Educational family games for Christmas
With the end of the year on the horizon, 2020 will be a Christmas like no other thanks to the pandemic that has cast a shadow over much of the last 9 months. With the government allowing a “Christmas bubble” to be formed between the 23rd and 27th December, some of us may choose to enter into a bubble with two other households to celebrate the festive period.
If you have children, then Christmas is the perfect opportunity for downtime, however after a year of missed education it is important to maintain the scholastic progress that they managed, therefore fun family games with an informative twist are the perfect opportunity to relax whilst simultaneously flexing those brain fibres.
A classic game that can be enjoyed by the whole family is ‘Scrabble’. ‘Scrabble’ is perfect for students of all ages as it encourages players to think creatively about their vocabulary, whilst also calculating possible word scores – therefore benefitting both maths and English skills.
Another popular game that favours English skills is ‘Articulate’, a game of synonyms and quick thinking. Many younger children will be very familiar working with synonyms from their classroom learning, and for older students it can be a very useful exercise to ensure there are no gaps in vocabulary. Articulate is a fast-paced game with a competitive element and therefore the whole family can enjoy competing and learning together.
A Christmas family staple for many households, ‘Monopoly’ is a board game that has remained ever-popular. Despite the frustrations that can occur from some players living up to the name and ‘monopolising’ the play, it is a superb board game that uses some skill in terms of managing money, calculating risk and identifying the potential for rewards, but also has a luck element in order to level the playing field!
If you are looking for a game that will broaden your children’s minds, then why not go back to the true stalwarts of family gaming and teach them how to play chess? With the popular Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” increasing sales of chessboards exponentially, now is the perfect time to peak an interest in the game of true skill and foresight. The skills which make a great chess player are extremely transferable to the classroom, from planning and execution to learning the perfect techniques.
