What to Consider When Buying or Making a Game

Whether it is choosing a game to purchase or one to make, basically the same ingredients are involved.

There are two prime parts of a game:

  

1. The SKILL being taught, drilled or reviewed. Is it exactly what the child needs? Meeting the need is often easier with a home-made game, as rarely has a purchased game been created with your child at this point in his educational develpment in mind.
2. The FORMAT or method of play. While some children prefer active outdoor type games, others would rather play a strategy filled board game or an exciting fast-paced dice game. With the large variety of game formats available, it is easy to find a few each child will especially like.

Other things to consider: 

•  The COST involved. While it could cost as much as $25 or more to purchase a pretty boxed game to drill the US states and capitals, this same amount could be used for materials to make several games drilling this same skill. By having several different games that drill the same material, it is often possible to play for an extended period of time which means quicker mastery. When a child tires of one method of play, another game can be selected, however, the same skill is still being worked on.
• The TIME involved to make games. Often this is the biggest reason offered for not making games. However, if the children participate in the making of the game, learning is already beginning. Older children may be encouraged to write questions and answers on cards as a unit is being studied, thus learning and making the review game at the same time. Children are also eager to play games they have helped to create.

Bingo as an Educational Game

Bingo is a fun game that most everyone knows how to play. Now is it also a great learning tool.

Why is the Bingo format such a great educational tool to use?

1. BINGO IS EASY TO MAKE. I have Bingo playing cards already printed out so that I can quickly grab them, add the information and we can be ready to play in no time at all. Several web sites have printable Bingo playing cards. However, I have found that I prefer my own. I make them in three forms:

a. The traditional 25 space card that we are all familiar with. This is good for times when the information being put on the spaces is not too large.

b. A 16 space card (four rows of four spaces in each row). This is a form to use when there is more information to be placed in each space or when larger pictures are being put in the spaces.

c. A 9 space card (three rows of three spaces in each row). This is a good form for introducing young children to Bingo. Since the card is simpler it is easier for them to find the proper space to mark.

One of the reasons I like to make my own Bingo cards is I do not like the word BINGO printed above the columns. Usually this is not needed as players will search the entire card for the proper answer/space to mark. On the rare occasion that there is very few answers being drilled, but I want to use a 25-space card, I would then use letters to identify the columns. However, I tried to make the letters more meaningful.

For example: I made a Bingo game to drill the notes on the scale for my children when they began piano lessons. Since there are only seven possible answers: a, b, c, d, e, f, and g, I did mark the columns. But I used the letters M-U-S-I-C. Then the calling cards had each possible combination: They had pictures of a scale with one note indicated on each card. I also wrote one of the column letters in the corner of each card....five columns times seven possible answers equals 35 cards were created for the game.

And yes, I do on some games make a FREE SPACE in the center. Again, this depends on how much information I have to put on the card and how many spaces I need to use.

2. BINGO CAN BE PLAYED WITH ANY NUMBER OF PLAYERS. Bingo works wonderful in large and small groups, so it is good for the homeschool family as well as for use in a classroom. Just create enough playing cards (each one should have the information arranged differently on the cards) and away you go.

One question I often get asked is "How can I play games with only one child?" My daughter Cortney came up with the solution to this one. One day when she wanted to play a Bingo game and Kyle was not wanting to participate, she decided that her Teddy Bear could play, and she would help him. So she actually played two cards. Then she expanded on this (as she often did on everything). She lined up a whole group of her stuffed animals and dolls and gave them each a card. Of course, she has to help ALL of them. It was often so cute watching her play with them. She talked to them, of course, encouraging the ones who were behind and telling the winners to be less boastful. From this day on, we rarely played with only human players at our house....as the children thought more players meant more fun.

This is also a good solution for a player that has trouble "losing." Encourage him to let his toy friends play, and he can just help them. Then he is neither a winner nor a loser, but still gets the drill.

