Sometimes it is hard to keep your child busy and educate them at the same time.. We have made a top 5 of activities that will keep your child busy and educate them at the same time!

1. Chess

Chess is a good way to keep your children busy and at the same time it improves the academic performance of your child. Chess makes kids smarter. We have listed for you the reasons why:

• Focusing – It is important for children to focus during a chessgame, because if they don’t observe and concentrate they will not know what is happening on the chessboard and won’t be able to respond to it.
• Visualizing – Children are motivated  to imagine a some actions before it really happens happens. What we  actually train here is the ability to visualize by making them shift the pieces in their mind,beginning with one and later on several moves ahead.
• Thinking Ahead – Chess learns to children to think first and act later. What chess learns them to think ahead. They will think about the following steps and how there opponent could react to them.  Eventually, chess will help develop patience and thoughtfulness.
• Weighing Options – Another thing that children learn is that the don’t do the first thing that crosses their mind, but they learn to analyze alternatives and recognize the pros and cons of all the different actions.
• Analyzing Concretely – Children will also learn to analyze the reuslt of certain actions and the consequences of them. They will think ‘Is this going to help or hurt me?’ Decisions that are made guided by logic are better than decisions made on impulse.
• Thinking Abstractly – What is taught to children is to step back systematically from details and look at the bigger picture. They also learn to take patterns used in one context and apply them to different, but related situations.
• Planning – Children learn to develop a longer range of goals and are taught to take steps to realize them. They are also taught of the need to rethink their plans because new developments can change the situation.

There is not one skill that is mentioned above that is specific to chess, but they are all part of the game. What makes chess so special as a teaching tool is that it encourages the mind of children and helps them to build these skills while having fun. Therefore, children will become more critical thinkers, better problem solvers, and will be more independent decision makers.

2. Sport

The benefits of sports are not simply limited to physical health. Playing sports has been linked to improvements in academic, social, and career success. We have lister a few reasons why you kids should play sports or why to encourage your children to play sports:

Academic Benefits

There were studies performed among students in multiple states, and these have shown that playing sports can actually increase success in the classroom. Different data shows that athletes have higher grade point averages, higher standardized test scores, better attendance, lower dropout rates, and they have a better chance of going to college.

Career Benefits

A survey of individuals at the level of executive vice president of 75 Fortune 500 companies showed that 95% of them played sports in high school. It might be difficult to argue that sports could guarantee higher incomes, promotions, and better jobs, the leadership skills and development of teamwork, hard work, and determination might help develop students to be leaders at work and in the community later in life.

It is also important for adults to be aware of the risks of injuries in different sports, both for themselves and for their kids, it is important to remember that there are many great reasons to play them as well!

3 Puzzle

We have always known that puzzles have a lot of benefits for children as they develop. Kids normally start out with simple knobbed puzzles that are outlines of simple shapes that fit into corresponding board cutouts. After that they go to more difficult silhouettes of real world objects that are harder to solve.

What you can expect that your child learns when he or she is making a puzzle alone are three basic skills:

1. Physical skills => From holding puzzle pieces and turning them until they fit
2. Cognitive skills => Whenthey solve the problems of a puzzle
3. Emotional skills => Learning to be patience and be rewarded when they complete the puzzle

1. Physical skills

• Hand-Eye Coordination => Your child will develop is an intense relationship between what they eyes see with their eyes and what their hands do and what their brain connects to this information.
• Gross Motor Skills => Bigger puzzle pieces and bundle puzzle games can boost the large movements of your child to the point where they can work on their fine motor skills.
• Fine Motor Skills => Small and precise movements, for example the movement of their fingers to get a puzzle piece in exactly the right place, are built and can these can lead to better handwriting and typing skills.

