For Kids in Grades 3-5!

One thing we really like about having kids in upper elementary is that the games sustain our engagement, too! Gone are the days of inner torture as we watch them inch a game piece along a Chutes & Ladders board, counting the spaces so slowly that we just want it to be over...and then they land on a slide right at the end and the torture starts anew.

Strategy games are more the norm now. Connect Four, Othello, Mastermind, Chess, Monopoly Moncala, Boggle, and Scrabble are common hits for this age group, and some lend themselves nicely to different levels of challenges when kids and adults play against each other. Take Boggle, for example, where you may need to find 5-letter words while kids can look for any word at all. Note that many traditional board games have app versions with single or multiplayer options.

Many kids in this age group enjoy being the creators of media, rather than just consumers of it. The video feature on your phone can capture talent shows, magic shows, recitals, or anything else they’d like to watch or share later with family and friends. iMovie, which C uses regularly to make trick shot videos a la Dude Perfect, is also pretty user-friendly. And if you’re trying to keep things more “school-like,” kids could write scripts for skits or shows they can act out, write interview questions and then video chat with a friend or relative to ask those questions and “produce” a news-like segment, or just create a multimedia presentation with Adobe Spark.

In TV Land, things also can get more interesting. We find that National Geographic’s Brain Games, which in their words “messes with your mind and reveals the inner-workings of your brain,” is as fascinating for us as it is for our kids. PBS KIDS shows like Odd Squad and Wild Kratts continue to capture their attention, too. More recent, oldie-but-goodie obsessions have been with Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right. Just ask C if you’re wondering if you paid too much for dishwashing liquid, Pepto Bismol, or “a brand new CAR!!!!!”

Looking for some topic-specific resources? Here are a few we like! Also, in using these with our kids, a tip we’ve discovered is that having them write a review of the experience for a peer not only gets them writing about something they are interested in, but is a great way to check what they understood or learned from the experience, what was confusing, and whether they would want to use it more.

Solve Me: Digital math games to foster pre-algebra and logical reasoning skills, which sounds scary but is mostly about patterns, number relationships, and understanding equivalence (remember balancing equations? Using models like mobiles means it doesn’t need to be as scary or confusing as we remember!)

Science Resources: We’re cheating a bit here because this is a compilation of resources that our colleagues have been involved in creating, but it does give a nice variety of options.

National Parks Virtual Tours: These are as cool as they sound!

But Why: A podcast where kids ask questions and get answers about a variety of topics

Kiwico: Fun STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) maker-type projects for kids and families, organized by age, along with resources for families during COVID

Art Hub for Kids: Nice to have actual instructional art videos for all those kids out there whose parents are lacking in artistic ability (ahem…)

WWF Learning Resources: For those who are a bit more ambitious than we’re feeling at the moment, but they sure look well done!

Hour of Code: Many kids have already used these tools at school, but they’re fun and a skill they often don’t have as much time for in school, so this is a great opportunity!

Duo Lingo: For those of us who have lamented that foreign language doesn’t start until middle school, now’s our chance to get our kids (heck, ourselves too) learning a new language!

Of course, we’re not the only ones trying to narrow it down for families. Check out this article that recommends 11 great sites for online instructional resources.