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3 years ago Author:As August marches on, summer starts to dwindle. Holiday trips have been taken and we realise that the rather average weather isn’t really going to improve. There’s that fresh early morning nip in the air telling us that autumn is on its way. We are reminded it’s time to start making the transition back to routine and school.
The summer holidays are a great time for kids and families to spend time together and unwind. Kids get to enjoy lazy days off-timetable and along with family holidays and day trips to see family and friends - it’s inevitable that their screen time goes up. So how do we get that screen time back in balance before they have to go cold turkey on their first week back in the classroom?
It may be worth talking to your children in the final week of the holidays to start to get their heads back on the idea of returning to school. If their screen time has become focused on just competitive or repetitive games, talk to them about how to get this back to a healthy balance.
You could use some of our lists to suggest some games that mix things up and offer some educational aspects. We have loads of curated lists of different sorts of educational games that might work here (that are also great games):
- Games that get children thinking critically
- Games that get children reading deeply
- Games that get children thinking about work
Another good thing to get kids ready for going back to school is using video games as the inspiration for a creative project. Rather than playing a game to win or to beat it, you challenge your children to use it as a place to take photographs. We have a list of games that let you take photos while you play. Combine this with a specific remit like taking photos of people, or of landscapes, or of animals, and you have a great way to engage their creative side.
Which games work best to get your child ready for school will depend on who they are, how old they are and what their interests are. Here are some games that we’ve enjoyed in our family (that have also got the children in the mindset they need for learning):
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