Educational Games - homework that doesn't feel like homework!

So the teacher has asked you to do some extra work with your children at home; but you don't want it to feel like homework. Try some educational games, which can be a great way of developing literacy and numeracy skills; and are fun to boot! Captivate your kids with these selections. We've categorised them by age; with games suited to younger children listed first.

Literacy

Chirpy Chicks: A delightful way to learn the letters of the alphabet. You need to be quick and match your picture and letter cards before the chicks hatch. 1-4 players. Age guide: from 3 years.

Monkey Nuts : Learn the letters of the alphabet as you race around the monkey tree and pick up nuts. The first to fill their board with matching nuts and swing their monkey from the 3D tree is the winner. 2-4 players. Age guide: from 4 years.  

Pole Position: a fast paced numeracy game in which players roll dice to make a maths problem. The players work out the answer to the problem and then move forward accordingly. 2-4 players. Age guide: from 4 years.

Eat your Words:  A snappy and exciting world building game. Play in teams and make words before the hungry crocodile gobbles the letters up. 2-4 players. Age guide: from 5 years.

What's Gnu: a three letter word game that spells FUN. Fill in the blanks and try and make more three letter words than your quick thinking competitors. 2-6 players. Age guide: from 5-8 years.

The Great Word Race:  throw six dice and try to make a word; build a longer word and then race around the game board faster. Strategy cards add another dimension to this enjoyable game. From 2-4 players. Age guide: from 6 years.

Bananagrams: use the letter tiles to make as many words as you can. It is an anagram game that will drive you bananas! Can be played with as little as 2 players, but is a faster and more fun game with more players. Age guide: from 7 to 97 years.

Keesdrow: connect letters in sequence to make words. If you are clever enough to use a letter that has already been used then you get extra points. You can play as individuals or in teams. From 2-6 players. Age guide: from 8 years.

Haba Letter Dice: a compact tinned travel game that includes 13 letter dice and an instruction booklet to play three different games. Great for developing letter recognition and spelling skills. 1-6 players. Age guide: from 8-99 years.

Smart Mouth: a quick-thinking word game where players engage in rapid-fire and often hilarious verbal combat. Start with two letter tiles, and be the first to come up with a word that starts and finishes with these letters. Play as a team or individual. Age guide: from 8 years.

Numeracy

Bug Dominoes: a lovely first pre-school game of dominoes. Add matching creatures to the chain - or add a leaf, (it's wild you know). First one to use up all your tiles? You're the master of the domino! 2-4 players. Age guide: from 3 years.

Counting Sheep - In this fun game players help tired animals to count sheep and go to sleep. This is a fun first counting game for children. 2-4 players. Age guide: from 3 years.  

Ahoy me Hearties: a fun pirate counting game. Players race around the island (a 3D playing board), filling their treasure chests with gold coins. 2-4 players. Age guide: from 4 years.

Bus Stop: an enjoyable adding and subtracting game. Take a counter and throw the dice to move around the board as you count passengers on and off your big bus. 2-4 players. Age guide: from 4-8 years

Clever Detective: solve the sums, reveal hidden clues and discover the missing person wanted for questioning. Develops addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills. 2-4 players. Age guide: from 5 years.

Supermarket: children go shopping and as they collect, count, add, subtract and make correct change through interactive game play they learn their mathematics and above all the importance of money. Age guide: from 6 years.

Number Chase: figure out the mystery number that has been chosen before your opponents do! Answer a question correctly and collect that number card, but get it wrong and you will give away a clue to the other players. For 2-5 players. Age guide: from 6-106 years.

Baker's Dozen: a deliciously exciting card game with baked in fun! Players need to sort different kinds of doughnuts so that the total value of them does not go over 13. Be careful, watch out for the mouldy ones! 3-6 players. Age guide: from 8 years.

Quick pix Math: an extension to flash cards and is a lot more fun. Be the quickest to match five correct answers to maths problems and you win. 2-6 players. Age guide: from 8 years.

3 times 4 = Swat: doing your maths and hitting lots of flies wins this frantic swatting game. An ideal educational game for practicing times tables. Includes a variation for experienced kids. 2-6 players. Age guide: from 8-99 years.