3. THE WINNER IS BASED ON LUCK, NOT ABILITY. Since the luck of having the right spaces on the playing card determines the winner rather than a greater ability, or knowledge, players of differing abilities can all play together. This is especially good for the homeschool family. The whole family can play together and the three year old (who gets assistance) has just as much chance of winning the game as his 13 year old sibling. Older children can play for the review of a skill, the middle child is getting the drill he needs to master the skill and the younger children are getting introduced to the skill.

How much information the little ones absorb was clearly pointed out to me one night. We had made a bird identification Bingo. The playing cards had pictures of birds we had learned about in our Bird Unit. Kyle was only three at the time, so I was not sure how much of the information he was getting from this unit, but he had developed a real interest in watching the birds at our feeder and helping keeping it filled. Then one night we were watching a nature show on foxes, when all of a sudden he jumps up and runs to the TV so excited. He is pointing to a bird shouting, "It's a kingfisher! It's a kingfisher! Just like the one on my card." He had had a favorite Bingo card and none of us knew why, but obviously using the same card every time we played, had made him familiar with the birds on it. He even had to go and dig out his card, just to prove to us all. This event made me much more aware of how much information Kyle was absorbing by just participating with us each day.

For more information on Birds Lotto

4. ALMOST ANY SKILL CAN BE PUT ON A BINGO GAME. From beginning phonics and counting to telling time, counting coins, identifying dog breeds, drilling Spanish words, math facts, history, geography, and on and on.

NOTE: A word of caution. It does make a difference which information you put on the calling cards and which goes on the playing cards. I think I can explain this the best, by sharing the mistake I made. I wanted to drill the children in counting groups of coins. On the playing cards, using some neat coin stampers I had purchased, I put different coin combinations in each of the 16 spaces. Then I wrote the amounts on calling cards. The first time we played, I realized something was wrong. It took the children saying, "This is too hard." for me to realized what the problem was. As I called out "64 cents" they had to search this maze of coins to find the right combination. It was overwhelming to them. So I remade the game. I cut apart the bingo cards and they now became the calling cards. Then as we played, I turned over one coin card, the children carefully counted the coins and then we all found the written amount on our bingo cards. Much smoother play. So think a few minutes before creating the game. The newest information most likely belongs on the calling cards, that can be taken one at a time.

5. BINGO IS GREAT FOR EXPOSING CHILDREN TO INFORMATION. I know that it is not necessary as part of a child's education to know the different breeds of dogs, rarely would they be tested on such information. However, for a well-rounded education, I like to expose them to as much information as I can. By using a Bingo game with pictures of different dogs on each of the playing spaces, the children were introduced to a number of the most common breeds. Since Bingo is not a fast-paced game, we were able to talk about the different breeds as we played. Each of us would share things we knew about them. Then since their interest was captured, I got a number of books on dog breeds on our next trip to the library. The children were excited about getting new information that they could share for the next time we played.

Bingo was such a favorite at our house that one year we had a Bingo Marathon. For several months we kept track of the number of games won by each player. The children were older now and we took all of our Bingo games and placed them in three milk crates. Each evening we would play several rounds of Bingo, selecting a new game for each round. At first I let the winner select which game we would play the next time, but I soon realized they each had a few favorites and we were just playing those games rather than reviewing all of the games as I had intended with this idea. So then we adjusted the rules just a bit. There was no longer a choosing of the game. We simply selected the next game in the crate putting the already played game in the back. When all of the games in one crate had been played we moved on to the next crate. We went through these three crates of games several times in our Marathon. This Marathon kept the children asking to play Bingo in "non-school" hours, especially the child who happened to be behind at the time. Also, during this Marathon, the children decided they did not need the extra competition of Teddy Bears for play. After all, the winner of the Marathon got to chose ANY item from the menu at the Ice Cream Shoppe, while the rest of us got cones. However, the winner did decide to chose the mammoth sundae the children had always drooled over and also ordered extra spoons, so we all shared in the winnings.

