Homeschool Games that Teach

Need some for fun educational games? A homeschool mom offers some great ideas!

Has a non-homeschooling parent ever accused you of playing games with your kids and hanging out in your pajamas all day?  Well, here’s how to be that successful homeschooling family, dressing in pajamas, playing games with your kids, and laughing all day long!

First, you will need to compile pre-made games and supplies to make your own homeschool games.  There are scores of educational games out there just waiting to be purchased at your local school supply store. Catalogs offer tons of games and toys that teach, as well.  I like to use homeschool games for learning numbers, letters, science facts, and historical facts.

Purchase toy soldiers to recreate various battles from the Civil War and make your own fantastic game.  A deck of cards (minus the face cards) makes math fun. You can play “war” to practice both addition and multiplication.

There are lots of bingo games on the market, such as “Body Parts Bingo,” “Parts of Speech Bingo,” “Multiplication Bingo,” “Flower Parts Bingo,” etc.  Some of these bingo games are great as they are. Others need a little creative tweaking to make the learning relevant.  My kids love finding their own spines, femurs, etc., when we play “Body Parts Bingo.”

Scavenger hunts are also always a hit.  With a little planning and preparation, you can use this sort of homeschool game for your kids to practice reading and following directions, to figure out math problems, or to solve riddles.  You can also include map reading in this wonderful game and adjust it for all ages.  Be sure to prepare several scavenger hunts in advance.  Kids love them and usually ask to play again and again.

Purchase fraction games for your kids to help them grasp fractions and their parts.  Purchase measuring cups and a large plastic container, such as an under the bed box, and let your kids measure rice or play dough.

Old fashioned games make a great base for homeschool learning.  Use Lincoln Logs to practice counting and sorting.  A cash register is great for adding money or counting back change.  Use a trivia game board and write your own cards with science or history facts from your kids’ lessons. This provides a super fun way of learning all those pesky details that are often hard to remember.

And don’t forget about snacks!  Youngsters can count raisins or pretzels, while older students might count pop corn kernels and guess how many cups of popcorn the kernels will make.  Make some cookies and double or half the recipe to help your learners manipulate fractions.  Homemade lemonade is a lesson on ratios just waiting to happen.

So pick out your best pair of pajamas. Spread your homeschool games out before you with a big cheesy grin.  Take plenty of pictures and post on the internet. Show all your non-homeschooling friends just what your “typical” homeschool day looks like.  And be sure to save them some cookies!

Lisa Blauvelt (with her family and three dogs, two cats, a horse, pony, donkey, two red eared turtles, a fluctuating number of tadpoles and baby fish, and various other creatures collected by her adventurous boys) puts her education degrees to work at her home in the Deep South.  There she teaches not only her own children, but others who come to her home to learn. Her decade long experience in teaching children to read will soon be published as a 476 page guide for parents.