Educational Games

In the early years of electronic, video and arcade games, there was no redeeming educational value associated with them. But as times change, so have the games. Educational games are fast on the rise and there is no shortage of them in any capacity. There are a ton of different varieties of educational games from computer games to video games to board games to handhelds. Finding educational games isn’t difficult, but finding the ones with the best educational value can be a little hard.

The primary reason finding quality educational games is difficult is because they aren’t all fun. Making learning fun is the entire concept behind educational games. If the game isn’t fun to play, the educational value of it will be lost. If the sole purpose were to learn, you could just hand your kids a workbook to mimic the xeroxed sheets they complete in school.

The most popular of all educational games are electronic and PC games. Due to the overwhelming volume of publishers, PC games range greatly in quality. Select popular publishers who have always specialized in educational material such as The Learning Company or LeapFrog. Too many companies who have no experience in publishing educational material, in print or electronic version, have tried to jump on the “edutainment” bandwagon unsuccessfully. They just don’t have the experience necessary to seamlessly blend entertainment value into educational games.

There are a few handheld game systems and consoles that are compatible only with educational games. Leapster and V-Tech are just two. These are good choices for families who do not want to rely on a computer as a source for playing educational games. However, keep in mind that educational games are not all electronic. There are many board games and card games that are also designed as educational games. They incorporate reading, math and logic into the game. Most any game can be used as an educational experience if you take the time. Scrabble, Upwords, and Boggle for instance can teach spelling if you take the time to emphasize it while playing.