10 Activities to Gamify Learning in your Homeschool
Children tend to be better learners when they grow up in gamified environments where they can learn more about the world around them in a playful yet educational manner, like gameschooling. Try these 10 activities to gamify learning in your homeschool.
How and Why to Gamify Learning
Kids are naturally curious, and gamifying their learning can help in better understanding as well as retention. Certain activities help develop specific areas of children’s developmental goals, such as working memory, motor skills, verbal recall, pattern recognition, and so on.
As a homeschooling mom, you know that we’re always on the lookout for activities that can stimulate and engage your child positively. (Well, maybe sometimes you’d want to keep them engaged so you can enjoy your cup of coffee without having to reheat it for the 10th time today!)
Either way, we know how challenging it can be to develop new ideas every other day. Here are a few fun and educational activities that will keep your homeschooler mentally stimulated with gamified learning.
Ideas to Gamify Learning
- Solving a Rubik’s Cube
This is probably one of the most challenging yet fun activities for a homeschooled kid since it tests practical understanding as well as quick thinking. After all, what can you dislike about a game that has only one piece to play with (so no clutter and thus, no cleaning up involved)? A Rubik’s Cube is suitable for kids aged 3 and above, and there have been many records of kids as young as 3 years old solving them.
My pick: Several different options to try!
- Solving Jigsaw Puzzles
This is fun not just for kids, but also for adults. Jigsaw puzzles help in logical thinking and reasoning and are great to keep your little one engaged for quite some time. The best part about these is that there are different options for every age group, and you can even select the type of puzzle based on the child’s preferences.
My pick: Learn geography with a puzzle!
- Playing Cards
It takes a lot of thinking skills to win a game of cards because there is a lot of guessing involved. Taking a guess about the opponent’s cards, weighing the pros and cons and then playing according to carefully drawn conclusions will be quite the mental exercise. You could get your child into a game like pyramid solitaire to help him/her develop these skills. Keep in mind that you may have to sometimes play with your child to explain the process or the rules of the game, so you will be able to see first-hand how your child progresses from level to level.
My pick: These are so pretty with the galaxy theme!
- Building a Story
This is a fun activity that you can involve all your kids in. You start by giving them a prompt for a story and allow them to contribute to it by making up one relevant sentence about the prompt. Keep it going and join in with them by adding your storylines. The game continues until a satisfactory conclusion is reached. This is an excellent way to develop your children’s imagination and creativity, as well as their linguistic skills.
My pick: Rory’s Story Cubes comes in all kinds of different options, including mystery. This is the original.
- Playing chess
Chess remains one of the most creative ways to train the minds of young children as it helps them develop intellectually. The activity involves exploring complex ideas and strategies, which is a great way to give a push to their developing mental skills. You can also join in and maybe over time, witness your child beating you at chess!
My pick: This chess set is great for beginners!
- Playing Pictionary
This is a fun way to add some knowledge to the classic game. You can make the game about a specific subject that your kid may not like very much, and get him/her interested in it through this approach. You can make it even more challenging by adding a timer to the game and some rewards.
My pick: The whole family can have fun with this Pictionary game!
- Playing Spot the Difference
An excellent way for your kids to hone their memory and retention skills, playing spot the difference can make them sharper. This is one of the best activities for kids since it helps them improve their visual learning skills. It can also help broaden your child’s imagination and creativity.
My pick: This unicorn spot the difference book is adorable!
- Solving Mazes
Solving mazes is essentially an activity that helps to build focus and concentration in kids. Children are naturally curious and their minds tend to focus on a lot of things at once. Solving mazes is a great way to help them develop their focus and keep them engaged. Moreover, this activity also encourages logical thinking.
My pick: This book has lots of different fun types of mazes.
- Finding the Main Idea
This is more of a spoken activity, where you narrate a small passage or story to your child and ask him/her to decode the main idea behind the passage. This helps them with their listening abilities as well as their linguistic skills and is also important for developing their focus. This game is suitable for kids aged 7 and above.
- Scavenger Hunt
One of the most enjoyable activities for kids is a scavenger hunt. With their imaginations running wild, they could pretend to be fearsome pirates or worldly heroes out to venture for hidden treasure. The clues in the scavenger hunt could be made out of Math and English problems, which will certainly help them exercise their mental faculties.
Just like these, there are numerous activities you can help your child engage in. Just keep in mind that the activities need to have some sort of reward-based setting since this will incentivize kids to perform them. It is also important to make these activities as interactive as possible since this will encourage overall mental development in the child. Have fun learning with your children!
How do you gamify learning in your homeschool?
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