Learning Games For Kids

Do the kids you teach have short attention spans and difficulty sitting quietly? You know you can't change that. So instead, change your teaching methods! Include games in your lessons that have lots of action. Here are some tried-and-proven ideas.   They will work in Sunday School, public school, homeschooling, or anywhere you want children to be successful in learning.

 Ball Toss Game

You will need a number of balls to play Ball Toss, depending on how many children are participating. Organize groups with about six children in each group. They need to spread out so students can comfortably throw a ball to any member in their group. Choose information that the children need to review. I've done this with sequence counting, addition facts, subtraction facts, nouns, verbs and even spelling words.

• Example: The skill being reviewed is sequence counting by 6. One child holds the ball and says "6." He tosses the ball to another child in his group who says "12." She tosses the ball to another child who says "18." Continue to 60, and then start over again at six or go on to another sequence. Children may help each other if anyone is stumped by the next number in the sequence.

• Another example: Reviewing words before a spelling test.  I usually have three different spelling groups in my class to accommodate varying levels of difficulty. So I have three groups in the Ball Toss game. One child in each Spelling group is the monitor and calls out a spelling word. The child holding the ball says the first letter, then tosses the ball to someone else in his group who says the second letter, etc. Continue until all the words have been successfully reviewed. 

Find two more learning games, Sing Songie Facts and North, South, East, West in my article, Learning Games For Kids.