One of the questions I am often asked is, “How do I homeschool with board games when I don’t have enough players? How do I gameschool with an only child?”
The good news is, Jessica Waldock, from The Waldock Way, has agreed to share all of her best tips and tricks with us (including her favorite games to play with an only child) today!
Gameschooling with an only child is totally possible, but it’s not without its challenges. One of the biggest challenges is finding games that play well with 3 or fewer players.
Phase 10 was one of my favorite games growing up. I have the fondest memories of sitting around the dining room table with my family, trying to beat them to the next phase. I couldn’t wait for Emily (my daughter and an only child) to be old enough to play! But, Phase 10 stinks as a two-player game. It can be done, but it’s just not nearly as fun.
That’s when I realized that some games would have to be saved for family gatherings, like holidays, when we had more players to play with. Games like Phase 10, Dixit, and Apples to Apples.
It’s not that they’re not great games, because they are. They just aren’t fun with 2-3 people. So, we keep those games at the top of my closet so that they are out of sight. That is until more players come to visit.
Gameschooling an Only Child: Getting Started
Before I tell you a list of games that work well for gameschooling with an only child, let me first say that you don’t need anything other than a deck of cards to gameschool.
There are numerous resources for gameschooling with just a deck of cards that will work well with 2-3 people. Don’t take my word for it: grab a deck of cards and this free printable and start playing today!
How Gameschooling an Only Child Really Works
Gameschooling an only child in our house looks a lot like taking turns picking games and spending hours playing.
If you homeschool an only child, you know that you’re the playmate. Your choices on who’s going to play the game are limited. If I didn’t insist that we take turns choosing games, we would probably spend all day playing the same game.
You can see what gameschooling with an only child looks like in action in this video:
The Best Games for Only Children
Many times, in an only child situation, there is just one parent and the child playing.
Two-Player Games
Many games have two-player variants, such as the original Blokus. But in my honest opinion, if you’re going to be playing with two players more often than not go ahead and just purchase the games that are made for two players.
We owned the original Blokus for a year and it may have gotten played 5 times because it was cumbersome to each play two colors. Whereas, once I purchased Blokus Duo, we play it constantly. It is just easier to play one color each. So instead of purchasing games that have a two-player variant purchase games that are made for two players. Most of the time this means they play better with two.
Some of our favorite games for two players are:
- Blink
- Mancala
- Spot It
- Blokus Duo
- Chess
- Battleship
- Mastermind
- Santorini
- Hive
- The Fox in the Forest
- Patchwork
Single Player Games
Another challenge to gameschooling with an only is, well, there’s only one. That means you’re their playmate. Sometimes you’re tired, busy, or simply not in the mood to play a game, despite knowing that games have amazing benefits. And that’s okay! We’ve all been there, myself included.
The great thing is there are some awesome games for one player. Single-player games are some of the best logical games on the market. When your only child is in the mood to play and you’re not, pull out a single-player game.
Some of our favorite single-player games are:
Games to Play Virtually
If you really want to play games that require more people than you have in your family,
playing virtually is a fantastic option.
Luckily, we live in a time that more people are just a click away. Schedule a virtual family game night and get more people in on the fun.
Games to Learn With
I know you didn’t think I have come all this way to leave you without educational games for your only. No way! I’m going to leave you with our favorite educational games for each subject that plays well with 3 or fewer people.
Our favorite language games:
- Word on the Street (instead of teams, we play head to head)
- Word Shout
- Rory Story Cubes
Our favorite math games:
- Prime Climb (the game plays in less time with just two people)
- Rack-O
- Math Dice
Hands down our favorite history, geography, and science games are Professor Noggins. I love how many subjects they come in. They play well with two players. And they are the perfect addition to any unit study.
The Benefits of Gameschooling with An Only Child
I know only having 2-3 people on game nights can seem like a bummer sometimes. But try to look at the upside of it!
For us, it means we each always get to play a game of our choice. Every family game night, we each bring our game choice to the table. Since there are only three of us, we can easily play all of our choices in one night. That’s something a larger family may not be able to do.
We each have a unique game style so we prefer to play different games. This type of family game night ensures we all walk away from the table happy. I prefer tile laying and abstract thinking games, my husband prefers dice games, and our daughter prefers card games. To keep things fair, we roll a die to see whose game we play first.
A family game night at our house often looks like Qwirkle, Yahtzee, and Uno. Sometimes we’ll even play a fourth game to break the tie if we each win one game. We even have a small trophy to pass back and forth and declare ourselves the game night champion.
The games that get the most play time in our family are:
- Qwirkle
- Tsuro
- Rummikub
- Kingdomino
- Labyrinth
- Yahtzee
- Qwixx
- Roll For It
- Lumps
- King of Tokyo
- Sleeping Queens
- Dragonwood
- Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
- Uno
- LLAMA
I think the most important thing to remember is that gameschooling with an only child is a lot like homeschooling an only. It is going to look different because it’s a unique dynamic. And that’s okay!
Looking for more support in homeschooling an only child?
A Note From Cait…
I love Jessica’s take on homeschooling (and especially gameschooling) an only child.
You can find more from Jessica, including more tips and encouragement specific to homeschooling an only on her site, The Waldock Way.
Jessica Waldock is a writer, photographer, and homeschool mom of one living in sunny Florida. She founded The Waldock Way as a way to give back to the homeschool community that she loves so much. At The Waldock Way Jessica shares tips, tricks, inspiration, and unique resources that help ignite a love of learning in children that will last a lifetime. She inspires families to engage in homeschooling as a lifestyle where relationships come first and interest-led learning prevails. Jessica also has a fabulous collection of unit studies on her website and shares generously on her YouTube channel.
She also has a free set of two-person card games that I think are adorable!
And don’t miss the episode Kara and I recorded with Jessica. You can listen to it here:
- Homeschooling an Only, with Jessica Waldock {Episode 95} | The Homeschool Sisters Podcast
Thanks, Jessica!
Are you looking for support on your play-based learning and gameschooling journey?
Check out Never Board Learning, an online membership community for creative parents and educators who embrace play-based learning. Never Board Learning features a private forum (not FB), guest speakers, Q and As, day-in-the-life family spotlights, a growing resource library, and more! Here’s a sneak peek:
