Printable games are a great way to keep kids occupied and let them enjoy themselves, especially while traveling or when their movement is restricted from playing outdoors. This article will discuss a few of them.
Games keep kids engaged and generally help in keeping them out of trouble. For most parents, keeping a child occupied indoors can be quite a difficult task. As kids have a very short attention span, they get bored with the games they play with very quickly. Buying new games regularly can be an expensive affair, and becomes a source of squabbles if you have more than one kid. Printable games are an excellent inexpensive option that are not only educative, but will help in improving memory, concentration, and overall child development.
Top 5 Printable Games for Children
Following are some great games for children to play with.
Tic-Tac-Toe
This game can not only be played by children, but by the entire family too. This printed game has nine cells in it, and in order to win, one has to have three similar looking patterns (usually a 0 or X), either placed in a straight line (horizontally or vertically), or diagonally.
Word Grid
| S | R | A | B | B | I | T | T | E | W |
| H | H | U | T | U | R | C | A | T | E |
| A | I | L | S | I | E | L | L | N | L |
| R | N | O | E | O | G | S | P | D | E |
| K | O | O | V | V | T | E | N | I | P |
| P | C | A | M | E | L | R | R | A | H |
| P | U | M | O | U | S | E | R | S | A |
| D | G | I | R | A | F | F | E | F | N |
| O | D | I | M | P | L | E | S | R | T |
| G | M | B | I | R | H | O | R | S | E |
| names of 10 animals hidden in this word grid game | |||||||||
This game is known as the word grid or word game. The grid is made up of 10 x 10 cells with an alphabet in each cell. There are names of 10 animals hidden in the grid which need to be found out. Words are from top to bottom, or horizontally and diagonally from left to right.
Complete the Picture
In this game, one complete picture is printed and a replica is left incomplete. This will test the child’s drawing and comprehensive skills. They would be required to complete the picture by drawing the few missing parts, and can use the complete picture as a reference.
Match the Number
In this printed game, two rows, one of objects (pictures), and another of numbers are printed opposite to each other. For example, one image could be of five monkeys, which should be matched to the randomly printed number 5.
Connect the Dots
Kids love the excitement of creating something they can recognize. The dots are usually numbered in a serial order, and connecting them brings out an image of different shapes and sizes. This game is also known as draw-by-numbers.
Other Popular Games
Jigsaw Puzzle
This is an interesting game that requires a little help from an adult, especially if downloaded from the Internet. One would find an image of an object or animal printed on the paper, with lines earmarked for cutting them. Once the paper is cut as per the instructions given, it is piled up and handed over to the child to arrange it, in order to bring out the image.
Coloring
This is really easy, and children can spend hours entertaining themselves with it. They can use crayons, sketches, or water-paints to color the pictures on the paper.
Match-the-Object
This is a theme-based game and is quite similar to the ‘match the number’ game above. Two rows of objects (pictures), or object-words are printed opposite each other. For example, one image could be of raindrops, which should be matched to the randomly printed image or word of an umbrella.
Maze
A maze is printed on the paper, and the kid has to find his/her way out of it to reach a particular destination or an object. Make sure the maze has plenty of twists and turns, and that it is age appropriate.
There are many more such games which you can print and use to engage a child. These can be used when one is traveling, on a rainy day, or on a family-spending-time-together day. Most of these kids’ activities and crafts are educative and are a lot of fun to play.
