Games and other activities can be used as support tools to complement traditional learning methods. In fact, most classrooms incorporate a variety of games and activities to support students' cognitive growth. Below are some of the general learning outcomes for a few favorite activities.
Baking
- Bilateral Coordination - The ability to use both sides of the body at the same time in a controlled and organized manner. This can mean using both sides to do the same thing like in pushing a rolling pin. - Eye-Hand Coordination - The coordinated control of eye movement and hand movement and the processing of visual input to guide reaching and grasping along with the use of proprioception of the hands to guide the eyes. - Spatial Perception and Planning Skills - Math - Talking about the measurements and fractions to be used, doubling a recipe or halving a recipe, counting the eggs, etc. - Financial conversations - Math - Conversations around the cost of baking something compared to buying it in the store. - Encourages Healthy Eating - Accomplishment, Pride and Independence - Perseverance - Baking and cooking is hard work, and so is cleaning up the mess when you're done! |
Board Games
- Memory formation - Complex thought process - Cognitive skills such as decision making, higher level strategic thinking, problem solving. - Social Relationships between parents and child and/or siblings focusing on cooperation and teamwork. - Goal setting - Patience - Self-regulation and promotes laughter which helps to decrease stress. Playing board games also triggers the release of endorphins, or the "feel good" chemicals which improves the conscious and unconscious mind functions, leaving a person feeling cheerful, compassionate, and content. - Creativity - Self-Confidence - Increase language skills expanding vocabulary and comprehension skills. - Sharpened focus by increasing the attention span of staying on task. - Sportsmanship and leaning the skills to be a good winner and a good loser. - Screen-free and a break from technology. - Math Skills - counting, adding, subtracting, multiplying, subitizing (recognizing a number without having to count), counting on from a given number, etc. |
Lego - Fine Motor Skills - Connecting lego pieces of different shapes and sizes, children practice dexterity exercising their fingers for better control. - Creativity - Problem Solving - Deciding and thinking about which block fits where and using trial and error method to build the structure. - Concentration - Planning and Organizing Thoughts - Attention to detail - Math skills - Using the concepts of balance, symmetry, shapes, sizes, fractions, division, etc. to build. - Spatial Awareness - Engineering Skills - Building a tall building or a bridge and thinking in three dimensions along with balancing weight and using supports for the structures. - Persistence - Growing into building more complex designs, the task can become more challenging. - Confidence - A learning opportunity based on the child's vision and effort. - Independence - Structured Play - By giving the child instructions, either through the lego "kits" or by asking your child to build a specific item such as a house, structure has been introduced into the free play activity which is a learning goal for some. - Communication and Team Work - When working as a team to build a structure or working side-by-side engaged in independent play but using the same pile of lego, creates opportunities for communication and team work. |
Puzzles
- Develop Vocabulary - Encourage conversation around the picture of the puzzle or talk about the various pieces of the puzzle as you are working through. - Fine-Motor Skills - Hand-eye Coordination - Memory - Problem Solving - The child must try the piece of puzzle in different angles to determine if it will fit. - Critical Thinking - Children must look at the color scheme and shape of the puzzles pieces to determine which one would most likely fit. - Math Skills - Children must categorizing and organizing puzzle pieces. - Spatial Perception - Self-Correcting and Trial and Error - Children must ttemp a variety of pieces to find the one that fits. - Cooperation when working with others to solve the puzzle. - Persistence to finish the puzzle. - Self-Confidence in completing the puzzle. - Adaptable Thinking and Deductive Reasoning - When a child finds different ways to put the pieces together (starting with the outside edges first or working on one specific section of the puzzle at a time.) - Abstract Thinking - When the child is able to see the negative space, like the space where a puzzle piece may fit, and figure out what type of shape would be needed to fill that space, the child is using abstract thinking skills. |
Read Aloud (to children of any age!)