I hope that Bingo is enjoyed in each of your homes or classrooms as much as we enjoyed it.

Color Concentration - Preschool Game

Memory or Concentration is a great game to teach little ones. With just a few cards very young children can learn the rules of play. As they get older or more adapt at the skill involved a more difficult game can be made by simply adding more cards.

To begin with toddlers, let's use circles of 8 to 10 different colors - two of each color.

To begin play, use only  four cards, say the two red circles and two blue ones. Place the four cards face up on the playing surface. Point to a red circle and say "This is the red circle. Can you find another red circle?" If the child is correct let him collect both cards. If incorrect, gently tell him it is a BLUE circle and ask him to try again. Play with just the two colors face up until the child understands what the match is.

Then you can do one of two things...

1. Add another color and continue playing face up. Give the child a chance to do the asking sometimes as well and you make the matches.

2.  Turn the four cards face down and turn up one card. Ask the child the color. Turn it back down. Then repeat with all four cards. Then again turn up one card and name the color. Ask the child if he remembers where the other red circle is. Let him collect the cards if correct and replace both cards if incorrect and continue playing. If this concept of having the cards face-down seems too overwhelming for the child return to face-up play, just adding more colors as the child seems to master the ones learned so far. Continue adding cards to each form of play as the child's skill level and ability increases.


I am sure that this reminder is not necessary but re-enforcing this game with books on colors, talking about colors, finding colors in your surroundings, naming colors of clothing and other items will make the child more quickly aware of the colors and their names.


Remember learning is to be fun. If the child is not enjoying the game, set it aside for another time. He may just be tired. Or he may not yet be ready for this skill or a game of this type.

Ideas for Bingo Games

The easiest way to begin making games is to use the games you already know. Bingo is a good example, since most everyone knows how to play and almost every skill can be put on a bingo game.

There are two types of cards in a bingo game.  The first is the calling card.  Here is the information that the caller gives the other players.  It can be a math fact or review question to provide the answer to, it may be a date of a historical event, or a Roman numeral, a word written in Spanish, or a clock, or any other information the child needs drill on.  The playing cards contain the matching information or answers (solutions to the math fact, answer to the review question, the historical event, the Arabic equivalent to the Roman numeral, the Spanish word's English translation, the digital time, or other.)  Play is just like regular bingo.  A calling card is drawn, a child needing the drill gives the answer and all players mark their cards.

Following are some ideas....the first thing listed in each set would go on the calling cards and the second would be put on the spaces of the bingo boards.

Capitals/States- on these to make it more decorative I bought some state stickers and placed a few on each bingo card to give them more color.

Addition Facts/Sums

Any Math Facts/Answers

Pictures/Letters- the pictures are simple ones and the letters would be the beginning letter of

the picture

Name of Breed/Picture of Dogs- though this is not a necessary school skill, I have made lots of games that are for fun but we do learn in the process. I found some pictures in a book and xeroxed them and glued them on the bingo boards.

Word/Its Antonym, Synonym, or Homonym

A Date in History/The Event

A Biblical Woman/Her Husband's name

Definition of a Term/The term- This is good done by units. For example, as we studied Insects we made a game with all the new terms we learned and their meanings, this was good for drill and review.

Clocks/Digital Time- here I cut pictures of clocks out of old used math workbooks

Coins/Amounts-for this one I used coin stamps and just stamped different combinations of

coins on each calling card.

TIP-one tip for making Bingo games is to put the less known information on the calling card. Like when I made the Coin Bingo, the first time I stamped the different combinations of the coins on the spaces of the bingo playing cards. As we tried to play, I realized this was much too difficult. The children were looking at a whole page of coin combinations that they did not know how to count very well. So I remade the game with the coin combinations on the calling cards. This way we look at the calling card and figure out the amount together and then all mark our cards.

