List of Motivational Games for Kids

When trying to motivate your child to clean her room, do her homework or pay attention in class, you can use a number of different techniques. Turning these situations into a game works well because it makes the child want to participate, rather than you having to force her. When developing a game, focus on one behavior that you want to improve, give expectations and then create rules to achieve the best results, suggests Remedy Health Media's Health Central website.

Horse Race to a Goal

The horse race game involves setting up a track and allowing your child's horse to advance a number of spaces each day when he completes his homework or another task. By turning homework or chores into part of the game, you can motivate your child to complete these actions, often without having to even ask. Once the child reaches the end of the track, you can provide a reward. Make sure that the child can see his progress throughout the week, as this acts as further motivation, notes the Health Central website.

Cutting Cards for a Reward

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The card cut game can motivate children in school by offering a monetary reward for good grades. At the beginning of the school year, you can assign a financial value to each card in the deck. For example, you can make an ace worth $1, a two worth $2 and so on. Then, whenever your child brings home an A or another grade that you have agreed upon, you allow her to cut the deck. This results in the child trying harder in school, since she wants the chance to cut the deck and receive her reward, according to Health Central.

The Engage Project

Video games can help a child stay motivated and willing to learn. A study by Fernando J. Rodríguez of North Carolina State University entitled "Informing the Design of a Game-Based Learning Environment for Computer Science: A Pilot Study on Engagement and Collaborative Dialogue" and published on the CEUR Workshop Proceedings website looks at children playing a computer science video game called "Engage" and how it motivates students to learn the course material 2. When playing the game, the children would have to solve curriculum-related problems to advance to the next level. The study reports that active players remained interested in the task at hand 83.6 percent of the time. This shows how educational video games can keep children motivated to learn 1. By purchasing educational video games, parents can motivate their teens to learn during their free time.

Treasure Hunt Game

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Creating a treasure hunt around the house can motivate your child by giving a payoff at the end of the game. Start by writing five clues with each leading your child to a different location in the house. That location will then hold another clue, which takes her closer to her end goal of finding her reward. Every time the child completes her homework on time, she receives another clue for the treasure hunt, notes Health Central. On Friday after school, give your child the clues that she has earned and allow her to find her prize. Parents can use this game to encourage their child to do her homework every day, since missing even one day makes it impossible to find the reward.