The Best Art & Music Games for Your Homeschool
Games have been a big part of our family long before we even considered homeschooling. Games are an excellent way to spend quality time together as a family.
“Gameschooling” is something that I did not find valuable to our homeschool in the beginning. I found games valuable to our family culture but not to academics. I did not see them as a resource for learning.
That was until I Emily could NOT learn her math facts. It was like they would fall out of her head. I was so frustrated with her and myself. My husband suggested we just take some time off from “school” and enjoy the holidays together (it was the week of Thanksgiving).
We ended up taking from Thanksgiving through the first of the year off. While we did not do any structured school we played A LOT of games as a family. The one we played the most was Yahtzee (it is my husbands favorite).
Guess what? When we began school again in January Emily knew ALL of her math facts. Not even just the simple ones we were focusing on either, but more complex problems like 6+6+6=18. We all know that is from her playing Yahtzee.
That is when I realized games were not only great for learning but they were going to be ESSENTIAL in our homeschool. That my friends is the day we became gameschoolers.
All games are educational in numerous ways.
Even the simplest games teach turn taking and losing/winning gracefully. I get asked questions all the time about games, so I decided to do a gameschooling series. This series will feature our favorite games broken down into subjects. This post will be all about elective (STEM, mindfulness, art, and music) games.
ART & MUSIC GAMES
The Grand Museum of Art BoardMythical Creatures Drawing Game & AnimalBob Ross the Art of ChillBrainBox for Kids – Art CardJunk Art Plastic Board GamesGo Fish for Modern Artists CardEndless Games Encore Board Game –Spontuneous – The Song Game –Doodle Dice Game by BrybellyMy Big Art Show: A CardUSAOPOLY Telestrations Original 6 Player |Professor Noggin’s History of Art Trivia
S.T.E.M. GAMES
Melissa & Doug Suspend Family GameThinkFun Laser Chess Two Player StrategyThinkFun Code Master Programming Logic GameThinkFun Robot Turtles STEM Toy andHasbro A2120E24 – Jenga Classic –Peaceable Kingdom Engineering AntsThinkFun Gravity Maze Marble Run BrainRavensburger Make ‘N’ Break for Ages
MINDFULNESS GAMES
Mindfulness Therapy Games: Social Skills GameDon’t Go Bananas – A CBTPlay Therapy Supply Mindfulness Matters: TheSocial Emotional Games NoWaries S.T.O.R.M. |Mad Dragon: An Anger Control CardThe Yoga Garden GameEQtainment Q’s Race to The TopThinkFun Yoga Dice Game for Boys
SHOP EVEN MORE ELECTIVE GAMES
Tracking Your Art & Music Game Play
Being able to quantify game playing as โschoolโ doesnโt have to be hard. You can just keep track of the games you play. I reccomendย using a game log. There is one avaliable in my FREE Guide to Gameschooling. It is perfect for logging the games youโve played and easy to add into a homeschool portfolio if you have to keep one.