Using teaching games puts the fun in learning for you and the kids. One of our family's favorite teaching games includes recognition, running and rewards.
The concept is simple. Consider this game a scavenger hunt for learning. Kids will search for a picture or object you call for and rush to get it back to home base. They recognize the word you say, search the room until they find the item and bring it to you in a speedy game setting.

A sample overview of how the game works: You hide pictures of farm animals and designate a picture of a barn as home base. Ask your child to bring you the pig. He searches the room to find the right picture and then runs the pig back to home base (a picture of a barn).

Step 1 - Hide pictures or objects while your child is out of the room. One picture or object will serve as a home base.

Step 2 - Let him back into the room but don't let him peek at where you've hidden everything.

Step 3 - Make up a silly song to ask for a certain item. For example, to the tune of Old MacDonald you could sing, "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! The owl says hoo! Bring him to the barn." Add clapping and instruments to make the game even more festive.

Step 4 - Encourage him to find what you've asked for and run it back to home base.

Step 5 - Reward him with praise! Cheerleading can go a long way when you're teaching your child. You may choose to offer additional rewards, especially for older children. Staying up 30 minutes later or earning video game time can be extra motivation for school-age kids.

Multiple children can also play at once. They'll race to see who can find the right picture or object first. Keep score with each round to make it a more challenging game for the group.

This is one of those teaching games you can adapt for older children as well. Kids can learn about presidents, events in history, anatomy, anything you can print a picture of or find an object to represent.

Be creative with your home base too. Children learning about presidents can shout out a fact as they run the president to the White House. For kids learning anatomy, you can attach velcro to the back of your photos so they can run the body parts to a giant poster of the human body.

You can also use this game to teach your kids about:

• Animals
• Capitals and States
• Colors
• Countries
• Cultures
• Famous People in History
• Foods
• Foreign Language
• Holidays
• Letter Recognition
• Numbers
• Planets
• Presidential Line of Succession
• Religions
• Seasons
• Sounds
• Word Recognition
• World Government