Brain Boost: Bumping up the educational value of games you already play

By Stacie Gaetz

Teaching your kids doesn’t have to feel like school.

In fact, there are many things you do throughout the regular course of your day that impart knowledge onto your children without you even realizing it.

• Helping out with the laundry teaches kids to sort colors.
• Cooking or baking teaches measurement, fractions, nutrition and telling time, among other skills.
• Grocery shopping provides a wealth of knowledge with money management, numbers, counting, reading and more.

There are also probably a number of games and activities that you do regularly with your kids where the educational factor can be bumped up even more with a simple addition or augmentation.

Check out our list of 10 common activities you are probably already doing with a bit of a brain boost:

1. Science Scene – There are many easy at-home science experiments that can teach children about everything from chemical reactions to physics. Baking soda and vinegar volcanos, balloon-powered cars or boats, and creating at-home rock candy are a few that come to mind.
2. Pillowcase Race – If you are hoping to get your kids up and moving, there is no better way than with a good old-fashioned sack race! Add an educational element by getting them to jump to pieces of paper with colors, numbers or letters written on them.
3. Educational Actions – This is one of my favorite ideas because of the simplicity. All it takes is a few pieces of paper and some markers. Write letters, numbers or colors on pieces of paper and put them throughout the house. Get your kids to dance to 3, leapfrog to Z, somersault to orange or anything else you can think of. Another great addition to this is integrating items like jump ropes, bouncy balls, pogo sticks and others. The possibilities are endless!
4. Tape Track – Use painter’s tape to create a car track on your hardwood, tile or concrete floor. How is this educational? Add numbers, letters and colors to the track and get them to drive car number 2 to the red parking stall without passing any Bs.
5. Tinfoil Boats – Get your kids to make tinfoil boats of their own design and creation and then count how many of a certain object it takes to sink them. What changes can they make to improve their designs?
6. Bean Bag Toss – Get your child to throw the green bean bag in bin number 2 or measure the distance you can stand away from the bin while still being able to get it in.
7. Person Puzzle – Ask your children to work together to trace each other’s body parts on different colored pieces of paper and then put them together to create a huge human puzzle.
8. Brainy Bubbles – We have all spent hours blowing bubbles with our kids. Make it a bit more interesting by getting them to catch the bubbles in different colored containers or pop them with various body parts (don’t forget to use left and right to help them learn this important skill).
9. Kitchen Colors – give your child some colored balls, tongs and a muffin tin. Label each pocket in the tin with the corresponding color (written out for older children and a colored sticker for younger kiddos) and get them to put the correct color in each hole using the tongs.
10. What’s Missing? This is another one that can be done with anything you have in the house. Put a number of things on the table (how many things you use will vary depending on the child’s age). Get them to look at the object and then hide their eyes. Take away one or more objects and ask them what’s missing?

Bonus Idea: Taking part in unstructured outdoor play of any kind teaches kids everything from important motor and social skills to the healthy appreciation of being active that will benefit them for years to come.

Although this list includes ideas of how to increase the educational value of common activities, chances are whatever activities you are doing with your kids is teaching them at least one very important lesson – that you love to spend time with them!