- Stronger Vocabulary - Children acquire language primarily through listening. Reading aloud lets children regularly hear new words in new contexts, which builds their vocabulary and helps them develop a stronger awareness language. - Connections between spoken and written word. When children hear words read aloud, they begin seeing how printed words are closely connected to spoken words. - Enjoyment - Children generally enjoy being read to, which encourages them to see the experience of reading as something fun and positive. Reading aloud makes them more likely to become interested in learning to read. - Increase attention span. Reading or being read to promotes a slower unfolding of events and ideas. This encourages children to listen, pay attention and concentrate, which promotes attention span development. - Provides a safe way of exploring strong emotions. Reading a story aloud that explores particular emotions helps some children accept their own feeling and understand how they feel. By reading aloud together, stories can help children feel more comfortable discussing their emotions with others. Social stories are great examples to support students in this capacity. - Helps grasp big themes and plot. Children's listening ability is greater than his or her reading ability. Being read to allows students to experience the benefits of more sophisticated language and ideas without the barriers of reading comprehension. - Curiosity - By asking questions and stopping for discussion as you read, children can become curious about the story but also about the content of the story. - Builds compassion and empathy. Being read to allows children to develop emotions beyond their experiences and gain awareness of people unknown to them developing a connection to the situation and a sense of empathy. |
Walking
- Improves mood by releasing endorphins or the "happy" chemicals in the body. - Good exercise increasing your heart heart and cardiovascular system. - Improved digestion - Creativity - The movement of walking allows you to spark more creativity rather than while being sedentary. - Boost your immune system - Help you sleep better - Self-Regulation, walking is relaxing! - Independence - Walking allow your child to choose the direction of the walk or choose a short-cut and gives them some control in an activity. |
Walking Game Ideas
* I Spy
* When You Hear...: Pick a trigger sound, such as a car horn or a bird's chirp. Line up in a single file and start walking. When you hear the sound, the first person in the line has to run to the back and there is now a new leader.
* Poetry to Go: Take turns creating a poem-on-the-go. Start off with a simple line like "I really love to take a walk" and have kids add their own rhymes in turn ("except when I forget my sock"...."and then I step upon a rock"....and so on).
* Interval Training: Spice up a walk by challenging kids to incorporate different moves, such as running, hopping, skipping, scuttling sideways, etc.
* Follow the Leader
* Count Off: Pick something to keep track of, from red cars to dead trees. Make it a contest or collaborate to find the items. Make it a contest across days, did we see more red cars today than yesterday, etc.
* Spelling Bee: Have children spell various words as you walk looking at the things you see (or the initial sound of the things you see, or the ending sound, or the number of syllables in the words, or find a rhyming word, etc.)
* 20 Questions
* Name That Tune: Singing, humming or whistling the tune.
* Catch!: Bring a small ball with you and toss it from person to person as you walk. Keep count and see how long your streak can get before dropping the ball (ensure you are walking in a safe location for this activity!)
* Ghost: This is a spelling game suitable for older kids. The challenge is to add letters to a word fragment - but not be the one to complete the word. Start with a random letter, and then each player takes turns adding new letters. They must be legitimate parts of a word. If you do finish a word (say, it's your turn when "BREAKFAS" gets to you; your only choice to to finish the word "breakfast"), you get a point. Get five points and you're out.
* Guess Who?: Think of a friend or relative and then give a hint to help the rest of the family guess who the mystery person might be.
* Amazing Race: Challenge each other to race from one spot to the next.
* Take Pictures of interesting things along the way - give the kids the camera or phone and see the world through their eyes. These pictures can then be turned into a book with or without description sentences.
* Nature Rubbings: A fun way to talk about nature is to do some crayon rubbings on things that are outside. A tree trunk, the sidewalk, a leaf, these can all be great ways to talk about the textures in the world around us.
* Bug Hunt: Take a magnifying glass and look at ants, spiders, beetles or any other bugs you see on your walk. This is a great segway into lots of conversations like the difference between bugs and spiders. Taking pictures of them allows you to also make a book about them or classify and sort them.
* Leaf Impressions: Bring a bag and collect different types of leaves (later on in the summer!). Do crayon rubbings with them, talk about their differences and similarities, sort or categorize them.
* Collect and Dissect: Go out and collect acorns, flowers, leaves, then bring them home and look inside them. Draw pictures of them.
* Gather "treasures" for an art project. A walk is a great way to gather supplies to make an art creation.
