How to Use Educational Games to Help Your Child Progress in School

Why Educational Games Can Make a Real Difference

“I just want learning to feel easier for them.” If you’ve ever whispered that to yourself after yet another stressful homework session, know that you’re not alone. Many parents of children aged 6 to 12 find themselves navigating that fine line between support and stress. When a child struggles in school—whether it’s due to attention issues, reading difficulties, or just plain frustration—parents naturally seek out solutions beyond worksheets and tutoring.

One often overlooked but powerful tool? Educational games. Not just the flashy kind with cartoon characters and loud music, but thoughtfully designed activities that tap into a child’s curiosity, creativity, and natural love for play. Games can become more than just a reward—they can be a bridge toward understanding, confidence, and even joy in learning again.

The Power of Play: Rebuilding Confidence Through Fun

Consider a child who has struggled with multiplication for months. Traditional flashcards lead to groans, maybe even tears. But then you introduce a simple board game built around solving multiplication challenges to move forward. Suddenly, they’re laughing. Focused. Eager. What changed?

Games inherently reduce the fear of failure. They create an environment where trial and error is expected—even encouraged. That sense of permission to 'try again' can be a game changer (pun very much intended) for kids who associate schoolwork with anxiety or embarrassment.

Children are more likely to engage with learning when they don't feel that they're being tested. They want to explore, not perform. Which is why integrating educational play into your routine—especially with subjects your child finds tough—can be such a transformative approach. You can read more about creating a positive learning atmosphere here.

Bringing Lessons to Life in a Child’s Day-to-Day

Learning doesn’t have to stop when the school bell rings. In fact, the best learning often happens outside of school hours—during car rides, while setting the dinner table, even five minutes before bed. The trick is making those moments low-pressure and meaningful.

For example, if your child is learning about measurement in school, why not bake cookies together—talking about tablespoons, milliliters, and oven temperatures as you go? If they’re reading a book about Ancient Egypt, pretend you’re archaeologists on a mission, turning the living room into a dig site.

And if your child is the kind who thrives on stories and adventure, there are tools that can help. Some learning apps, for instance, let you transform a written lesson into an audio adventure starring your child—using their name, their likes, their pace. Suddenly, learning fractions isn’t a chore—it’s a quest to retrieve a magical recipe from a hidden forest. One app that offers this sort of personalization is Skuli, which also allows you to turn everyday lesson photos into customized quizzes or audio formats for kids who retain better by listening. Especially helpful on the drive to school or during chill time after dinner.

The Role of Games in Building Study Skills

Educational games aren’t just about reviewing facts. They’re powerful tools for developing executive function skills—like organization, planning, and memory. These are often the silent hurdles that hold children back. If your child frequently forgets steps in multi-part directions or struggles to keep track of homework, it’s not necessarily about IQ. It’s about strategy—and kids can learn those skills, too.

You might try simple games that support memory, like “I packed my bag and I took…” or card games that require sequencing and matching. Over time, these activities help children learn how to organize information, solve problems, and stay focused—abilities just as important as knowing your times tables.

We dive deeper into supporting your child’s study habits in this article on homework organization.

Let Your Child Take the Lead

The best educational games work when children are actively involved in choosing and playing them. Giving your child some say doesn’t mean giving up structure—it means saying, “Your brain matters here. Let’s figure out what clicks for you.”

Maybe they gravitate toward word games and storytelling—lean into that for spelling and reading assignments. Perhaps they light up during building challenges—integrate math through architecture or geometry puzzles. The secret is following their fascination and attaching educational content to it.

This kind of autonomy is especially empowering for children who feel defeated by classroom expectations. At home, you can help them rediscover learning on their terms. It’s one of the strategies we recommend when your child is struggling academically.

Using Games as a Launchpad, Not a Detour

Here’s where you, the parent, make all the difference. Educational games don't replace school—they extend it, refresh it, even reimagine it. But the key is consistency. A well-placed game after dinner a few times a week, a short audio story on the way to school, or a review quiz created from yesterday’s notes—all of these build momentum over time.

It’s about integrating learning into moments of connection and enjoyment. Being present with your child as they play, explore, and ask “why?”. That presence does more than any worksheet possibly could.

Want to explore more apps that support this kind of engaging learning at home? Check out our guide to effective learning apps for kids.

And if you suspect memory is playing a role in your child’s struggles, this article on boosting memory provides helpful strategies that pair perfectly with game-based learning.

Final Thoughts

Helping your child doesn’t mean recreating a classroom at home. It means creating an environment where learning feels exciting, playful, and achievable—even when challenges persist. Educational games are not a gimmick. They are a way of saying: "I see you, I enjoy being with you, and I believe in your potential.”

And sometimes, that belief—wrapped up in a board game or built into a personalized audio story—is exactly what a struggling child needs most.