December 3, 2025 – Homeschooling with Games and Other Fun Resources

Mercy Every Minute

Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

Where Bonding Happens

I like board games that have to do with letters or words, but most of my family prefers strategic games or card games of all kinds. Do I only join in when it is a game I like? No! I join anytime I can no matter the game because I know this is where family bonding and relationship building happens. Not only that, but lots of laughter and snacks, too! 

We often think that toys and games are keeping us from the real stuff of academics, but often, they are what make it stick. So many educational toys and games create opportunities for the kids to be scientific or creative or use logic or spatial skills.

Children love to play games, put together puzzles, create artwork, or use building blocks, make volcanos, dig for fossils, collect gems and minerals, watch insects hatch . . . homeschooling gives us the time to explore all these things! I was always on the lookout for any of these kinds of fun educational toys and games.

Game nights are great opportunities for the teenagers to have like-minded friends over. Something about playing games and sharing food bring the teenagers out of their social shells. 

These are the times your children will remember, so plan to schedule some fun game time into your routine whether once a day or once a week. 

Think of the freedom our students have! Free to be wiggly, free to create, free to explore a subject deeply, free to play games or create their own—free to really learn. Our children are free to laugh and play and pray; they are free to be Home. Where They Belong.

~Deborah

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Guest Contributor

Let Them Play!

By Terri Leese from A Heart for Learning

There are many benefits to playing. Hopefully, it involves laughter, smiles, and joyful attitudes; who doesn’t like to have fun?! Playing can help to reduce stress and allows us to take a break from the regular routine. We also get the opportunity to interact and connect with others on a light-hearted level; that is, if we are playing games that involve more than one person.  

Additionally, as a learning specialist, I see great value in using educational games with my students to reinforce specific skills. For example, with my early readers, one thing we do is play card games with varying phonics patterns or specific sight words they are currently learning. When we incorporate “Memory Match” as well, we are dually practicing visual memory skills.

So then, there can be different purposes for choosing to initiate play time as homeschoolers, even right in the middle of the “school day.” It might just be to take a brain break in a healthy way—to get some fresh air with a ball or frisbee outside, or to creatively construct with LEGO® bricks. Even those play times have hidden blessings of personal growth: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and visual-spatial development, just to name a few.

About the author:

You can find Terri at www.aheartforlearning.com,  where she is having a blast creating a variety of educational products and blog articles to support parents and teachers. For four decades, she has taught in public and private schools, homeschooling communities, and in private practice as a learning specialist. She holds three credentials (multiple subjects, special education, and resource specialist certificate) and a master’s degree in special education. Terri and her husband homeschooled their own two children, who are both now adults. 

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Christine Weller

It Is learning!

Homeschooling doesn’t have to look like long worksheets and endless checklists. Sometimes the best learning happens when kids are having so much fun they don’t even realize they’re “doing school.” Incorporating games and hands-on resources into your homeschool can build connection, strengthen understanding, and spark a love of learning that lasts.

Educational board games encourage strategic thinking, math skills, vocabulary building, and teamwork. Gamer favorites like Scrabble, Yahtzee, or Uno can reinforce spelling, probability, and number sense. Card games and logic puzzles give quick, low-prep options for busy days, while family-style games build problem-solving and communication.

Don’t forget online games, printable activities, manipulatives, and creative resources like LEGO® bricks, puzzles, and building kits. These support different learning styles and keep lessons fresh. When your child is struggling with a concept, sometimes swapping a worksheet for a game is the breakthrough they need.

Games also offer a natural way to review what you’ve learned without pressure. Whether you use them as a reward, warm‑up, or full lesson, they turn your school day into something joyful. Take advantage of the fun resources available to you and watch that joy lead to deeper learning without even knowing!

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About the author

Christine Weller has been homeschooling her two boys, 10 and 6, since birth in the lovely province of Ontario, Canada. She is also a mom blogger and children’s book author. She is currently working to support homeschoolers everywhere through various roles at The Old Schoolhouse®.

