Playing learning games with your preschoolers can help to teach new skills and concepts and review skills and concepts he has already learned. Depending on what you play, learning games for your preschooler can help her to learn and review numbers, letters, colors, shapes and the alphabet. They can also help to teach and review concepts like bigger and smaller and less and more. Playing learning games regularly with your preschooler can help her successfully prepare for school.
Letter Bingo
Playing Letter Bingo can help teach your child to recognize new letters and reinforce the recognition of letters he already knows. While traditional Bingo game cards have “Bingo” spelled out across the top, for preschoolers, creating a homemade Bingo card that has a different color at the top is more age-appropriate. Making each letter coincide with the color on the top of the column can make game play even easier. Creating your own Letter Bingo cards without letters across the top will eliminate any confusion over the additional letters and allow your child to focus on the letters in the game board grid.
Modified Go Fish
Playing a modified game of Go Fish can introduce your child to new numbers and reinforce the recognition of numbers that she is already familiar with. Playing Go Fish with an entire deck of cards can be overwhelming for your preschooler, so playing with a limited number of cards will work better. Pulling out the cards that have the numbers your child knows on them or the new numbers you are currently teaching her will reduce the size of the deck. Starting with the cards of four different numbers, like 2 through 6, is an appropriate choice for your preschooler. Playing modified Go Fish is the same as playing the traditional version. After dealing out four cards, if the players have any pairs they are placed on the table. Once the players have no more pairs, they take turns asking for a specific number as they try to find pairs for the cards they have in their hands. If the player doesn’t have the card asked for, they say “Go Fish” and the other player picks up a card from the remaining card pile. Once the cards from the pile are gone, the player with the most pairs wins.
Can You Find It?
If you are interested in playing a simple learning game that doesn’t require a special game board or pieces with your preschooler, play Can You Find It? The title of the game sums up its objective. By showing or telling your child the name of a particular color, number, item, letter or letter sound, you can teach and reinforce its recognition. For example, appropriate questions for the game would include “Here is an orange square. Can you find another orange square?” “The cake is white. Can you find something else that is white?” and “Horse starts with the letter ‘H.’ Can you find something else that starts with the letter ‘H’?”
