Using Games and Rewards to Motivate and Build Learning Skills this Summer

Motivation and simple rewards can keep your kids on their toes with math, reading & writing to slow the summer slide. See how visiting a theme park, playing board games or building a reward chart can help sow the summer slide.

You’ve heard of Creative Writing Exercises – How About Creative Reading Exercises

Research shows that reading just 4 to 6 books over the summer can help slow learning loss. To motivate kids to read, try a simple rewards chart. When they’ve done 3 items, they get a treat and a trip to the library. Brainstorm more ideas based on your child’s interests; I have added a few writing exercises too.

• Take a child to a library event, then let them get books on that topic as a reward. Many libraries hold weekly events, from story time to bringing in a juggler or bee keeper like my local library this month. This also works with theme parks, state parks county fairs.
• If they had a good time, have them write a thank you note to the library staff, or to a theme park or state park.
• Read a book to another family member – grandparent, mom or dad, to a sibling (younger or older), or even to the dog, cat or even a stuffed animal.
• To help children get out of the rut of wanting to read the same book repeatedly, try these ideas in the reward chart:
  • Read a new book
  • Read the next book in a series
  • Read a book by a new author
  • Read a book on a new topic
• Have kids write about a trip to a theme park, hike in nature or any activity that week.
• Write a letter to a cousin who lives far away, or to a grandparent who lives across town, or to mom, dad, or a sibling. Encourage them to ask questions especially of a parent or grandparent. Kids can about their day, what they read that week, or ask a question. I just asked my mom at age 90 how my dad proposed. I had never heard the story!

Playing Games as a Family is Rich with Learning Opportunities: Games can Motivate Children to Learn, without them Knowing they are Learning. 

Board, word, card, dice, and strategy games all enhance cognitive skills. Along with being fun, games involve the same skills we use in math and language arts in school. Learning how something works—whether a math problem, sentence structure, or game rules—is foundational learning. Other skill-building opportunities found in games include adding and subtracting, pattern recognition, memory, communication, vocabulary and spelling. Even Tic Tac Toe can teach your little ones spatial relationships, shapes, and simple addition.

Games can help with social skills. In this world of social media, texting and screens… sitting around a table and playing a game, with family or a friend, can lead to more than just fun. Learning to play by the rules, exhibiting good behavior whether you win or lose, and learning to balance healthy competition with compassion, are all important lessons that playing games can help teach. These skills are useful come back-to-school time.

Card games and some dice games require addition and subtraction, and all require pattern recognition. Old Maid and Go Fish are great for fun and skill-building for young kids. I spent hours one summer playing War, a simple card game, with a friend of mine. The next summer we graduated to Uno, and then Gin Rummy, after my grandfather taught me. A newer game from 2019 is called SKYJO it is a matching numbers game also for ages 8 and up. Dice games like roll and count, color match and Yahtzee also fit the bill as they require arithmetic. You can find dice games or buy a set of dice and rules for games online. You can also use your own dice and search online for games/rules for dice to learn math.

Strategy Games like chess and go, for older kids, and even Clue, can foster a mindset that helps with math. Like ALOHA Mind Math’s mental abacus training, 

good chess and go players learn to think several moves ahead. Clue helps build deductive reasoning too. Games like this can help develop stronger problem-solving, logical thinking, and spatial reasoning… all foundational math and STEM skill. There are many, many newer strategy games out now – find your child’s interest and dee if there is a game to fit it.

Word Games like Junior Scrabble, Just One and others are designed to build vocabulary. Another advantage of the game Just One, is that it is a cooperative game. One person guesses. Others give one-word clues to help them guess the hidden word. Suggested for 8 and older, it can be adapted for younger kids. Of course, in Scrabble the longer the word, the more points, that kids have to add up. You can Google to rules for the rhyming word game Hink Pink a fav of teachers and young kids alike. For older kids (ages 8 and up) and adults, one of my favorite word & card games is Quiddler –  build fewer longer word, or more short words from your cards, and be the fastest to go out.

Other games focus on resource management like Catan (10 and up) or Junior Ticket to Ride. Often for older kids, these games involve resources, and counting, while fostering strategic thinking and problem solving. Monopoly offers strategy and money management.

I spoke with a friend who is both an aunt and a teacher’s aide in a school. She said look for junior versions of games; be sure to check reviews to see which did a good job of adapting games. She also mentioned, for your little ones, Pop Up Pirate and Count Your Chickens are popular with the 3-5 year-old crew. She noted most of the other Peaceable Kingdom games offer cooperative play. Another is the Eye Found It Series for 4-6-year-olds – these board-search games come in varieties from Disney to dinosaurs and Marvel.

Hiking or Walking Can All Be Related to Math – even a Fair or Theme Park – Counts

Getting kids outside and active can be hard. But simple games like Twister, hide and seek, limbo and hopscotch get kids up, moving and thinking. Being active, whether around the neighborhood, at a fair, playground, theme park, public garden, or a state park… offers mini math lessons. Kids can keep count of how many rides they went on, they can count people in line ahead of them, or the number of times they saw a specific character. Try using a fitness watch or a walking app (you don’t need a pricey one; there are free apps and some watches under $30) to count steps, and the distance you walked in feet or miles. This can be extra fun at a fair, theme park, on a hike, or even while grocery shopping.

Over the Summer, The Little Things You do with your Kids can Lead to Better Back to School Outcomes.

Yes, these are mostly small things, but believe me they do add up. If your child loves learning, reading and math, you can engage them more directly by working out assignments with them like giving the family a book report, or doing math problems from the school year. In addition, if you want more structure for your child’s summer learning  consider an academic learning camp like ALOHA Mind Math runs – click to check the details . Happy learning! 

Written by Cathy Larkin, a freelance writer and social media coordinator, who has been a part of the ALOHA Mind Math team for several years.