Games are a great way to help children learn about almost any subject. There are good games, bad games and games that are ignored. But have you thought about PC games, or console games and what they can teach children?
Here is a list to get you thinking.
Rollercoaster Tycoon. Any of the tycoon games can help children understand the basics of business. Rollercoaster Tycoon scores over the others due to its appeal to boys and girls alike (I have tested this on mine and other people's children). The boys will love getting people to be sick after an extreme ride, the girls seem to like getting the staff organised. But they both learn about borrowing money and the cost of doing so, as well as how to set prices to attract people. There are also lessons to be learned about advertising and the importance of research. RC2 can be bought for as little as £5 and even RC3 is available for £10.
Trade Empires is not widely available and can be hard to find, but is well worth getting if you can. As its name suggest its about trade through history. Alongside the business objectives there is the historical aspect of time, place and how people lived. It runs through till the modern era, and although it has no combat, the effects of wars are taken into account and the player has to deal with this during play.
With Tropico, the player runs a small island. In this case, the economy as a whole has to be managed. How many immigrants do you allow in, what is their effect, how much do need to spend on social services etc? Don't go for Tropico 2, though, as that requires you to set up brothels...not the ideal thing to teach children.
Simcity has no equals when it comes to city management, but for schools I would recommend Simcity 3000. It's easier to play, less frustrating to the casual gamer and can be bought more cheaply.
Other games to consider are Industry Giant (economics), Master of Olympus (politics and history), Immortal Cities (economy, ancient history), Zoo Tycoon (running a business) and I'm sure that you can think of others.
One of the big advantages of all these games is that they will run on any PC that is less than 5 years old and, because of their age, they're cheap.
One of the newer games to keep an eye on is Democracy. I haven't played it, but player reviews of it are quite good (Check out Amazon) and as it isn't selling particularly well you may be able to get it cheaply.
Educational games are great for children, but as they get older, they lose their sparkle for the console generation. These games, and others, may keep them interested and teach them a thing or two as well.
