The winter holidays are quickly approaching. These festive times are a great joy however it is important to ensure your children remain engaged and continue learning throughout this time of the year. One of the best ways to encourage learning is to make it fun! We’ve compiled some games that are both fun and educational for you to play with your children throughout the holidays.
Make sure to have some prizes to reward players as they continue to compete. Some holiday themed items would be fun, like gingerbread, holiday themed notebooks & pencils or other items that work for you.
Flashcard Race
The flashcard race is an easy to set-up, educational game that can be tailored towards any subject. This is a great, competitive activity you can play with multiple participants at any level.
The Setup:
To start, collect 10 index cards for each player that will be playing. On these cards, write different questions regarding the subject you are looking to focus on. For example, if you are focusing on math, you may write down various math equations on the index cards.
Next, once each of the index cards are filled out with a question, place a line of 10 index cards with questions in front of each player.
How to Play:
Players will line up in front of their cards and then take turns answering the question on the card in front of them. If the player answers correctly, they pick up the card and stand in front of the subsequent card. If a player answers incorrectly, they remain in the same spot and reattempt the question on their next turn. First player to complete all of their questions wins!
Beachball Math
The Setup:
Using a permanent marker, write numbers in each segment, all over the beach ball (so its like a die from a pair of dice.)
How to Play:
The premise of this game is very simple. Players will take turns tossing the ball back and forth, wherever their thumbs land, they must add/subtract/divide/multiply the two numbers before they can toss the ball over to another player.
Sight Word Bingo
This game is tailored for younger students are who are learning to read. This game will help your child identify sight words and improve both their vocabulary and writing ability.
The Setup:
First, create a list of sight words to practice. Next, on a piece of paper, draw a grid. The size of this grid can vary depending on your child’s ability and how many different words you would like to add. Next, fill out each box within the grid with different sight words you are practicing with your child.
How to Play:
To play this game, you will read out various sight words (some that are included on your child’s bingo sheet, some that are not) and each time that your child correctly identifies a word you said on their sheet, they will mark it off. Once they have completed a row or column, they win!
Word Search
Word searches are incredibly easy to make and can help improve your child’s focus and vocabulary. The size of the word search can vary depending on how difficult you would like it to be.
The Setup:
Make a grid on a piece of paper (make sure you create a grid with a lot of small boxes as you will be filling them out with letters!). Next, write out various words throughout the wordsearch. To make it more difficult, consider writing words in backwards, upside down or diagonally. Once you’ve written in your words, fill out the remaining boxes with random letters. At the bottom of the page, write out a word key for words your child should be looking for.
How iSmartStudent Tutoring Can Help
Sometimes employing different strategies at home may not be enough to help keep kids engaged and learning. One of the advantages of online tutoring at iSmartStudent is the fact that our solution is mapped very interactive and engaging to ensure your children are focused and learning!