The Power of Play: the Benefits of Playing Educational Games

We all know that kids’ games should be fun and entertaining. However, games can also be educational. They’re a perfect way to develop certain physical and mental skills. The kids won’t even realise they’re learning, they’ll just enjoy the time spent on the game. So, as a parent, it’s always a good idea to invest in a few educational games that both you and your kids can enjoy.

Types of Educational Games

Word Games

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Word games are one of the most intellectually demanding games. The goal is to find and assemble as many words as possible to win the game. This is the base of every word game. There are of course variations are rules that depend on the game. There’s a wide range of fun and educational phonics games you can buy for your kids. They can play with their friends or you can join their fun and make words together.

There’s the Coco Learning Bricks: Lower Case Educational bricks. This one has 50-letter bricks that fit on a base plate. The kids arrange the bricks on the plate to make the word. The goal is for the kids to learn new words and make a distinction between lower and uppercase letters. There’s also a variation of the game that teaches kids vowel sounds.

It’s great for the kids to learn vowel sounds such as “ee”, “ay”, “oy”, “ew” and much more. They’ll learn how to recognise and vocalise the sounds. Some of these games even come with teacher’s notes for better understanding. Flash cards are also a wonderful way to get the kids to learn some new words and have fun at the same time.

They’re made to develop the kids’ skills to be confident and fluid readers. They’ll teach kids to recognise the sounds that are made when 2-3 letters are blended together. Some sets include over 400 words using 47 different sounds made from final and initial blends and digraphs. They’re also colour-coded and often laminated and with round edges to avoid damage.

Have you ever heard about Blending Consonants Bing: Beat the Elephant? It’s a variation of the original Bingo game. Each child draws one card from the top of the deck. If it matches the initial consonant on the board, it can be placed in the position. Every time a piece of the elephant is turned it has to be placed on the board. Again, this is an amusing game, that comes with its own set of rules and is a delightful way for the kids to learn.

Puzzle Games

Puzzle games are a bunch of pieces in different shapes and colours that you have to piece together to form a cohesive picture. They’re basically one big mystery waiting to be discovered. Puzzles come in many shapes and sizes depending on the kid’s age. If they’re younger, you can get smaller puzzles with fewer, but bigger pieces so they’re not a choking hazard.

As the kid gets older, you can buy bigger puzzles with more and smaller pieces. There are puzzles that require the child to match the shapes of objects with the correct slots. There are also puzzles shaped like some kind of animal or an object, which makes everything more entertaining. 3-D puzzles are also a big thing right now. They’re great for developing the problem-solving abilities.

Math Games

Do your kids consider math boring? If they do, now’s the time to change this. Math games can make learning enjoyable just like phonics games. These games transform numbers into thrilling puzzles. You will need to use numbers to build objects, solve riddles, or tackle math problems in order to advance in a game. These math games will make the whole concept of learning numbers, subtraction, and addition much more enjoyable. It won’t feel like learning.

Memory Games

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Science Games

Playing science games is like travelling to another planet. They open a new world where the kids can learn about animals, plants, our planet and much more. These science experiments give the kids a chance to explore different environments such as oceans, space, forests etc. Just like the interactive phonics games, maths games, and memory games, they teach the kids the basics and open up new horizons.

Benefits of Playing These Games

Improved Cognitive Skills

Educational games have the power to improve the kids’ cognitive skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking and memory. The challenges they represent make the kids think creatively and outside the box. This leads to a much better understanding of more complex concepts in the future.

Increased Creativity

Play-based learning has the potential to boost creativity as well. Playing games and engaging in interactive activities often drive kids to think creatively and unconventionally in order to solve tricky problems. This leads to innovative ideas and creative thinking.

Developing Soft Skills

The term “soft skills” includes skills such as communication, teamwork and collaboration. These educational games often require more than one person to play. This teaches kids to work together in order to achieve a common goal. Learning these skills at a young age is very important because they’re crucial later in life when the kid grows up and needs to find a job, interact with people and make friends.

Improved Knowledge Retention

Educational games also improve knowledge retention. Kids who play them are more likely to retain information because of the way they receive it. It’s all presented in a fun, interactive, memorable and enjoyable way without them being stressed or under pressure to learn and not forget.