Learn Through Play: Great Educational Games for Kids
Published 21 May 2024 at 19:40
Tickikids Blog Singapore > Education > Learn Through Play: Great Educational Games for Kids
We have been confined to classrooms, blackboards, textbooks, and worksheets for so long that we have forgotten that there are new and more interesting ways to gain new knowledge. But, who says you can't have fun when you're learning something new? Fun educational games are the best way to exercise kids’ brains while they are not in school!
One of the main benefits of gamification in the learning process is that children are passive consumers of the information no more. With educational games, kids start to participate in the process making it interactive, so they better perceive the knowledge and understand everything better.
Whether it's through puzzles, quizzes, simulations, or storytelling, these games encourage children to explore, experiment, and discover concepts in a playful environment. In addition, well-thought-out educational games for kids motivate children to progress with the help of rewards, levels, and achievements.
However, when you are looking for educational games for students of any age, it is necessary to keep in mind that not everything labeled “educational” is worth your attention. We have sifted through many great educational games for children online and offline and come up with a list of mobile apps, software, and online platforms that may come in handy for you and your little ones.
Looking for interesting educational games for kindergarteners?
Image Credit: SplashLearn
Compose Numbers to make 10 Game is a great example of an addition strategy math game. Young mathematicians will explore the caves with Binky the Bat and learn the concepts of composition and decomposition.
.jpg "Make Number in Different Ways Game")
Image Credit: SplashLearn
Make Number in Different Ways Game
These fun sleepy blobs will help kids learn the numbers and how to add them. The game offers many possibilities to work with composition and decomposition and to explore the number structure.
Image Credit: SplashLearn
Dino Soar is a huge hit among little paleontologists as here dinosaurs help to learn number words: your dino will gain speed whenever you match the correct number with its name.
Free educational games for grades 1+
Image Credit: ABCYA
Speaking of great educational platforms for children - ABCYA is the perfect example. Here you can find more than 300 fun and educational games for kindergarteners and students of up to 6th grade. Teachers worked with parents to select games for the platform to make sure children would enjoy playing and learning. Whether you are looking for educational games for a preschooler or a 4th grader, the search here is very easy as the catalog of games is very well thought out. Games are categorized by grade and subject and cover topics such as multiplication, parts of speech, typing, pattern recognition, and more.
Image Credit: Safe Kid Games
Another great option for free educational games online is Safe Kid Games platform. It is a family-owned and operated website run by parents who thoughtfully curated the list of age-appropriate and engaging games for kids aged 3-13 y.o.
One of the distinguished features of this platform is that it is kid-friendly and easy to use, so little ones can easily surf through it on their own and select the games they like the most.
As the collection of the games is quite large, there is something for everyone. From educational games that promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills to creative and imaginative play that fosters self-expression, our platform offers an enriching experience that is both entertaining and educational.
Image Credit: Math Playground
As the name suggests, this platform is dedicated to math educational games for grades PreK - 8th grade. This platform was established in 2002 and since that time thousands of students have improved their knowledge of Math using hundreds of games collected by Colleen King, an experienced educator and frequent guest of the annual NCTM and ISTE conferences.
The games cover a wide variety of math topics from problem-solving and mathematical art to real-world math and thinking games.
The website has passed a scrupulous examination by the experts of COPPA compliance rules and is kid-safe COPPA Certified, meaning that it is a safe space for children and parents do not have to worry about inappropriate content.
Khan Academy Kids
Video Credit: Khan Academy
It's impossible not to mention Khan Academy in this thread. It is a website filled with useful content in math, science, art history, economics, STEM, finance resources, engineering, computing, arts, and humanities and more. There are more than 4 thousand educational videos and games aimed at improving the level of students' knowledge of these subjects.
This platform was created to provide students all over the world with the opportunity to advance further or catch up at their own pace in their chosen subjects. The educational games for children as well as instructional materials are provided in different languages so everyone can use them.
Today, Khan Academy offers online tools for teachers, so you can find educational games for classrooms here too!
Educational games for classrooms
Let us not forget that offline educational games for students exist too and both teachers and children can benefit from them. There are plenty of options to choose from and here is a couple of our favorite activities:
Image Credit: WeAreTeachers.com
Pictionary
In order to play this game, a teacher has to divide students into groups and give them a list of topics that students can visualize. One student should select a card with a word and draw the image depicting this word on a piece of paper and the rest of the team should guess the word. And, to add some challenge to the task, the teacher can add a timer to the task.
Sticky ball Bingo
This fun educational game for students pushes them out of their comfort zone - and they cannot blame anyone else except their poor aiming!
In order to play, the teacher has to draw a bingo table on the whiteboard and fill it with words or math concepts they want their students to work with. After that they let students throw a sticky ball to the whiteboard to choose a word or a concept.
Scavenger Hunt
It's time to send little explorers out on an adventure! And here is a fun and interesting educational game they will like: a scavenger hunt. What can they search for?
- Items or facts during a class field trip
- Objects with different shapes around their house
- Different leaves and animals in their neighborhood
- Things hidden around the classroom linked to a vocabulary or language lesson
This article is just the scratch on the surface of the educational games online sector. We will add more games here, so if your children have their favorite educational games for students or preschoolers, let us know and we will add them to our collection too!
In fact, here is another list of educational games for classroom and home for your kids to play!