Boardgames in Your Learning
Bookwork is fun and exciting and all (not), but we like to think outside the box a bit over here. We do a lot of experiential learning, we learn while traveling, and we learn through projects. Often though, we learn through BOARDGAMES! Yes, boardgames. We’re not talking Monopoly here (though there is some educational value there if you dig deep). There are tens of thousands of boardgames available these days, with just about anything you can possibly imagine. Some are meant to be educational, some are just educational by mistake. I personally feel that there is some educational value in any game. Honestly. Give me a game and I can almost certainly find a learning standard it aligns with.
We have a huge collection of games (almost 1000) and I’d like to take you through some of my top picks for sneaky learning. Trust me, there are so many more but I’ll walk you through the first ones that come to mind!
Scattergories
This is the oldies on the list (I actually have an entire list of “retro” games that can be used for learning purposes that I will write about another time). Scattergories has players list things in a variety of categories using a chosen start letter each round. It’s very simple, yet somehow really high up on the enjoyment scale for everyone I’ve ever played it with, kids included. Best of all, it really flexes that vocabulary muscle!
Can’t Stop
Can’t Stop is a favourite around here, for sure! We play it a LOT. Most of the time, we play the digital version on Boardgame Arena, but we do have a physical copy that we bring out from time to time as well. If you’ve ever played Can’t Stop, you might argue that it has zero educational value. You’re wrong. It has little educational value, but it’s there! Can’t stop is definitely a probability game and it absolutely encourages mathematical thinking.
Sushi Go
Sushi Go! is a fast, fun card game. It’s easy to learn and has no reading so can even be played by young learners. While it is fun and colourful, it has the auxiliary benefit of encouraging mathematical operation skills. There are cards that make other cards worth a multiple more. There are ways to lose points off of your score. There are cards that only score when paired with others, so you have to consider the probability of getting others. As you draft your cards, you are constantly weighing the point values of different card combinations. Kids are doing math. Tons of it. And they’re having so much fun that they’re not even noticing!
Choose Your Own Adventure
This is exactly what it sounds like – a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but turned into a game. I am particularly fond of this one for helping children practice reading aloud. The story progresses through cards that have blocks of story text. We take turns going around the table, letting each player have a turn reading from the cards in turn.
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is a simple train game that has you charting courses and laying tracks across Canada and the US (in the base game – there are other versions as well). This game is fun and easy for all ages. What’s more is that the city names make your point-to-point destinations and if you play this game enough times you will absolutely know where every single city is located on that board.
Egypt
This is a pretty “draw a card and move” game with an ancient Egypt theme and a few twists. We have used it within our homeschool several times with great success, especially with Egypt-crazy kiddos. Although it is certainly not a game of strategy or critical thinking, the game cards have an awesome array of ancient Egypt quiz questions.
Wildcraft
This game is dear to our hearts because we love incorporating herbal studies into our homeschooling. In the cooperative game, you are children off through the woods to collect huckleberries for Grandma. Along the way, you encounter lots of dangers and have to use the wild plants you’ve collected to fix them! It’s a great way to reinforce knowledge you’ve learned from an herbalist or a cute, simple way to learn something new!
These are just a few of the great learning games in our stash. Honestly, I could probably make 100 different posts on this topic alone. I hope you get a chance to try some of these games with your family and learn in a new, fun way!