Many times in our homeschooling weeks we would take a day off from the typical academic day and just have a game day. We would choose from our vast array of games and sit down together and play.
MATH
We played Muggins Math many times, one of our favorites, to build math skills, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction are all reinforced in this well-built board game. (http://www.mugginsmath.com/)
Another one of our favorite math games is Smath. It is similar to scrabble but you have to make a math sentence instead of a word using all the concepts of math.
DESIGN YOUR OWN
Sometimes the children would make up their own games which developed thought and creativity. Many hours were spent coming up with different facets of the game and then trying to play it to see if it needed anything else, then adapting.
HISTORY
An awesome game that also has many hours on it. This game helps the player to understand life in the colonial days. The players have to visit different shops to find the items they need and pay using shillings or trading. They learn about money management and bartering as well as what everyday life for ordinary citizens was like.
Because I can’t say it any better here is what an Amazon review has to say about this game – The board game Hail to the Chief can take the humdrum out of learning all about our nation’s presidents, the election process, U.S. history, and geography. The object is to be the first “candidate” to land on the Presidential Seal. The game, designed for children and adults to play together, is divided into two parts: the Convention and the Campaign. During the Convention, you, the delegate, must accumulate enough correct answers about presidents and the presidency to advance to the Campaign portion, where you’ll have to answer questions about U.S. history and geography. The beauty of this game is that the questions are grouped into four difficulty ratings–easy child, hard child, easy adult, hard adult–so players of all knowledge levels can play together. Some of the easy questions are really easy (“Name the national anthem of the U.S.”), while others seem a bit obscure (“Did Dakota Territory troops fight in the Civil War?”). The game also tests your honor, since the answers to many questions appear visually on the board itself (“What are the states that border Lake Michigan?”). This Aristoplay game is a Parents’ Choice Award winner, and it’s no wonder–the trivia-style game helps kids learn in a fun setting and lets adults brush up on seventh-grade history and our democratic process. –Diane Tuman
GEOGRAPHY
Game of the States
In Game of the States you are transporting goods found in one state to another state and try to sell the goods for a profit. Playing this game will teach the location of the states, the capital and what the major industries and products are. We have an old edition like the one pictured above, many hours of fun playing this one.
Scrambles States of America
This game is another one of our favorites. Learning about geography does not have to be boring. The game will provide a fun way to enrich basic knowledge of U. S. geography by teaching the names, capitals, shapes, nicknames and geography challenges using visual teasers. After playing, you’ll see that there’s more to the 50 States than meets the eye.
These are just a few that we have used over the years.
One of our favorite companies to purchase games from is the Gamewright Games company. They have quick fun games that have a “what kids will learn” on every game. From their website: Whether you’re looking for card, dice, board, or party games–whether you’re 3, 33, or 333, we cover the whole spectrum! Award-winning games for kids of all ages.
This is a list of some of the games we have played from Gamewright:
Loot
In a Pickle
Castle Keep
Ka-Ching
So, have fun with your children and play some games! You will enjoy the time and your children WILL learn, (you may not want to tell them they are learning).