Learn Through Play: Educational Games Ideas

Games can be a great way of practising your thinking skills. They can be especially useful for teaching children and young people the benefits of strategy and applied understanding. Adults, too, can improve their learning and thinking through play.

We've selected some of the most well-known and simple games - explaining format, rules and providing advice and strategy - to help get you started!

Overview: Players compete to score as close to 21 as possible without going 'bust' (meaning, going over the target figure). A game of odds, played against the dealer, the player must ascertain whether to 'stick' or request further cards based on limited information (the dealer exposes one of his cards before requiring a decision from the player).

Rules: A game for two or more players. One of the players takes the role of dealer. Often, this is settled by drawing the highest-value card before play begins. The dealer is responsible for shuffling the deck. Then, two cards are dealt to each player, the dealer included. This rule varies, but the above is perfectly good for most forms of the game. All cards are dealt face down, with the exception of the dealer's hand, who must place one of his cards face up, thus providing limited information for the other players to calculate odds on.

In each deck, 21 is most easily reached with a '10' card (suits are unimportant) and an ace (which has the value of '1' or '11'). 'Picture' cards (Jack, Queen, King) also count as '10'. If the player arrives at 21 with their first two cards, they win the round, unless other players also have 21, in which case the round is drawn.

Strategy: Most 2-card hands, however, will give the player a total less than 21. The challenge of the game lies in the players' ability to calculate odds, and decide whether to stick or request further cards. For example, if a player is given a 'king' and a 'four', while the dealer has an 'ace', the player has to request a further card and risk going bust. This is because king (10) and 4 make 14, while an ace equals '11', and if the dealer's other card is a king, queen, jack or ten - he has 'blackjack' and will win if the player cannot also score '21'. If the above player asks for another card and receives a '6', to total '20' in 3 cards, he should stick, and hope the dealer has a '7', '8' or '9'.

Advice: As with other games involving thinking skills, memory and arithmetic, concept-skills can prove useful. For example, spatial context can help the player to calculate odds in relation to cards already played. For example, if the player studies for high cards being played, he can use that information to better estimate odds and weigh up a decision to 'stick' or request further cards.

Perspective-shift skills can help the player to learn to associate images to important cards in the course of the game. This would help the player track his odds better. Mental imagery skills will also prove useful in remembering previous combinations of cards, as would recognising patterns in certain card sequences.

Overview: In dominoes, players take it in turns to lay small dotted pieces in matching combinations. A game of both luck and skill, it is easy to pick up quickly and therefore popular with children and families.

Rules: Domino sets usually come with a total of 28 pieces. The player to go first is determined by a random selection of dominoes. The player who drew the domino with the most dots goes first. Players take 5-7 dominoes each, depending on the number of players. Moving clockwise, they take it turns to place a domino flat on a table - the object of the game being to match one end of their domino with the number of dots on another domino already played. For example, assuming the first player places a domino with 5 dots on one end, and 1 dot on the other end. The next player must play a domino with either an end of 5 or 1 dots. If he can, he places the matching side end-to-end with the other domino. If he cannot, he must forfeit his turn and wait for another chance. After several turns, and when no more dominoes can be played, players add together all the dots on their unplayed pieces. The player with the smallest total wins the round. To win the game, players can decide in advance to play the best of 3, 5, 7 or 9 rounds, etc.

Strategy: This is an altogether simpler game than, for example, blackjack, but there is still scope for strategy. For example, a player can choose to forfeit a turn, even when they have a domino which could be played. This might be useful in difficult circumstances, where the other player then plays a low value domino, allowing you to play a larger value piece and shake off more dots, helping you to keep your end-of-round total low.

Advice: As with blackjack, context skills will help the player decide on the best move playable based on all available information, including pieces already played, pieces most likely to as yet be un-played, and the various possible combinations of moves still possible. The simple arithmetic required is especially useful as a learning tool for children.

Overview: Two players, starting at '0', and moving up at intervals of either 1 or 2, take it in turns to reach '20', the winner being the first player who is able and says '20' i.e from the previous player having arrived at 18, or 19.

Rules: This is an extremely simple game. The only rules are that the game should be played between two people, starting at '0', and moving up in turns at intervals of 1 or 2 to reach a total of '20'. It is perfectly permissible for players to go up either exclusively in 1's, or 2's, or in any combination of 1 and 2. Each player *must* add to the previous tally - no subtraction, for example, is acceptable.

