Turning a Fight into Fun: Using Educational Games as a Learning Opportunity

Battles in the bath, battles in the car, washing their hair, and getting ready for school-do these times during the day make you stressed, angry, or just plain worn out?  Every family has to deal with these types of battles because parents have an obligation to care for their children, but, at the same time, the children want to assert themselves and control their lives and environment.  As a result, there is a clash of wills.  But, you don’t have to accept this as a normal activity that you will have to deal with daily, leaving you tired and needing your space. 

Instead, you CAN make this time fun.  It is in your power as parents to still maintain control, get the kids dressed, bathed, in the car, and ready for school.  And, it can be a learning experience.  But, it begins with YOU.  The key is to change your tactics as parents.  As many psychologists suggest, the best way to change a negative situation or behavior is to distract your children; to refocus their behavior on something that is good.  Think about it:  Don’t fight, instead PLAY A GAME that has your kids thinking and improving their skills.  This is the perfect diversion that is fun, engaging, and a great learning opportunity.  When I’m in those situations and I feel the battle is beginning to rage, I suggest to my kids to play one of these 2 games that are very engaging and educational:

1.      The guessing game: This game has you or your children using adjectives that describe anything that you can think of: animals, plants, objects, people, and places.  For example, my kids like animals.  So, I begin the game thinking of an animal that I don’t share with the kids.  Then, I use adjectives to describe it; I describe its habitat and the food it eats etc.  Last, I wait to see if the children can guess what animal it is.  It is that simple.  Once, the children have practice guessing, let them try.  They will LOVE trying to stump you, and you will LOVE to watch their skills grow! 

2.      The math story game: This game helps to develop your kids’ math conceptual skills (usually with kids in grades K-4).  All you have to do is tell a story that poses a math problem using addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division concepts that they then have to solve in their mind for the answer.  For example, a math story can be, “There were 7 horses in a pasture eating grass.  Then, 12 more horses galloped over to eat grass.  How many horses are in the pasture now?”  Just adjust the story to your kids’ ability.  Then, let them tell their own math stories for you to solve.  This is a great opportunity to understand both the level of mathematical understanding your children have, and to build their conceptual understanding of addition, subtraction, and more advanced skills of multiplication and division. 

The next time World War III ensues in your household with your little ones, choose to play instead of fight.  You will find that you will all win in the end.