December 4, 2024 – Homeschooling with Educational Toys and Games

Mercy Every Minute

Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

Make Homeschooling Fun Again

We often think that toys and games are keeping us from the real stuff of academics, but often, they are what make it stick. 

Children love to play games, put together puzzles, create artwork, or use building blocks, make volcanos, dig for fossils, collect gems and minerals, watch insects hatch . . . homeschooling gives us the time to explore all the things! Often a read-aloud was happening while the kids played. Educational toys and games are what made homeschooling so fun. 

One mom friend of mine played card games with her kids every night after dinner. One mom pulled out puzzles and made tea and cookies for rainy days. On nice weather days, one mom loved making chalk-drawn cities and stores outside. They pulled out their play cash register and played store owner as they purchased twigs and stones for their chalk homes. One mom loved art and crafting and taught all her kids the same. One mom loved knitting, crocheting, and sewing, and guess what her kids loved learning from her? These are the things that promote a love for learning. 

Game nights are great opportunities for the teenagers to have like-minded friends over. The games run the gamut: Telestrations, Balderdash, Apples to Apples (they have a Bible edition!), Scattergories, Scrabble, Chess, Phase 10, Uno, Cataan, Ticket to Ride, and so many others. Something about playing games and sharing food brings the teenagers out of their social shells. This week our teens got together to make Morse code bracelets; both educational and fun! 

These are the times your children will remember, so plan to schedule some fun game time into your routine. Whatever you do, put more fun into your days. Smile more often. And don’t forget—you can have fun learning God’s Word, too. Make it a game to memorize Scripture as you push them in the swing, as you sit down together for a tea party, as you throw a softball, or as you put music to the words. 

I recently recorded a podcast with two homeschool moms on staff here at TOS, and it was a wonderful conversation with great ideas for homeschooling with educational toys and games. You can listen to podcast #97 at www.HomeschoolShow.com. 

Think of the freedom our students have! Free to be wiggly, free to create, free to explore a subject deeply, free to play games or create their own—free to really learn. Our children are free to laugh and play and pray; they are free to be Home. Where They Belong.

~Deborah

Product Reviews of Learning Toys 

Product Reviews of Learning Games 

Let’s Play! 7 Great Reasons to Add Games to Your Elementary Homeschool Program

Fun & Games: Unleashing the Power of Play

Play Your Way Through Learning 

Poems + Illustrations + Bible verses = fun family devotionals and Christ-centered conversations! A perfect Christmas gift!

Todd Wilson

Familyman Ministries

“Let’s Play a Game!”

Just between you and me I hate the phrase, “Let’s play a game.” I have so much to do, including writing this brilliant, little article that will minister to untold . . . dozens. I have emails to write, speaking arrangements to work on, products to produce, and gobs of other important stuff to do!!

Games take time . . . my time. Playing a game means stopping what I’m doing, setting it up, listening to my kids’ incessant giggling as they make up their own rules, refereeing their bickering, and dealing with the nagging feeling that I should be getting something done instead.

It doesn’t help when I see my wife, who is way better than I am, sitting on the floor in the midst of her busy day playing a game with our youngest. I just can feel the guilt being heaped on my busy head.

I’ve got to get this all done or nobody will!!!

Can I hear an amen?! You’re busy too, right? Don’t have time for games either, right?? After all, if we stopped in the middle of our busy day to play a game with our children, nothing would get done…………except what really matters, right? Sigh.

I hate it when I’m right.

I’ll make a deal with you. As soon as you finish reading this email (which just showed up in my inbox too), let’s both stop doing all the “important” stuff we’re doing and play a game with all the really important people in our house who would love a little mom and dad time . . .because it matters.

Deal?

Be real,

Todd

PS – I feel like a two-faced, hypocrite even saying this, but we sell a Christmas Board game called To Bethlehem. It’s a no-skill, interaction game designed for families of all ages. So if you’re looking for a great Christmas game for the whole family, look no further. You can get yours here.