Strategy: This game is, perhaps not surprisingly, based on simple mathematics. In fact, whoever starts first can always force an eventual win - assuming they know which moves to make. The correct sequence of moves to play is based on something called 'modular arithmetic'. Put most simply, the winner is the player who at each turn gives a number equivalent to a multiple of 3 (like 3, 6, 9, 12 etc.) plus 2. For example, the player going first should start with '2'. The next player might come back with '4'. Now the first player has a choice between saying '5' or '6'. He should always pick 5, as it is a multiple of 3 plus 2 (3+2), while 6 is not. The second player replies with '6'. The first player should now choose '8' (6+2). His opponent replies '10'. Now, the right number would be '11' (9+2). The rival picks '13'. The first replies correctly '14' (12+2). The second player chooses '15'. To win, go for '17' (15+2). Now, regardless of whether the second player chooses 18 or 19 in reply, the first will give '20' and win.

Advice: This game is best used as an example for teaching modular arithmetic, or as a simple game of counting strategy. Clearly, pattern recognition skills help the winning player determine the necessary steps to force the win.

Overview: 3 horizontal rows of coins are placed on a table, the uppermost with 3 coins, the middle with 4, and the lowest with 5. The two players take it in turns to remove coins from the table. The winner is the player to remove the last coin.

Rules: Players must take it in turns to remove coins from the table. The player can remove as many coins as they like, provided they come from the same row. No coins can be subsequently returned to the table.

Strategy: This is another game based on mathematics. To win, the player should determine using binary arithmetic to keep each row even in value.

0	1	1
1	0	0
1	0	1

The above table gives the totals of coins for each row at the start of the game, written in binary. Reading across from left to right, '011' means '3', '100' means '4' and '101' means '5'. If you look now at each row from top to bottom, the first totals 2 and is therefore even in value. Though the third also totals 2 and is also even, the second row gives 1 and is odd. The first player, having produced this table of simple binary in their head, should make the second row even too, to produce an eventually winning position for himself. He can do this by removing two coins from the top row. This will alter the binary for the first row running across the table from '011' (3) to '001' (1). Proceeding in the same way for each additional move, the first player will win the game.

Advice: Another good example of simple mathematics applied to games of strategy, useful for teaching and better understanding binary arithmetic and its applications. Perspective shift skills - mentally representing the coins in a different number system, are clearly useful in this instance.

Overview: Two players throw three darts in turn at a board around 2-3 metres distance away from the thrower. Each player starts at '501', and must score using their darts to reduce this total to usually less than 100, before attempting to 'check out' by throwing at double values on the board that match their remaining tallies.

Rules: Starting at 501, each player takes it in turns to throw at values on a board in an attempt to reduce their totals as quickly as possible. The highest 3-dart score is 180 (3 triple 20 hits). The fastest way to win the game is with just 9 darts (6 triple 20 hits, triple 19, triple 18, double 15). The player attempting to close out must throw at a double value (or bullseye) to win the round. For example, if a player after 12 darts has thrown 3 20's, 5 19's, 3 triple 20's and a bullseye (equal to 50 points), for a total remaining of 501 - 385 = 116, they will have to throw, for example, triple-20 (60), followed by double-8 (16) to leave double-20 (40) for the win. The player who first reaches 3, 5, 7, 9 etc. rounds wins the game.

Strategy: Accomplished players immediately aim for triple values in an attempt to reduce their 501 total as quickly as possible. If possible, they will aim to leave a total which can be resolved with a final double or bullseye in as little as 9 darts. For example, if a player's first 8 darts hit: triple 20, 5, 20, triple 19, triple 19, 15, triple 20, equals 274 scored, and 501-274 = 227 remaining. The highest score from which it is possible to get down to 0 in 3 darts is 170, so the player with this in mind will deliberately aim for triple-19 (57) to reduce 227 to 170 (from which, on their next turn, two triple-20's and a bullseye would win the round).

Advice: An excellent game for practising arithmetic, and especially subtraction skills. Context skills, playing each dart in relation to the other darts already played and total scored, are useful to player and viewer's understanding alike.