2. Cognitive skills

• Understanding the surrounding world => The best way to let your child understand the world around them better is by letting them manipulate the world around them.
• Shape recognition => First we start with simple shape puzzles like triangle, squares and circles. After that more complex shapes are used until the abstract jigsaw puzzles are used.
• Memory => Memorize the shape of pieces that don’t fit now but will fit later on.
• Problem solving => The puzzle piece either fits or doesn’t fit. Critical thinking skills need to be used to solve the puzzle and what is good about puzzles is that they can’t cheat!

3. Emotional skills

• Setting goals => The goal of your child will be to solve the puzzle, after that there will be a multiple strategies your child comes up with to solve the puzzle. For example placing familiar shapes or colors in one assortment so that it can be used later on.
• Patience => This isn’t like sports that you can achieve what you want if you work hard enough for it. You need practice patience and slowly work through the puzzle before you reach the ending.

4. Art & Crafts

It is normal if your kids enjoy playing with arts and crafts projects with paint or might have some glue on their eyebrows, don’t worry what they are doing is learning and developing in crucial ways while they’re making a bit of a mess. Children obtain many important benefits from the opportunity of working with arts and crafts projects, making creative activities while being at hom.

Life Skills

The moment when you child creates a work of art, a process called communicating visually has begun. Young children also build problem-solving skills, fine motor skills and even social skills as they work with artistic media. When the process starts of making their own creations and noticing other people’s creations offers important opportunities for the appreciation of other people’s strengths and acceptance of her own abilities. What is also learnt to a child is that they also learn that the ability to follow directions is an essential part of the satisfaction of seeing the final result when making a craft.

5 Educational Games

It might be hard to find a fun and engaging ways for children to learn, this can help you to find the right apps and games. The only thing you need is a smartphone or a tablet to help your kid learn with some of the best educational apps. We have listed some educational games for you:

Alpha Tots

What it is: Winner of the Parents’ Choice Award, this app uses 26 action verbs to teach your child the ABCs with colorful graphics, interactive mini-games, and a sing-along song. Its press-and-hold feature eliminates accidental touches.

Cost: $2.99

Availability: iOS 6 or later, Android

Bugs and Bubbles

What it is: Parents need to know that Bugs and Bubbles is a highly engaging game that’s similar in format and theme to the other bug games from Little Bit Studio, Bugs and Numbers and Bugs and Buttons, but the games and skills are unique.

Cost: $2.99

Availability: iOS 4.3 or later, Android, Windows

Dora’s Cooking Club

What it is: Dora’s Cooking Club let kids prepare and cook virtual recipes, but this game really teaches them about math. They’ll learn skills like number identification, counting, shape recognition, pattern completion, and measurement.

Cost: $29.99

Availability: Nintendo DS, DSi

Endless Alphabet

What it is: Parents need to know that Endless Alphabet requires an Internet connection and a lot of storage space for full functionality. Though the idea of an alphabet app is targeted to preschoolers, older kids will get a kick out of the animations and expand their vocabularies, too, with the vivid words included. More words are added periodically.

Cost: $6.99 on iTunes, $4.99 on Amazon App Store, free download for Android on Google Play

Availability: iOS 5 or later, Android, Windows

Learn With Homer

What it is: With over 1,000 lessons and activities and 22 levels, this app was designed by literacy experts to grow with children. This app is being touted as the best learn-to-read program, with a rich library of stories. It incorporates drawing, voice recording, stories, songs, and more traditional phonics exercises. Kids are encouraged to draw or voice record their thoughts about what they’re learning. The app can have up to three separate accounts.

Cost: Free

Availability: iOS 7 or later

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

What it is: What parents need to know is that Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is a cute and simple educational game for young children. The game cycles through a variety of activities such as matching, counting, finding the item that’s different, choosing the item that starts with a certain letter, and assembling a small puzzle. If a child successfully completes the tasks, the animated monkey claps his hands or does a flip. If the child makes a mistake, the monkey shakes his head. After each few activities, children can choose a sticker to add to their collection.

Cost: $1.99

Availability: Requires iOS 6.0 or later, Android, Windows

We hope this information was useful for you!