9 Fun Games That Motivate Kids To Study

Think all video games are bad for kids? Not so. Even as studies continue to be conducted and debates heat up regarding the negative effects of video games for the mental state of young children, many schools and educators are advocating the use of these very games to help children learn better. Here are some of the fun games and online resources that can help motivate kids to study harder:



Mathematics

Who Wants to be a Mathonaire?

If the title seems familiar, it's because it's based on the popular TV game, except that the questions are all about mathematics. The animated show host is fun to watch and kids will love how math problems are presented in increasing difficulty. Perfect if you want to motivate them to study a subject most kids dislike.



Counting on a Cloud

This game is designed to help teach kids in K1 to learn how to count. Fun pictures are accompanied by sound so children are motivated to participate.



Piggy Bank

Kids familiar with Tetris will find this game stimulating. Instead of bricks or same colored objects, kids must be able to figure out the amount in the columns in order to eliminate them. If they can't, the columns will fill up.



Language

Alphabet Soup

This is a great game for helping children learn spelling. The game consists of a bowl of alphabet soup from which kids can fish for letters to form words. There are available levels to interest and challenge kids from the 2nd grade to the 5th grade.



Game of the Vegetrons

Build your kids' vocabulary and motivate them to study with this game, which encourages them to learn the meaning of words.



Critter Jumble

This is another fun spelling game to build skills. Kids will have to move letters in order to reveal the correct word.



Geography and Archaeology

Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?

This game has raised many grade school children (who are now grown) and is one of the few games that have made geography exciting again. The game is a terrific interactive quest that is best for children in the 5th and 6th grades.



Hunt the Ancestor

Kids can learn more about human evolution with this interactive game where they will be required to find the remains of their 'ancestor'. They will then be motivated to collect information about their 'finds' and study them.



Treasure Cave

Want to motivate your kids to study geography? This is a great game for them to play. The objective of the game is to locate a treasure. To do so, kids must answer geography-related questions and find clues.



Online resources for games

Thanks to educational websites, finding games that can motivate your kids to study just got easier. SheppardSoftware.com is one such website that offers interactive online games. Games are categorized based on type, so it's easy to choose which ones your kids want to try. Subjects such as vocabulary, mathematics, history, health and science are covered.



NobelPrize.org is also an excellent site. Click on the link to educational games and you will be brought to a page where children can be motivated to study subjects such as literature, economics, physiology, chemistry and physics. The games are simple but very effective. They are also fun to play. You'd be surprised at how addictive they can be, even for adults.