How to Use Games in Your Homeschool

Written By: The Good and the Beautiful Published On:

Adding board games into your homeschool changes up the routine and makes learning even more fun! Some call it “gameschooling” or “play-based learning,” but for those who are more traditional homeschoolers, once in a while saying “Let’s play a game!” is a great way to encourage your children (and the entire family) to try something new.

Benefits of Using Board Games for Homeschool

There are many behavioral and educational benefits to including board games in your homeschool schedule, such as teaching children critical thinking skills and sportsmanship and reinforcing their daily language and math lessons. Let’s explore these board game benefits!

Behavioral Benefits of Playing Board Games

We all know the term “sore loser,” and we try to teach our children not to be one. But it takes time and intentional training to help children understand they can’t win all the time and to learn how to deal with that disappointment.

Even more importantly, when they lose or stumble, we must teach our children how to pull themselves back up and try again—and then how to offer sincere congratulations to the winning player!

Family board game time is a safe place to model important moral and behavioral lessons that can be as basic as taking turns, waiting patiently, and winning or losing respectfully.

10 Positive Praises to Say to Your Child While Playing Games

  • That was a nice move! You’re really good at this game.
  • Thanks for waiting patiently for your turn.
  • Wow! That’s a great answer. It was a challenging question.
  • Thanks for letting your sister go first. That was very kind of you.
  • I love how you are trying different ways to solve this problem.
  • Thanks for your kind words to your brother when he lost the game.
  • You were a gracious winner! Thanks for playing.
  • I know it’s not fun to lose, but you played a good game.
  • Thanks for playing with a great attitude!
  • I had fun playing this game with you.

Educational Benefits of Playing Board Games

Games encourage children to stretch their thinking skills and to solve problems or puzzles that are unique and challenging. Telling time, adding and subtracting money, reading advanced words, critical thinking, strategizing, and so many more skills can be taught through board games.

Games are a great way to combine multiple disciplines into one efficient but effective learning experience. This is something The Good and the Beautiful believes in, which is why we incorporate games directly into the lessons of our various curriculum products. Whether it’s a matching game to practice sight words or a fact puzzle about the International Space Station, games make learning even more exciting!

Social and Educational Benefits of Playing Board Games 

  • Enhances social skills, including learning about turn-taking and losing
  • Improves knowledge, especially when using learning games
  • Encourages fun and wholesome sibling and parent bonding
  • Increases confidence and empathy
  • Strengthens critical thinking skills

How to Choose Board Games for Kids

There are so many options for board games—it can sometimes feel overwhelming! Various websites provide reviews on thousands of games, many homeschool blogs offer ideas, and friends often have excellent suggestions! Read on to learn how to choose and introduce new board games.

Start with Familiar Favorites

Your children may be interested in certain board games or topics more than others. Start with games they like, then encourage younger children to expand into more advanced games and different topics. Games are a great way to expose them to new ideas, industries, historical stories, national and world landmarks, and more. The list of options is nearly endless!  

Try New Games, Choose by Subject

After your children are comfortable playing their favorite board games, challenge your family to try new games. Borrow or trade games with friends. Make game time a special occasion, or simply pick a game that pairs well with a current science lesson or language course. Think sight words, storytelling, animal bingo, etc.

Choose Games by Age

All games have age recommendations, but don’t be afraid to go above or below them with your children. Each child learns differently, likes different things, and can handle different levels of competition.

Sometimes game time can be simple and fun, and other times it’s nice to take on a more advanced game that requires strategic thinking. Important lessons can be taught from either type of game!

Choose Cooperative Games

Speaking of levels of competition, a good place to start for younger children is cooperative games.

A cooperative game is one where all players work toward a common goal and need to combine efforts to accomplish that task. A simple online search will reveal many options for these fun confidence-building games!

What are some of your family’s favorite educational games? Tell us in the comments below!

Fun Ways to Bring Games into Your Homeschool

Pick a game of the week.

Host a game day once a month with friends.

Take turns with who gets to pick the game.

Pair games with current homeschool lessons and topics.

Offer single-player games to use at quiet time.

Games from The Good and the Beautiful

The Good and the Beautiful curriculum (language arts, math, history, and science courses) incorporates many opportunities to advance learning through playing games. We also offer supplemental learning games in The Good and Beautiful Bookshop!

  • Bookshop Books | The Good and The Beautiful

  • Visit our Bookshop to see a variety of learning games and activity pages that we have to offer.

    • Reading games
    • Science games
    • Crafts & drawing
    • Math games
    • Activities books
    • Music, videos, stories, and more!
    Visit Games & Activities

Free Games on the Blog

Visit these three fun and educational sight word blogs to find free sight word games and activities for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade!

Find out if fish sleep, learn to identify tree bark, and more with the exciting posts that accompany our Little Hearts and Hands science units.

Check out our many other homeschool blog posts for more free games and activities!

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Frequently Asked Questions About Using Games in Homeschool

How can I use board games to teach my kids?

To use board games to teach your kids, the first step is to decide which skills you want to target! 

Are you new to board games, and hoping to teach your children the importance of turn-taking and cooperation? 

  • Consider starting with a simple cooperative game as a family. 

Are your children board-game-lovers, ready to take on a new challenge? 

  • Introduce a learning game that teaches scientific or historical facts!

What are the benefits of using board games in homeschool?

Here are some of the many incredible benefits board games can bring to your homeschool:

  • Enhanced social skills, including learning about turn-taking and losing
  • Increased confidence and empathy
  • Improved knowledge, especially when using educational games
  • Fun and wholesome family bonding
  • Strengthened critical thinking skills

Which board games should I use for homeschool?

The type of board game that is best for your family depends on your circumstances! Ask yourself these questions to decide the appropriate game for your homeschool:

  • What do I want this game to teach?
  • What age range will I use this game for?
  • Do I want this game to be competitive or cooperative?

What games does The Good and the Beautiful provide?

The Good and the Beautiful incorporates games into all of its curriculum, but check out these linked blog posts and more for FREE games to play with your children!

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1 comment

Doris Elliott

I loved reading this blog! I am new to the homeschool journey and trying to keep my daughter interested in learning can be hard. I will be including some games into our lessons from now on! Thank you TGATB for always supplying resourceful information!

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