As we’re all set to spend a lot more time at home following the coronavirus pandemic, it’s important to keep our kids entertained and informed.
But, don’t panic, you don’t have to be a qualified teacher to help the kids develop their skills. The best educational games for young kids will help to do the job for you.
Learning games can help promote everything from memory development, spatial awareness, and observation skills to spelling, science and maths.
There's also some fantastically fun ways to introduce them to geography (guess the flags and how to spell them game) and nature (hello bug Bingo!).
We've rounded up some family-fun educational games for the kids below, so they can keep on learning and enjoying themselves all at once.
Best educational games for young kids
1. Little Red Riding Hood Game
This challenge game asks players to help Little Red Riding Hood find the right path to her grandma's house.
In doing so, it boosts problem-solving abilities and spatial awareness.
They place Little Red Riding Hood in the house and the trees on the board and use the puzzle pieces to make a path to Grandma’s house.
You can also play the game with the wolf, and try to get there faster than him.
The game includes 48 challenges (24 with the wolf and 24 without), and there's also an included family-friendly picture book with a modern twist on the original story. Loads of fun for one!
Great for four to seven year olds.
Price: £20, Kidly - buy here now
2. Orchard Toys Pizza, Pizza! Game
Who doesn't love a slice of pizza? Challenge your kids to make the perfect one, and avoid yucky toppings like slugs and lice.
As well as being a giggle-fest, it's also perfect for promoting observation skills and encourages a knowledge and understanding of the world around us.
Ideal for ages three and up, for two to four players.
Price: £9.50, Amazon - buy here now
3. Orchard Toys Dinosaur Lotto Match and Memory Game
Develop your children's memory skills with this fun dinosaur game.
Players take it in turns to turn over the colourful dinosaur cards and be the first to fill their dinosaur board with matching pictures.
There are two ways to play, with illustrated and blank boards for simple or more challenging gameplay, meaning that both younger and older players can play at the same time by simply turning the boards over.
There's a wide variety of dinosaur characters for children to find and identify, helping to develop long term memory, through storage and retrieval.
Price: £8, John Lewis - buy here now
4. Orchard Toys Little Bug Bingo Mini Game
This colourful bingo game features a variety of insects children will enjoy identifying, from familiar bugs like ladybirds and bumblebees to the less familiar water boatman.
The first to fill their Bingo board with leaves and shout 'Bingo' is the winner.
Not only is it great for them to learn about the natural world, it helps to develop matching and observation skills, too.
Perfect for ages three to six, for two to four players.
Price: £4.99, Amazon - buy here now
5. MengTing Alphabet Letter Word Spelling Game
Proof than learning to spell doesn't have to be boring! This game can be used in several ways to teach children alphabet, language, and spelling literacy skills.
The game contains word cards and 24 letters so the kids can match letters on the cubes with letters and word on the cards and spell the letter name of the object.
You can also race against the sand timer to spell out words to make it even more fun. For ages three and up.
Price: £12.99, Amazon - buy here now
6. Orchard Toys Shopping List Game
An Amazon bestseller with nigh on 2,000 rave reviews, this is a fun shopping game that encourages matching, memory and literacy skills in a unique, joyful way.
Each player picks a trolley or basket to fill; you have to turn over one of the 32 cards showing familiar, everyday items from the supermarket such as eggs, tomatoes, washing powder and toothpaste - if they are on your list, you can pop them in your trolley or basket. The winner is the first player to collect all the items on their list and fill their trolley.
Kids can learn to recognise various grocery products and read the names from their lists, and the game can also promote plenty of discussion also on a real shopping trip as they spot how many items from the game they can see on the shelves.
Perfect for kids aged three to seven, for two to four players.
Price: £7, Amazon - buy here now
7. 100 Pics World Flags Quiz Game
Can you learn, memorise, identify and spell all 100 flags of the world? The challenge is on!
Reveal each picture, then guess who - or spot what - it is, using the anagram letters to match and spell the word. Slide the revealer for letter clues or to check the answer. Once solved, you just slide out the front picture, place at the back, and bingo - the next picture is ready. Kids can play in difficulty order from one (easy) to 100 (difficult), or just shuffle the pack.
It's brilliant for learning geography, or for home schooling; it boosts spelling, vocabulary, memory, IQ and general knowledge skills, as well as being a great alternative to TV and tablets. Certainly one to flag up...(Sorry).
Price: £6.99, Amazon - buy here now
8. Orchard Toys What's the Time, Mr Wolf Game
A super-fun way for kids to learn to tell the time, this game can be played two ways, and helps to develop analogue and digital time-telling skills
Great for five to nine year olds, for two to four players. Players race their animal character around the board, matching the times to the central clock... But beware of the hungry wolf who will 'eat' one of your cards.
The kids will love the fun forest theme, with lots of animals to look at and talk about. Super-cute.
Price: £9.50, Amazon - buy here now
9. Orchard Toys Magic Maths Game
It can be very hard to make a maths lesson fun... But this game works its 'magic' and actually does just that.
Magic Maths is an exciting and spellbinding maths game that see players take turns to solve the sums and fill their boards with yucky spell ingredients, from worm-infested cupcakes to brains and bogies!
Once players have worked out the answer to the sum, the magic really begins... By turning over their card and rubbing the heat-sensitive patches to reveal if their answer is correct.
Featuring competitive gameplay, fun wizard characters and a broad range of simple and challenging sums, this clever game is bound to be a favourite with budding witches and wizards.
For ages five to seven, for two to four players.
Price: £12, John Lewis - buy here now
10. Drumond Park Articulate! For Kids
This fast-talking description game is so much fun and will have the kids completely engaged for hours.
They have to describe a word without actually saying it, and stay calm while racing the timer (and possibly being heckled by the other team then).
There's over 2,000 topics that have been compiled by an educational specialist for this kids game, perfect for youngsters aged six to 12 to compete and expand their knowledge.
Ideally plated with two (or more) family teams.
