Games can be a great source of learning for your child. Some games teach a child hand to eye coordination, some games teach colour recognition, others teach word and number recognition, and so on. Here are some easy games you can play with your child, that are sure to enhance his knowledge.
1. Hangman
You don't need to invest good money in a heavy-duty board game. All you need is paper and a pencil. Draw two long lines, one vertical and the other, horizontal, starting from the top end of the vertical line (similar to an F without the second dash). Then, think of a word. Make sure that your child has heard of the word - he may or may not know the meaning, but the word should be vaguely familiar to him. Naturally, keep his age in mind, and don't try and give him words that are too easy. Once you have decided the word, make out as many dashes as there are alphabets in the word, and let your child guess alphabets so you can fill in the blanks. Every time your child guesses an alphabet wrong, you draw a body part of the hangman (in stick figure, of course!). Your child will get 7 tries. First, draw the rope, then the head, then a stick below the head for the body, then 2 arms and finally, 2 legs. When the hangman is complete your child's turn is up and you should reveal the word to him. If he doesn't know the meaning, explain the meaning to your child. He will be more likely to remember the meaning, and the spelling! A good idea would be to use words from a class spelling-list. Your child gets points depending on how many chances he took to answer the word. The lower the points, the better his score!
You can also play this game with two children, by being the word provider and playing them against each other. The one with the lowest points at the end of a session, wins.
2. School Trivia
This is a good game to play with 2 children. Go through your elder child's history and geography textbooks, and make a list of objective questions based on the portion, along with the answers. Make a printout, so it is the length of one page. Give it to both children to read, and time them as they scan the page, giving them around five to ten minutes. At the end of the time, ask them questions based on what they just read. Be sure to put the questions to one child at a time, so that one doesn't overshadow the other. If one doesn't know the answer to a question, the question passes on to the other. Keep score. Use gadgets like a stopwatch to time the children, and a 'ding' bell when a child answers a question incorrectly. This makes the game more fun, and you need all the help you can get when it comes to gaining fun from schoolwork! Play this 'game' every evening with your kids, or over the weekends, and watch your child's grades soar.
