Favorite Educational Games (Part 1)

One of my favorite parts of our homeschool week is playing board or card games with my kids. I love playing games because it teaches them so much about taking turns, playing fair, working hard to win, logical and critical thinking and that it's ok to have fun while learning. For school, I make sure that there is some educational benefit to our games. I try to work in at least one game per week in English (we also play a game in Spanish since it's my husband's heritage language) and thought I'd share some of our favorites with you!

SUM SWAMP

This has been one of my kids' favorite math games for years. We received it as a gift when my oldest turned 4 and we have been playing it for 8 years now! The concept is simple: roll three dice (two with numbers, one with +/-), add or subtract them and move that many spaces. There are a couple special spaces and an endless loop where you can get caught. Obviously my older kids are growing out of this game, but they still will play it without complaint with their youngest brother. That's a win in my book!

Zeus on the Loose

This is a fairly new game that we have been playing. Each player receives four cards and play rotates with each player laying down one card into a center pile. They have to add their number to the current sum and call it aloud. If you make a multiple of 10, you get to steal Zeus. There are god cards that change the sum or allow you to steal Zeus. The player with the god statue when the sum reaches or surpasses 100 wins the round. 

Sleeping Queens

This is another math game. The Queens are "asleep" and you have wake them up by playing a King. Each Queen has a point value and you need a certain number of points to win (points change depending on how many players you have). There are specialty cards like sleeping potions, magic wands, knights and dragons. Number cards can be turned in if you can make a mathematical formula such as 3+4=7 or 4*2=8. My kids don't think of this as a math game so they're willing to play it any time. 

Sushi Go

This is another great logical thinking game. Each player starts out with seven cards and chooses one to keep on their playing board. Then you pass the remaining cards to the left and each player chooses another card to keep. Play continues until there are only a couple of cards remaining. Sets of cards will get you more points and if you cannot complete a set you might not get any points. The player with the most points at the end of three rounds wins the game (but don't forget to keep track of pudding because if you end up with the least after all three rounds, you'll lose points!) 

Exact Change

I always like to keep games about currency around because our kids just don't have the practice that we did when it comes to using money. Everything is digital and my own children rarely get to use cash or coins. This game is similar to UNO in that you can place cards on the discard pile that match the coin or the color of the card border. The great part is that you can also drop multiple cards if the VALUE of the cards matches the top card on the discard pile.

Labyrinth

This is a great logical thinking, search for the treasure type of game. Tiles on alternating rows and columns are movable and you'll need to insert a tile by sliding another tile out of the way. But be careful, the changes you make this turn may hurt a route you (or your opponents) need down the line.

This game has SO MANY variations. They have a 3D version, a Junior version, under the ocean, a card game, a Pokémon, Disney Frozen, Disney Villains, Spider-man, Mario Bros, and Paw Patrol licensed game. Some of the rules are slightly different. (I didn't put a link in because of the numerous choices!)

Legendary Inventors

This is a fun science game for 2-5 players. You have a team of inventors (each player gets a time period in history) and you send them out to work on different inventions. You collaborate with the other inventors to get inventions done quickly. But you also compete against them to make sure that you secure the most points and awards. You must choose between helping your inventors "learn" new skills and gaining points for your inventions. Scoring is a little intense in this game so they might need an adult to help with that part at first. 

Carcassonne 
This is my 10 year old daughter's favorite game right now. The idea of the game is very simple - place a tile on the table so it matches with any other tile currently in play. Place one of your "meeples" (character pieces) on a road, town or abbey if you choose to claim it as yours. The strategy, however, is anything but simple because you have a limited number of meeples and you cannot move them until your road, town or abbey is complete. I love the logical thinking of this game and I always make my children count and add their own points so it helps with mental math as well. 

Trekking the National Parks 

I want to make sure I list at least one Geography game in this mix. We received it as a gift a few years back and it talks about some of the National Parks in the US. You move your character around the park by collecting cards and try to "claim" a park before someone else can. You score points for each park you claim and for stones that you collect along the way. This has helped my kids practice some of their US states and learn the names of several National Parks. 

Bowling (Dice Game)  

I remember being a kid and bowling with my dad and uncles. This was before computers were everywhere and my dad would tabulate the scores after every frame. I was always so fascinated and confused by how he calculated the score. The math is simple but for students it can be a bit of a challenge. In this game, you have 10 dice each with faces that are blank, a pin, a spare or a strike. You roll the dice, write down how many you knocked down (on the scorecard provided), and then roll the remaining dice a second time. Play continues for 10 frames and I have each of my children calculate their own score. It's a quick and easy game and you are sure to get a strike at least once per game!