Hi ,

This summer, my family hit "pause" on learning US history to focus on Chemistry. The reason is there are a couple of big chemistry games that I want us to play, but I don't want to take with us in the bus. We're close to our storage unit for the summer, so we can play these big games a ton this summer and leave them here before we go.

Anyway. Khan Academy (middle school because my kids are still younger and don't quite have the math for high school chemistry yet) and Crash Course form the backbone of our chemistry studies. Actually, most of our science and social studies. Khan Academy has details and questions, quizzes, and tests, while Crash Course is super fun and keeps my kids interested.

But I really love it when we can pull out games to supplement our learning! We didn't when we studied physics because most of those games are very physical and not good for my mess/chaos aversion. However, there are 7 chemistry games that we have been loving (these are mostly affiliate links as the reviews don't drop for a few months yet but I'm too excited not to tell you about them):

• Periodic is one of the big chemistry games we've been loving. It takes you all over the periodic table of the elements using trends and the groups. Even though I had a ton of chemistry (3 years? Maybe? A lot for a non-chemistry major), most of these were new concepts for me, so I'm excited to learn them with my kids.
• Subatomic is the other big chemistry game that actually doubles as a physics game. It was intimidating to start, but isn't hard once you get used to it, and it's a really fun deck-building game.
• I actually got Compounded years ago because I had a bad habit of purchasing games my kids weren't ready for, so this summer has been the first we've really been able to play it. It's more of a matching and resource management game. While it uses elements and compounds, I don't feel like there's as much chemistry learning going on.
• Covalence (this one's review is actually up) is a smaller out-of-print game that's more of a clue and guessing game. Again, not as much chemistry learning going on, but I'm a sucker for puzzles and deciphering clues. We really enjoy it.
• Ion is a pick-and-pass game that I'm still working on figuring out a good strategy for. I think my mom brain doesn't allow me to remember what cards are where; if you want to work on working memory, this may be a good game for you! I do feel like there's more learning in this game, too; not only are you combining elements to form actual chemical compounds, but you also have to add up the positive and negative charges to create neutral molecules.
• Chemistry Fluxx (this review is also live) is fast, fun, and always changing, although not as heavy on actual chemistry learning.
• Valence is a very small card game, very fast, super fun, and surprisingly heavy on chemistry learning, as you're forming actual molecules of different types and balancing charges, too.

So, there you have it: One way to create a really fun and academic course by combining a couple of free resources with awesome games. I didn't this summer, but for high school I'll make sure to find a way for them to get the lab experience, too.

What is your family studying? How do you like to craft your courses? Would you like any help? Hit reply and let me know! Until next time,

Happy Gaming!

~Ashley

Gypsy Gameschooler

TLDR: We combine Khan Academy, Crash Course, and 7 awesome games to create a really fun chemistry course. You'll have to wait a few months for the full reviews, but check out the sneak peeks above!