lots of breaks. Following your kid’s lead when it comes to how they learn, makes school a more positive experience that carries into their future.