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The answer to how to use game school for homeschool may vary slightly depending on who you ask, but here’s how we use it. Luckily, I come from a family of game playing fanatics and that bug has passed on to my kids – something I am very thankful for! Games are a great way to bond as a family and just a lot of fun to play.

So – how does it work? Well, we play games…for fun! But also, for the educational value they create. I buy games intentionally to fill in concepts we are or will be working on. For example: when my daughter was working on fractions, I bought a fraction game to reinforce the concept but in a fun way that we can laugh and talk and not in a way that makes her feel like she is doing school. That’s basically how it works here. We play the games, they learn the things, math, spelling, whatever it is gets easier.

Today, I thought I would share some of the games we are currently playing, as well as some of our favorites! Before I do that, I should share about my kids. I have a ten-year-old girl, and eight and six-year-old boys {So, roughly 4th, 3rd and K}. My boyfriend has a nine and seven-year-old so we cover a few grade levels.

For my youngest – and I will add – he plays every game with us. Sometimes on my lap, sometimes on his own and then he may quit after just a few minutes on some of the longer or more complicated games but he definitely isn’t missing out!

• Alphabet Bingo – he is great with numbers but knowing his letters is a big thing we are working on, so this game is perfect! Plus, we read a ton! This game is just like it sounds – we all have a board and I pull the letter cards, place them on the map and we cover the ones we have. Get four-in-a-row and win!    
• Sum Swamp – this is a great game for Kindergarten or 1st grade kids and even the older kids here play it to reinforce math facts. Roll the dice and add or subtract the numbers on them, move that many spaces. I honestly had NO clue that Henry knew his numbers and how to add so well {I’m clearly unschooling him quite well, ha!}. We opened this because it was a gift for my other son and of course, Henry jumped in to play too. He rolled, added and did the entire thing on his own and loves it! Simple to play and lots of fun.
• Virus – Okay, I bought this since we are in the midst of a pandemic and figured why not, plus – it’s fairly cheap so yay! OH MY GOODNESS!!! The kids absolutely love this simple to learn card game. There are four organs in the game and you have to collect at least three healthy organs. Do this while our opponents are trying to make your organs sick or kill them off entirely. If they do, heal them with vaccines. The kids absolutely love this game and love to gang up on me to kill off my organs – they are brutal and out for blood – they got that from me!

That’s what Kindergarten game school has looked like recently.

So – 3rd and 4th grade-ish. I say that because I am mostly sure that is what grades the older two are in. My daughter loves strategy games that take more time. My son loves fast games where you can basically decimate your opponent.

• Trekking the World. This is quite possibly my very favorite game ever. We picked it up on Facebook Marketplace for a great price or I would probably still have it in my cart waiting for a great deal. The pictures are absolutely stunning!!! We get to travel the world and explore these incredible places along the way. It is a bit longer and there is strategy involved so it is a great game for your developing strategist. It’s about 50/50 which one of us wins. Trekking the National Parks is in my cart and it takes all I have to hold off on buying it. These are great ways to learn about the world and the United States.
• Ecologies. We got this game to review and it’s a blast. A great way to learn how nature works together to create healthy biomes and grow a healthy habitat for all of the plants and animals. If you get this one, I highly recommend watching the video to learn how to play, it was kind of confusing until I watched that. Then – it’s easy and fun to play.
• Sequence Numbers. If you have played traditional sequence, you will know how to play. This is great practice in adding two-digit numbers. Add them up and find the two matching answers on the board. Place your chip on one that will help you get five-in-a-row to win the game.
• Miss Bernard is a Wild Card. This is another big favorite for the kids. It is so very simple to play and quick to learn. Along the way, your child will learn about nouns, adjectives, action words/phrases and rhyming words. You need five cards to win – the teacher, the rhyme that goes with it, the action, adjective and then the noun. Did I mention you WILL laugh? And…if you have boys…they will laugh too, with nouns like fart…and adjectives like rainbow-colored…yeah. The kids love it and ask to play often. Games are usually short – think 10ish minutes or so, so easy to fit in quickly.

Oh yeah, and the newest thing we have added in by request of my daughter – she keeps score. She asked to do it so she does it. Which means, she adds double digit numbers repeatedly and loves doing it, so who am I to stop her?!

These are some of the games we have been playing for homeschool/gameschool and we are loving every single game of it. Filling out learning time with laughter, silliness and competition is working out just great for us all.

I WANT to hear from you!  Drop me a comment below and let me know what games you think we should be playing next week.