• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop ModernMom
  • Become An Insider

ModernMom

The premiere destination for moms

  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Kids
    • Tweens and Teens
    • ModernMom Monday Videos
  • Cooking
  • Living Healthy
    • Breast Cancer
    • Health & Fitness
    • Body after Baby
    • Beauty
    • Relationships
    • Love
  • Lifestyle
    • Crafts
    • At Home
    • Education
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Decorate
    • Money
    • Brooke Burke
  • Celebrate
    • Holidays
      • Easter
      • Valentine’s Day
      • New Year’s
      • Christmas
      • Hanukah
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
    • Birthdays
    • Parties
  • Must Have
  • Contests
  • Entertainment

Fun Learning Activities & Games for Kids

August 23, 2010 by ModernMom Staff Leave a Comment

You may think of studying as sitting at a desk with your book open, taking notes, but this isn’t the most effective way for most children to learn. Children can learn through playing games and having fun. Even the most basic games can help to teach skills that the child needs to learn, including gross and fine motor skills in addition to cognitive abilities and subject knowledge.

Function

Play is essential to the development of a child, according to the University of California-Davis Cancer Center and U.C. Davis Children’s Hospital. Games can teach subject matter–such as a memory game that matches opposites in a foreign language or a board game that teaches about U.S. geography–but they also teach other important skills for life, such as how to socialize with others and how to be a graceful winner or loser. You can also use games to teach or improve physical coordination.

Types

Physical games and sports tend to focus on teaching gross motor skills and being a part of a team. Board games teach a wide variety of skills. For younger children, a game such as Candy Land can help teach colors, while Hi-Ho Cherry-O teaches counting. Older children can learn to add with a game such as Yahtzee or build vocabulary with a game such as Scrabble or Boggle. Computer games can also teach important skills–phonics, math or foreign languages, for example–by leading your child through a series of progressive lessons.

Benefits

If your child is trying to study by simply reviewing flash cards or looking over his notes, he’s not going to have fun and will not want to stick with it. However, if he learns the material while playing a game, he’s able to “study” much longer. Additionally, games can stimulate different parts of the brain, which may make for better recall.

Considerations

Most commercial games focus on learning general skills, such as phonics or geography. If your child needs to learn something very specific–such as the names of the presidents or the state capitals–for a test, you can create your own game around this knowledge. For example, you could let her earn a point for saying the correct capital and then earn another point for throwing a ball into a basket.

Misconceptions

Some worry that video games are not good tools for learning and that they instead foster violence or attention problems in children. This largely depends on the type of games that your child plays. If you choose games that have a focus on teaching skills in a fun way, your child can learn these concepts. Though you shouldn’t rely solely on video games, it’s a good addition to a well-rounded curriculum, at home or at school.

Photo Credit

  • games image by Ewe Degiampietro from Fotolia.com

Comments

comments

Filed Under: At Home

About ModernMom Staff

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Search

Tell a friend

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ModernMom Boutique

ModernMom TV

Featured

The Little Boy On First Base

To all the coaches, parents, and fans of little … [Read More...] about The Little Boy On First Base

Must Have

STEM-related Toys to Include in Your Child’s Easter Basket This Year 

April has arrived which means it’s time to pull out the food … [Read More...] about STEM-related Toys to Include in Your Child’s Easter Basket This Year 

Did you know?

Academic Parental Pressure on Kids

The Effects of Academic Parental Pressure on Kids

Repair Scratches in Glass Tabletops

How to Repair Scratches in Glass Tabletops

Painful Intercourse During Pregnancy

Painful Intercourse During Pregnancy

Calories Burned Sitting in a Steam Sauna

The Calories Burned Sitting in a Steam Sauna for 15 Minutes

cooking with young children

Cooking With Young Children

Signs of Allergies to Infant Formula

Signs of Allergies to Infant Formula

Best Way to Cook Boneless Shoulder Steak

The Best Way to Cook Boneless Shoulder Steak

Footer

  • About Us
  • Contact ModernMom
  • Advertise With Us
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contributors

Copyright © 2022 Modern Mom. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction of any portion of this website only at the express permission of Mom, Inc.

The information provided on ModernMom is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.