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Danika Cooley

Get Creative with Educational Fun

When our kids were little and the weather outside was iffy, we sometimes “canceled” school and had a reading day. We would hang out in jammies and warm socks, make hot chocolate with a special stash of marshmallows and shaved chocolate, and read to our heart’s content. When the tribe got restless, we would put on rain or snow gear and invent fun ways to play outside before settling in for an afternoon of accidentally educational games. 

Not every day has to look like a formal book-learning day. In fact, those days that are out-of-the-ordinary serve an important purpose. Having fun with your kids helps build relationships, creates memories, and you can always sneak in some unexpected learning while you’re at it.

Take a look at the way entertaining learning can impact your kids:

• Puzzles can help teach vocabulary, math, even Bible!
  • Check out this fun puzzle-based Bible study on Creation!
• Board and card games can be used to teach history, geography, critical thinking, math, spelling, and more.
• Unit studies incorporate hands-on projects with literature based learning.
  • Take a look at some fun unit studies on the Bible and Christian history.
• Drawing animals according to their actual size with sidewalk chalk on the driveaway is a fun way to study zoology, and helps kids understand measurements.
• Lapbooks are part scrapbooking, part written narration. They are a fun way for your kids to keep a record of what they’ve learned.
  • Here are some fun lapbooks on Christian history and the Bible.
• Never underestimate the geographic fun that traveling the globe together via Google Earth can bring as your family visits new countries and cities.

Sometimes learning is a lot of work. It helps to intersperse some sneaky learning while you have fun with your kids on an ordinary school day!

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About the author

Danika Cooley is an award-winning children’s author who blogs about Bible books, crafts, activities, and snacks at Thinking Kids. Her books include Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible, Bible Investigators: Creation, and the Who What Why series, a line of Christian history for 7–11-year-olds. Grab your free three-week sample of her popular Bible Road Trip™ curriculum here.

Heidi Mosher

Learning While Smiling

School at home comes with the benefit of delight. Games and fun beat monotony and frustration. Have you tried any of these to keep the happy in your homeschool? 

“Facts that Stick” – Cement the math facts once and for all with Kate Snow’s book series filled with fun and simple math games. You’ll need game pieces (try LEGO® bricks or candy) and playing cards (perhaps a personalized deck displaying a family vacation photo?). Once the math facts stick, higher math is so much more enjoyable—for parent and child.

Cookbooks – Baking totally counts for school, especially when it corresponds to your studies. Look for the U.S. History Cookbook, Math Chef, Science Chef, or the Five in a Row Cookbook. 

Drawing – Keep a few how-to-draw books, tablets, and pencils on hand for use during read-alouds. Look for drawing themes that match your read-aloud content. Keep sketchbooks in the car for nature journaling wherever your homeschool takes you.

Mad Libs – Learn grammar with a giggle!

Learning Resources – Check out this vendor for high-quality, colorful games that can be played with even the littlest of kids. 

Any games – Games don’t always have to be educational. Sometimes they’re good just for strengthening relationships. A few to try: Rack-O, Stratego, Othello, Mastermind, Man Bites Dog, Code Names, and Chameleon. Made-up games are worthwhile too! 

“Go” bags – Assemble bags to keep your little ones busy while they’re waiting during the big kids’ co-ops or lessons or practices. Fill a few inexpensive canvas bags with coloring books, stickers, little puzzles, snacks, dollar store finds, etc. Keep the bags dedicated for on-the-go. Include enough to share so new little friendships can start forming.  

Take pictures – Capture the joy of learning with plenty of pictures. Assemble a simple album of your homeschooling years, or have one of your kids do so. The years are quick—keep smiling! 

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About the author

Heidi Mosher is honored to write for The Homeschool Minute, as it was a lifeline of her early homeschooling years. She is thankful to be the mother of four: three recent homeschool graduates and one in high school.

Add some fun to your homeschool this December! Everyday Games on SchoolhouseTeachers.com helps kids learn math and language skills through play, because school doesn’t have to feel like work! Enjoy over one hundred math and language arts games that teach various math and reading skills.