About the author

Todd Wilson is a dad, granddad, writer, conference speaker, and former pastor. Todd’s humor and down to earth realness have made him a favorite speaker at homeschool conventions, retreats, and churches across the country. As founder of Familyman Ministries and the Smiling Homeschooler, his passion and mission are to remind dads and moms of what’s most important through weekly e-mails, podcasts (The Familyman Show & The Smiling Homeschooler), seminars, and books and products that encourage parents. Todd, and his wife Debbie, still homeschool two of their eight children (six have graduated with four married) in northern Indiana. You can read more at www.familymanweb.com.

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Beth Mora

All Educational Toys and Games are Not Created Equal

There is ample evidence that kids learn best through play. In contrast, traditional schooling practices such as worksheets and flashcards are the least effective way to educate. Play increases concentration, retention, and creativity. It quells anxiety and the pressure to perform, helping the child engage and take more risks in learning. It behooves us as home educators to provide a chunk of our day to allow our children to play. However, not all educational toys and games are created equal.

In fact, it seems like every toy is marked “educational,” touting the benefits for your young one. The toy companies have successfully marketed to parents by playing on our fears that their child will ”fall behind” if they don’t buy the educational toy for junior. However, toys are just tools for play. I want to provide a rich environment for my students where play dominates learning, so here are some things to consider:

Inside vs. Outside

Will the toy foster more inside play or more outside play? Only 27% of kids regularly play outside, a sharp decrease in the last decade. The average time a child in the U.S. plays outside is only 4-7 minutes per day—unacceptable. Acquire toys that will keep the kids outside more than inside.

2D vs. 3D

Is the toy viewed on a flat screen, or is it a 3D object that can be held? Kids ages 8-18 spend an average of 7.5 hours a day in front of a screen for entertainment purposes! Yikes! Toys that can be held, such as blocks, board games, card games, pick-up sticks, etc., increase memory and spatial awareness.

Imaginative vs. Dull Thinking

Does the toy help the child imagine? Or does it have a predictable, boring outcome? Toys such as dress-up and role-playing that include problem-solving scenarios help a child’s brain grow.

Dear educator, fill your home with toys and games that help a child engage in active play, not mindless passive entertainment. Play is still one of the best ways to learn! Let the fun begin today! 

About the author

Beth Mora is a staff writer for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC and lesson designer for www.Schoolhouseteachers.com. She is the creator/teacher-on-camera for Here to Help Learning’s Homeschool Writing Program Grades 1-6, and a homeschool conference and women’s events speaker. Meet up with Beth at Home To Home, one of her favorite places to encourage. Everything she does, whether laughable or heart-gripping, is done to honor her Lord and Savior, Jesus. God’s grace is the salve that has healed her own life and is what she offers liberally to others.

Pillar of Faith

Natalie Mack

Homeschooling with Educational Toys and Games

As a new homeschooling mom of four focused on academics, God blessed us with our fifth child who learned and engaged via doing, playing, and interacting. He completed his pencil and paper assignments on time, but the joy that hands‑on activities brought was obvious to our family. Our youngest taught me the value of using educational toys and games in our homeschooling.

This realization caused me to pivot and, at once, I rearranged our homeschool space. Thankful to have a large family room over the garage for three years (military family), the FROG turned into multiple learning centers. The science center allowed him to engage with matching rocks on a geology board. It also offered magnets, lab equipment, and a small microscope. The math center was filled with math games and manipulatives. Our Bible area held many storytime felts and Bible crosswords. The section that engaged him the most was our maker space where he created so many cardboard houses I was sure he would grow up to be an architect. God is so good to reveal just what our children need to learn well and become the unique persons He created them to be. 

About the author

Natalie Mack is a National Certified Counselor, author, TEDx speaker, and experienced twenty-three years military home educator, with over twenty-two years of service to military homeschooling families and military homeschool support group leadership. She is known for her words of encouragement and advocacy for homeschooling, particularly during the journey from high school to college. Natalie is a mom of five: three college graduates, one college senior, and an 11th grader.

Have you been looking for a way to add some excitement to math or reading? With Everyday Games on SchoolhouseTeachers.com, students can enjoy over one hundred math and language arts games that teach various math and reading skills. One of the best ways to encourage a student to learn is by helping them have fun, and Everyday Games does just that!