Inexpensive Homemade Educational Games

'The best way to teach a child is through play.' Children pick up alphabets, poems, maths and many more subjects faster, when taught through games. You can incorporate many concepts in their minds, without even making them realize that these are the same boring subjects taught in school. Games can not only be fun, but an excellent teaching aid in making children understand, remember and retrieve the concept they pick up while playing. You can build their language skills, widen their knowledge in world history, geography, science and many more subjects.

There are many interactive educational toys available in the market that can be very useful in teaching your children. You can find these educational games at toy stores and malls. But, it is even more fun when you and your kids sit down and make a homemade educational game. It will help you bond with your child and the siblings can also bond among themselves. Children will learn a lot while making and playing a game. The fun in fact doubles on playing a game that has been made by you.

There are many interactive, educational games that you can try building at home. You can try making a few of the games listed below, which you and your family can enjoy together.

Jigsaw Puzzle
It is not only fun when playing a jigsaw puzzle, but making a jigsaw puzzle of your own, is also very interesting. The kids will love cutting the different puzzle pieces. To make a jigsaw puzzle, cut a thin cardboard sheet to your desired size. Paste a picture or photograph of your choice on a thin sheet of cardboard. On the backside of the cardboard, draw a zigzag line 1 inch from the left edge, top to bottom. Draw similar lines at a distance of 1 inch from each other. Similarly, draw zigzag lines horizontally, 1 inch apart. Cut along these lines to make your zigsaw pieces. Jumble the pieces and your jigsaw puzzle is ready to be solved. This puzzle will help in building the analytical skills of the kids.

Spool-a-Word
This is an educational game that will help build your kids vocabulary and spelling skills.
You will need three spools and 1 unsharpened pencil. Take a marker pen and write the letters s,r,l,g and f around one spool. Write a,e,i,o,u on the other spool and on the third spool write n,t,d,p and b. Use different color markers on each spool. Put the spool containing the letters s,r,l,g and f, then the one containing the vowels and then the last spool around the pencil. Now, turn the spools on the pencil and form a word. See who can come up with more words in a minute. This is an interactive fun game that will be enjoyed by kids.

Brain Teaser Art
This game will help your children learn basic math skills. You will need a stencil to create geometric designs. Try making a bird with lots of circles, or make a house using squares, rectangles and triangle shapes. You have to keep in mind the number of shapes you draw. Color the brain teaser with an array of colors. After you finish preparing your brain teaser, ask your kids to count the number of shapes. It will be great fun as the children will get puzzled with the geometric jumble of shapes. This game will help the kids in improving their counting skills.

You can also play 'who can bounce a ball more times?'. Children will learn to count and the game will help the kids in building their concentration. You can play Simon Says, with a twist. You can spell a word and ask the kids to pronounce it. There are other ways too, in which you can improve your children's thinking capabilities. You can involve children when shopping and tell them names of the exotic vegetables and fruits sold at the market. Also, tell them about the countries or region where they are cultivated. The next time you visit a market, pretend you forgot the name of the exotic fruit and vegetable and ask them to help you remember!

There are many online sites where games based on phonics, language, arts, world history and maths are offered. Children love playing online games and educational games help them learn things the fun way.

You can come up with ideas that can make a daily chore into a fun educational game. You can ask kids to help you in the kitchen while cooking. They can learn to measure the ingredients and in turn learn about measurements and fractions. Involve children when you are doing your daily household accounts. It will help them gain the elementary knowledge of mathematics. These homemade, inexpensive educational games are innovative and trickle the little gray cells of your kids. Let lose the child in you, and enjoy playing these homemade educational games with your kids.