This is a good idea for a way that all family members can play also. Have the child that needs to drill the particular skill be the caller and give the correct solution or match. Then even younger brothers and sisters can be assisted in marking their cards and you will be surprised how much they learn and remember if they are included in the play often. We sometimes set up favorite stuffed animals to play the extra cards when we wanted extra players, of course we had to assist them marking their cards.....LOL

Materials: I like to use colored bristol (a heavier weight paper) to make the cards.  I have drawn a blank bingo pattern on white and printed it on several different colors of bristol.  I also grid out a sheet of calling cards on white paper and likewise printed it on different colors of bristol.  This way when I want to make a bingo game, I do not need to take the time to draw out the grids.  I simply choose the color I wish to use and add the information.  I like to cover the cards with clear contact paper (before cutting them apart) to make them more durable.  Another way to protect the playing cards is to insert them in plastic sleeves.  The nice advantage to these is using the 3 holes punched along the edge they store easily in a notebook or pocket fold.  I store the calling cards in zipper storage bags.  For marking the card, the traditional corn may be used.  However, we like to use dry-erase markers.  Most brands work well.  However, I have found some of them stain Contact paper or plastic sleeves so try them out on a sample before using on your game boards.

Since children like "pretty" games I often put some cute pictures or stickers in a corner of each playing card.  If, for example the bingo game is for review of our ocean unit, I may title it Ocean Bingo (how is that for originality?) and at the top each card for a sticker or picture of a different ocean creature that was studied.  Then as we play, children can have fun picking which card they want to play with (the one with the shark, dolphin, squid or jellyfish).

Bingo is fun for all ages. Learning happens while playing.

Why Educational Games Should be Homemade

I believe that the best game for your child is one that you make yourself. After all, who knows him better than you? There are many nice educational games available on the market, I have even sold some that I have made. However, I recommend MAKING games rather than buying games, even mine!! Let me tell you why...

1. A game made specifically for a child meets his exact needs at this moment. I could make a reading game (and I have made LOTS of reading games) but it might not drill the exact skills that your daughter is needing practice on. If YOU were to make a similar game, it would not meet the needs of your neighbor's child who is at just a slightly different place then your child. The game you make would, however, be exactly what your son needs.

2. There are many different formats (styles) of games. There are card games, bingo, board games, active games, self-correcting games, speed games, and on and on. Some children prefer one or two types of games to others. So you can choose the format of play that your child enjoys.

3. Themes of games is really the DECORATION. For a racing fan, I would create a board game with a race car design. Now the "ballerina" that lives in my granddaughter would prefer a board with pretty stickers of little girls dancing on their toes or princesses or fairies. Knights, castles, dragons, or pirates would thrill some of my grandsons. Another grandson would love things decorated with stickers to match Disney's Cars. So think about your child's interests and decorate: horses, Indians, dinosaurs, fast cars, American Girls, super heros...or think about the unit you are studying: insects, Africa, George Washington, bones, fractions, food groups, the flag, the Civil War, or whatever.

4. THE PRICE - Purchased games can cost LOTS of money. I know, I have priced them. I check them out and then make my own game. I have made over 1000 educational games that I have used with my children at home, in the classroom during the years I taught in a small Christian school, and now with my grandchildren. I could NEVER have begun to purchase that many games.

5. VERY SPECIALIZED - I had a boy in my classroom that was having difficulty distinguishing the difference in the sounds of short /e/ and short /i/. I made a game for him to play at home with his family. I couldn't have found such a game, and even if I could, I would never have been able to justify the cost for the needs of ONE child.

6. Children enjoy making the games too. Many years ago daughter made a VERY boring (in my opinion) game that drilled addition and subtraction facts. However, because she made the game, she was more than willing to play it, and who was I to complain about HOW she was drilling her facts. Now, her son Douglas has the same fun making games. I often let the children decorate different gameboards, and I provide the skill cards to use with them. They like playing their creations.

Home-made games make so much sense to me. We have had so much fun making and playing them. I hope that you might also find the benefits of them for your families.

WARNING: Game-making is addicting...LOL