Why Playing Games With Your Children Helps Their Learning

Playing games with your children isn’t just fun. Educational games and family board games can help children improve their Maths, English, spelling, vocabulary, concentration and problem-solving skills while giving families valuable time together.

At Chorlton Tuition Centre in Manchester, we encourage parents to remember that learning doesn’t only happen at school or during tuition. Some of the most effective learning can happen naturally at home.

A simple game of Scrabble is a great example.

How Scrabble Can Help Children With English

Scrabble may feel like a straightforward family board game, but children practise a surprising number of English skills while playing.

Every time your child tries to create a word from their letters, they are working on:

• Spelling
• Vocabulary
• Word recognition
• Letter patterns
• Reading
• Problem-solving
• Communication

Children also begin asking questions naturally:

“Is that a real word?”

“How do you spell it?”

“What does that word mean?”

This is one of the advantages of learning through games. Instead of being given a list of words to learn, children become curious about words because they need them to play the game.

Learning Without It Feeling Like Homework

Many parents want to know how to help their child with English at home without creating additional arguments about schoolwork.

Games can be an excellent solution.

Tell a child that they are going to spend half an hour practising spelling and you might not receive an enthusiastic response.

Ask whether they want to beat Mum or Dad at Scrabble and the reaction could be very different!

The learning happens naturally.

Children experiment with letters, discover unfamiliar words, check spellings, calculate scores and make decisions.

Most importantly, they are actively involved in their learning.

Board Games Can Develop Maths Skills Too

Scrabble isn’t only useful for English.

Children need to add the value of their letters, calculate bonus scores and compare the scores available from different words.

Other educational board games for children can provide even more opportunities to practise Maths skills such as:

• Addition and subtraction
• Mental arithmetic
• Number recognition
• Money
• Logic
• Patterns
• Strategic thinking

For younger children in particular, playing games can be an enjoyable way of building confidence with numbers.

Games Develop Concentration and Problem-Solving

The benefits of playing games with children go beyond Maths and English.

During an ordinary family game, children have to concentrate, wait for their turn, make decisions and think ahead.

Sometimes their decisions work.

Sometimes they don’t.

They also experience winning and losing.

These experiences can help children develop resilience, patience, concentration, confidence and problem-solving skills — all of which can support their progress at school.

Don’t Turn Family Games Into Another Lesson

There is one important rule for parents:

Keep it fun.

You don’t need to turn Scrabble into an English lesson.

If your child spells something incorrectly, help them. If they discover an interesting new word, talk about it. If a younger child is struggling, consider playing in teams.

You can even relax the rules occasionally.

The objective isn’t to recreate school at the kitchen table. It is to encourage your child to enjoy thinking, talking, experimenting and learning.

Should You Let Your Child Win?

Children often love competing against adults.

There is something particularly satisfying about beating Mum or Dad!

Give younger children enough support to keep the game competitive, but don’t automatically let them win every time.

Learning how to cope when things don’t go their way — and then trying again — is valuable too.

As your child’s skills and confidence develop, you may soon discover that you don’t need to let them win anyway.

What Are the Best Games to Play With Children?

Scrabble is only one example.

Depending on your child’s age and interests, you could try:

• Scrabble and other word games
• Chess
• Draughts
• Dominoes
• Card games
• Memory games
• Number games
• Puzzles
• Strategy games

Don’t worry too much about finding the perfect “educational” game.

The interaction between you and your child is often more important than the game itself.

Put the phones away. Sit together. Talk, laugh, compete and enjoy spending time together.

Helping Your Child Learn at Home

Parents sometimes feel under pressure to constantly provide additional schoolwork at home.

It doesn’t always have to be that way.

Reading together, talking about the world, cooking, visiting interesting places and playing games as a family can all provide valuable learning opportunities.

Even 20 or 30 minutes playing a board game together can encourage children to think, communicate and solve problems.

Maths and English Tuition in Chorlton, Manchester

At Chorlton Tuition Centre, we have been helping children and families in Chorlton and the surrounding areas for many years.

We provide Maths, English, Science and 11+ tuition for children aged 5–16, helping pupils improve their skills, build confidence and make progress at school.

But children’s education doesn’t begin and end in the classroom.

Some of the best learning happens through conversations, experiences, reading and play — and sometimes simply through sitting around a table trying to work out where to put a Q in Scrabble.

So this week, dig out an old board game and play it with your child.

They might be learning far more than they realise.

Looking for Maths or English tuition in Chorlton, Manchester? Contact Chorlton Tuition Centre to arrange an assessment and find out how we can support your child.