* Obstacle Course: Turn your walk into an obstacle course. Jump over the cracks in the sidewalk, run a circle around the bench, touch the tree, run fast, stop! These are ways to turn a walk into a listening activity.
* Signs: AS you walk past any type of sign, ask your child what they think the sign might mean. This helps develop critical thinking skills as well as familiarize your kids with the world around them. Fantastic for a 13 year old who might be looking at taking their drivers learning licence soon.
* Letters around you: Look for letters in the environment or make letters using sticks and leaves.
* Shapes around you: Look for different shapes in the environment. How many circles, triangles or other shapes can you see?
* Mapping: Draw a map of the playground or where you are going to walk. This supports spatial thinking by helping children visualize where objects are. (Kids can draw maps of anything, their room, the house, the yard, etc.).
* I Spy
* When You Hear...: Pick a trigger sound, such as a car horn or a bird's chirp. Line up in a single file and start walking. When you hear the sound, the first person in the line has to run to the back and there is now a new leader.
* Poetry to Go: Take turns creating a poem-on-the-go. Start off with a simple line like "I really love to take a walk" and have kids add their own rhymes in turn ("except when I forget my sock"...."and then I step upon a rock"....and so on).
* Interval Training: Spice up a walk by challenging kids to incorporate different moves, such as running, hopping, skipping, scuttling sideways, etc.
* Follow the Leader
* Count Off: Pick something to keep track of, from red cars to dead trees. Make it a contest or collaborate to find the items. Make it a contest across days, did we see more red cars today than yesterday, etc.
* Spelling Bee: Have children spell various words as you walk looking at the things you see (or the initial sound of the things you see, or the ending sound, or the number of syllables in the words, or find a rhyming word, etc.)
* 20 Questions
* Name That Tune: Singing, humming or whistling the tune.
* Catch!: Bring a small ball with you and toss it from person to person as you walk. Keep count and see how long your streak can get before dropping the ball (ensure you are walking in a safe location for this activity!)
* Ghost: This is a spelling game suitable for older kids. The challenge is to add letters to a word fragment - but not be the one to complete the word. Start with a random letter, and then each player takes turns adding new letters. They must be legitimate parts of a word. If you do finish a word (say, it's your turn when "BREAKFAS" gets to you; your only choice to to finish the word "breakfast"), you get a point. Get five points and you're out.
* Guess Who?: Think of a friend or relative and then give a hint to help the rest of the family guess who the mystery person might be.
* Amazing Race: Challenge each other to race from one spot to the next.
* Take Pictures of interesting things along the way - give the kids the camera or phone and see the world through their eyes. These pictures can then be turned into a book with or without description sentences.
* Nature Rubbings: A fun way to talk about nature is to do some crayon rubbings on things that are outside. A tree trunk, the sidewalk, a leaf, these can all be great ways to talk about the textures in the world around us.
* Bug Hunt: Take a magnifying glass and look at ants, spiders, beetles or any other bugs you see on your walk. This is a great segway into lots of conversations like the difference between bugs and spiders. Taking pictures of them allows you to also make a book about them or classify and sort them.
* Leaf Impressions: Bring a bag and collect different types of leaves (later on in the summer!). Do crayon rubbings with them, talk about their differences and similarities, sort or categorize them.
* Collect and Dissect: Go out and collect acorns, flowers, leaves, then bring them home and look inside them. Draw pictures of them.
* Gather "treasures" for an art project. A walk is a great way to gather supplies to make an art creation.
* Obstacle Course: Turn your walk into an obstacle course. Jump over the cracks in the sidewalk, run a circle around the bench, touch the tree, run fast, stop! These are ways to turn a walk into a listening activity.
* Signs: AS you walk past any type of sign, ask your child what they think the sign might mean. This helps develop critical thinking skills as well as familiarize your kids with the world around them. Fantastic for a 13 year old who might be looking at taking their drivers learning licence soon.
* Letters around you: Look for letters in the environment or make letters using sticks and leaves.
* Shapes around you: Look for different shapes in the environment. How many circles, triangles or other shapes can you see?
* Mapping: Draw a map of the playground or where you are going to walk. This supports spatial thinking by helping children visualize where objects are. (Kids can draw maps of anything, their room, the house, the yard, etc.).