Parents: Tips on using online and board games to help kids learn

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —Many schools have closed their buildings due to the coronavirus outbreak, so parents are seeking educational opportunities to enhance learning, while also keeping kids entertained.

“In these days of social distancing, parents are looking for extra educational resources to help during this time of postponement and cancellation of schools,” said William Watson, an associate professor of learning design and technology at Purdue University. “Game-based learning is one approach with lots of valuable resources that parents can easily utilize.”

Here are some tips from Watson, who is also the director of the Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments in the College of Education:

Good games and good instruction share a lot of the same characteristics. Both tend to present very clear objectives, and interesting and complex problems set in an engaging context. Apart from games designed specifically for learning, teachers also have used entertainment games such as Myst, the Sims, Civilization and RollerCoaster Tycoon, to name a few, to teach various topics. Board games can also be great learning activities. You can learn geography through Ticket to Ride, how to add and subtract with money in Monopoly, spelling with Scrabble and plant science with Photosynthesis. There are also numerous free online learning games available. Some sites are icivics.org, Smithsonian Kids, and gamesforchange.org, which not only has its own games but a list of educational game databases that list many others.

However, parents should remember that games are not magic. Kids come into games with a play mindset, which doesn’t always mean trying to do well in a game. It means exploring and trying different things out. As parents, we need to try to facilitate learning in the games. That can happen in the structure you set around the game. For example, you could have your kids play the game in teams so they have to slow down and debate what choices they are going to make in the game. You can also debrief with them after the game asking questions like why did you make the choices you did, what was the outcome, was the outcome what you expected and would you do things differently next time. Asking them what they learned, and how the game was or wasn’t realistic are ways to have them reflect on and explicate their thinking.

It is also important to remember that not all games are good games. Parents should try to look for games with clear learning opportunities. Ideally, we want the learning opportunities connected to the main game play approaches. For example, Watson’s son loves playing the math game Prodigy. There are components to that game — exploration, collecting new pets and a story, that are all fun and engaging for him, but don’t necessarily have learning in them. Therefore, it is important to try to encourage him to make sure he is also doing the battles, where he has to complete math equations in order to advance in the game. Parents should also keep in mind that games are the tools for learning and not the focus themselves, so they should feel free to only use what aspects of the games they’d like, and they are encouraged to have specific learning goals in mind.

Kids can also learn by making their own games, whether tabletop games, board games, card games, digital games, or even modifying an existing game to make their own learning version. They can also learn to code through games for STEM learning opportunities. There are plenty of platforms that have gamification components on them such as code.org, Apple’s Swift Playgrounds, Scratch, ScratchJr and alice.org. Even familiar applications like Microsoft’s Excel and PowerPoint have free resources online for how to make games with the programs.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

Writer: Madison Sanneman, msannema@purdue.edu

Media Contact: Brian Huchel, bhuchel@purdue.edu. Working remotely but will provide immediate response.

Source: William Watson, brwatson@purdue.edu. In addition to phone interviews, the professor is available for Skype, Zoom and WebEx interviews.

Note to Journalists: A photo of William Watson, as well as a stock photo, are available on Google Drive. A video of Watson talking about games and learning is available online.