Fun Educational Games You Can Play At Home (Without Needing To Buy Anything!)

Suddenly, many more people are finding themselves having to not only educate their children at home, but also to entertain them for long periods of time. This isn’t always easy, but don’t worry, How To Raise A Happy Genius can help. Over the years we have put together a range of games that are both fun and educational, and almost all of them can be played with items you’ll probably have lying around the house anyway. These include games to help develop your child’s literacy and vocabulary skills, their memory and critical thinking skills, and their creativity. Rather than re-post the games themselves, we’ve put together a list of the ten of our favourites that you might find most useful and fun to play while you are stuck in the house. Why not check them out, give them ago, and have a bit of fun while you are teaching your kids at home.

Vocabulary Games: With names like Word Eraser, Post-it Note Fetch and Word Shredder, this post has a range of fun games you can use to help develop your child’s word and reading skills. You can find these games here.
The A-to-Z Game: This is a simple, but fun, game. All you have to do is find objects beginning with every letter of the alphabet. It’s like a scavenger hunt combined with spelling. You can find a full description of it, and a free sheet you can download and print out to play it on, here.
Cracking The Code: Looking for something a bit more intellectually stimulating? How about writing messages in code and learning how to read them! This is what you’ll do in this game. You can find a full description of it here, along with a free-to-download print out to help you make your own Caeser Cipher decoder.
Stop The Bus!: This is a very simple that the whole family can play. Pick six categories and a letter of the alphabet, and see you can come up with an answer for each one starting with that letter in the fastest time. You get bonus points if you come up with an answer that no one else does, so it’s not always the fastest that wins. This is a great game for increasing general knowledge and critical thinking. You can find a full description, along with a game sheet for you to print out and play with, here.
Bird, Dog, Pig, Frog: This is a game to help develop spelling skills. Write down the letters for four words on separate Post-It Notes, and then muddle them up. All the player then has to do is unscramble them to reveal the original words. You can find a full description of this game here.
What If …: This is one for older kids. Pose a scenario where the world is changed in just one crucial way, and then ask your child to explain how it would change their lives. This is a real test of lateral thinking, and it is best played with the most surreal scenarios you can think of, like: What if it rained jam rather than water? You can find a full description of this game here.
Who Would Win?: This is a great game to help develop your child’s logical thinking and problem-solving skills. Pose a contest between two animals, people or characters, and ask them who would win. The crucial thing is they have to explain why in a clear and logical way. You can find a full description of this game here.
The Dictionary Game: Again, this is one for older kids, but it’s great for building vocabulary. It’s very simple to play, and all you need is a dictionary. Pick a letter of the alphabet, and see who can come up with a word listed as close to the end of all the words for that letter as possible. You can find a full description of this game here.
Sleeveface: This is a game that will exercise your child’s creativity. Take a picture (traditionally from a record sleeve) and get your child to pose as if they are part of it. This doesn’t really do it justice, but trust me, it’s a lot of fun to do! You can find a full description, and examples, here.
W Is For Wall: This is one for younger kids and will help with spelling and vocabulary. Take a stack of Post-It Notes. Write a letter on the top one and ask your child to stick it on an object that starts with that letter. Repeat until either all the Post-It Notes are gone or everything in your house is covered with them. You can find a full description of this game here.