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Common Sense Games for Kids

Unless they are taught, children may not know the most basic ideas and common sense rules for daily life. Often, young children do not have the reasoning skills needed to make good decisions. It is necessary to instruct them in common sense and basic rules of safety and conduct. Not talking to or taking candy from strangers may seem obvious to adults, but children need to be told that this is not safe. Consider teaching pre-school and kindergarten kids about common sense through games and help them learn that their choices will affect the outcome.

Common Sense A or B
- Write 10 possible real-life safety issue scenarios that a children may encounter. Examples would include being approached by a stranger who is offering candy, getting lost at the mall or hearing a fire alarm while sleeping. Then write two possible reactions, one correct and one incorrect, that the child might make in each situation. For instance, two choices might include approaching a stranger who is offering candy or turning around and getting away from the stranger. Have children hold up an "A" sign (the letter written on a piece of paper) if the first reaction is correct or a "B" sign if the second approach is correct.
Common Sense Bowling
- Write daily situations a child may encounter with a permanent marker on six empty 2-liter soda bottles (one per bottle). The scenarios may include: "You are alone and someone is knocking on the door," or "The sky is gray when you leave for school." Set up bottles in a line a few feet from the children. Spread bottles apart so only one bottle will fall when hit. Player one rolls a ball, knocks over a bottle and must describe a logical way to address the situation on the bottle. Reset the bottle for next player.
Newspaper
- Help children learn that decisions affect outcome. Write on paper what could happen as a result of a person's decision and glue it to the interior of a newspaper, so it will appear you are reading from the newspaper during game play. A poor decision outcome could be: "A boy's dog got lost." A good decision outcome could include: "A student won a spelling bee." Read results to the children and ask them how these outcomes were reached. For instance, the boy in the example could have forgotten to bring a leash on a walk and the student who won the spelling bee probably studied a lot.
Common Sense Circle
- Arrange chairs in a circle and choose player one to stand outside of the circle. Give a ball to a player in the circle. Player one tells the person holding the ball that he must give five pieces of common sense advice, such as "Wear a coat when it's cold." The person with the ball passes it to the person on his left and the ball continues around the circle. The player must name the five pieces of advice before the ball gets back to him or he is out. Player one selects another player until someone completes the task and then that person stands outside the circle.

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