Many parents are eager to find ways to incorporate learning into their child’s playtime. Learning games are a great way for your child to learn while they are having fun. Although you may be familiar with the most well-known preschool games, such as Candyland and Chutes and Ladders, there are several other great learning games available for children under five years of age.
Hi-Ho Cherry-O
This classic preschooler game is a perfect first learning game to play with your child because the game lasts only five to ten minutes. This allows your child to learn how to play a game without having to sit for long periods of time. The premise of the game is to be the first player to pick all of the cherries from your tree and put them in your bucket. On each turn you spin the spinner and pick the number of cherries that you spun. Your child will learn basic counting skills and how to take turns while playing this game. Once your child has learned how to count to four, you can extend the learning value by having her count the number of apples that are left on her tree or the number of apples that she has already picked.
Great States Junior
While you may think of learning about the United States as an elementary skill, the preschool years are a great time to expose your child to the different states in the United States. This game is for ages four and up. Because there is some reading involved, a parent or older child will need to play with the child. In this game, your child will move around the playing board by answering questions about how many states start with a certain letter or by matching the state shape to the playing board. This is a fun game that your children will want to play over and over. When your child is older, you may want to purchase Great States for children eight and up.
The Ladybug Game
The Ladybug Game is a fun game to play with children age three and up. The goal of the game is to get the ladybugs safely home and avoid the praying mantis, aphids and ants. This game teaches your child counting skills and basic bug facts. Each card contains a number and visual representation of how many spaces to move either forward or backward. Your child will also be exposed to colors, words and symbols while playing this game.
Zingo
In this fast-paced game by Thinkfun, your preschooler will play an educational version of Bingo. Each playing card has nine pictures with words underneath. When a tile is drawn, each player checks to see if they have the picture on that tile. Because the tiles have pictures, your child does not need to know how to read. However, this game increases reading vocabulary as your child learns to recognize more words. One of the benefits of this game is that up to eight people can play. You may want to try this at the kids table at your next holiday gathering or at a birthday party. This is a fun game that many kids love to play over and over.
