You get unlimited tries to solve crossword-style puzzles using only a handful of letters (with few free hints). If you want a newer, mobile experience, you can try The Oregon Trail: American Settler for iOS or The Oregon Trail from Gameloft on Apple Arcade.įans of Words with Friends and Scrabble (the app or the board game) may be drawn to Wordscapes, which allows kids to learn new words and practice logic skills. I played (and described above) the 5th edition of the game, which you can order on Amazon. Though the situations are a bit dramatic, players learn fast about pre-planning and making choices with the long term in mind. Along the trip, your group encounters illness, obstructive rivers, highway bandits, food constraints and other complications of the time. Recent updates to the game let you trade, upgrade your wagon and buy food and medicine to increase your group's chances of survival. Before you start the trip, you pick a job (each has its own unique benefits), name your companions and purchase supplies. My 10-year-old self spent many an afternoon trying to get my digital wagon 2,000 miles west to safety. The Oregon Trail came onto the scene in the '70s and has gone through quite a few changes since then. What your kids will learn: Historical events, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and more.Īre you tough enough to survive blizzards, disease and snake bites in the retro 'Oregon Trail' game? You can play the game on PC, mobile, console, Amazon Fire and Oculus. Minecraft's educational benefits have also been packaged for the classroom. To get better at the game, parents told iD Tech that their kids started reading about biomes and calculating rations for adventures, dividing supplies and how many minutes until 'night' in the game. Minecraft teaches teamwork and the motivation to improve reading and math skills. The game has different modes - survival, creative, adventure, spectator and multiplayer - so players have flexibility in how they approach the game.Ĭreative freedom and self-direction isn't all that the game lends its players, according to iD Tech. World-building game Minecraft lets players explore, gather resources, craft tools and engage in some mild combat.

Minecraft is available on multiple platforms.

What your kids will learn: Creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, reading, math and more. Check out our list of mobile apps, PC and video games that can educate and entertain your kids.

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