Games for 8-Year-Olds: Fun Educational Game Ideas

Benefits of Using Educational Games

Children benefit from educational games because they are able to use their problem-solving skills and think strategically in a fun way. Educational games make learning fun; therefore, children are able to foster a positive attitude towards education and learning new skills. Children are engaged and focused when they are playing these games, so they are able to retain the information that they have learned.

Fruity Math

Your child will use his counting skills as well as his addition and subtraction skills with this fun activity. You will need:

• Six apples
• Five bananas
• 12 grapes
• Three oranges
• Four pears

Have your child count how many pieces of fruit there are for each type of fruit. For instance, there are six apples total. He should then write or draw his results on a piece of paper. Next, give him a list of math problems that incorporate the fruit, such as adding the total amount of bananas and the total amount of pears. He will have to look on his sheet to see how many bananas and pears there are, and then add the numbers together. You can also do some subtraction problems, such as grapes minus oranges. The types and amounts of fruit can vary.

Bucket Ball

Line up four buckets on the ground about two feet apart. Use sticky notes to mark the closest bucket with the number ten, the next bucket with 15, the next with 20 and label the last bucket with 25. During each turn, a player will take a beanbag and try to throw it into a bucket of her choosing. If the beanbag lands in the bucket, she receives the point value of the bucket it landed in. Play about five rounds, and have each person keep track of his or her own score by adding the various amounts. Whoever has the most points at the end is the winner.

Homemade Silver Polish

Items made of silver eventually lose the shininess that they once had. A chemical reaction that occurs between the silver and the sulfur particles in the air causes the silver to tarnish. Your child can reverse this reaction using chemistry. You will need:

• A deep dish
• Aluminum foil
• Tarnished silver
• Saucepan
• Baking soda
• Measuring cups

Cover the bottom of the dish with aluminum foil and place the tarnished piece of silver on top. Next, use the saucepan to boil eight cups of water, and then add 1/2 cup of baking soda. Pour the hot mixture into the dish. Be sure that the tarnished silver is completely immersed in the solution. The tarnish will come off the silver very quickly. Have your child find as many pieces of tarnished silver that he can and see how clean he can get them.