5 games sites that enhance teaching and learning

Teachers work hard to provide an outstanding classroom environment. One where pupils know their goals and are unafraid of failure.  One where collaboration is key and where challenges are embraced with enthusiasm. This undoubtedly comes from lots of hard work and many different teaching methods.

But, a way in which professionals might already be encouraging these ideals, without giving themselves credit, is through the use of online games. Whilst educational games may only make up a small part of pupils’ learning time, it’s worth remembering how valuable they can be.

Getting children to work together, through use  of continuous provision or whole class activities, is one of the best ways to foster the qualities mentioned above.  There are plenty of opportunities to do this. You could set up an ICT area in your continuous provision and direct children to prepared educational content. You could differentiate your class activities, so one group uses the computers each lesson. Alternatively, you could compile a group of games for children to access through your VLE in a whole class ICT lesson.

Of course, games don’t have to be accessed independently from the teacher. Many work as an effective introduction to a lesson, whilst others function better as plenaries. Used in these ways, games can be a way of informing your teaching, checking on prior knowledge or assessing pupil progress.

There’s a huge selection of games out there though. With this in mind, we’ve collected links to some of the best educational games sites so you can quickly find the educational content you need.

1. Top Marks has a wide selection of ICT games across the curriculum. We’ve chosen to highlight the numeracy section which has content based on specific areas of learning, such as two digit numbers or addition. This site splits its content into the different key stages; useful for quickly ensuring your games are pitched at the right level.

2. If you’re teaching literacy,  take a look at the Woodlands Junior School site. The phonics picture games in particular, could provide variety for teachers struggling to plan new letters and sounds activities.

3. Science games are normally a little harder to come by for primary school children but, Crickweb has a good selection. They’re helpfully split into early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2 sections.

4. The Coxhoe website is a favourite of Webanywhere. It has a library of well designed games, categorised by skill rather than curriculum topic. For younger children we’d recommend the memory activities, which will help them when it comes to recalling important key words or number bonds.

5. For a slightly more practical set of games, try the huge selection of jigsaws at The Kidz Page. Jigsaws are a good way to improve problem solving and analytical skills for children, especially in the foundation stage. Just like ‘real’ jigsaws, these online versions will help with students physical development as they require use of the mouse or keyboard

We did say 5 sites, but we’ve added an extra link which we couldn’t leave out. Don’t forget to have a look at the brilliant ICT Games which has a large selection of educational games, covering literacy and numeracy for infants.

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Online Games

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