16/09/2026
How can a regular tabletop game be used in homeschooling?
There are lots of ways!
Maths is in practically every game. Sometimes it’s part of the game itself. Often it comes in at the end during scoring, (which is great because that way it doesn’t ruin the gameplay experience for those who don’t enjoy numbers).
Reading is in most games too. Even if there’s only a little bit of reading involved, it still helps with reading practice.
🐠 And then there are games like Finspan.
Finspan is a tabletop game for anyone who loves modern board games.
You may have heard of Wingspan. That was the first game in this series, with a theme based around birds.
Then came Wyrmspan, which has dragons.
And now Finspan - which is fish!
Although they sound similar, these three games aren’t just the same games with different themes.
Wyrmspan is the most complex.
Followed by Wingspan.
And in my opinion, Finspan is the easiest of the three if you’re looking for which one to start with. Finspan uses the same basic idea as the others, but it strips away some of the complexities.
I also love that the solo mode in Finspan is excellent. It’s very easy to use and gives you an “opponent” named Nautima whose score you have to try to beat. I haven’t played Wingspan or Wyrmspan solo, but from what I’ve heard, Finspan does the solo mode the best of all three.
📚 But back to homeschooling… how does it fit into homeschooling?
Along with encouraging strategic and critical thinking skills - plus maths when it comes time for scoring - Finspan would be a brilliant game to base a unit study around.
🐡 Every card features a fish. Those fish can be placed onto your ocean board, but only in the areas where you’d actually find them. Some live in the shallows. Some live deeper down. Others are found in the very depths of the ocean. Many can be found at more than one depth.
You score points for the fish you play, plus eggs, young, and schools you accumulate over the four rounds of the game. The winner is the player with the most points at the end.
Just through playing, players become familiar with different fish and the habitats they live in.
🐟 If you’re homeschooling, you can then extend this learning through other ways - documentaries, books, excursions, researching particular species, learning about ocean ecosystems or even writing reports if you choose to!
To make it even better for homeschoolers, every fish card includes an interesting fact about the species pictured.
There are 152 fish cards, all with interesting information about the fish they show. You don’t need to read those facts to play the game - but they’re there if you want to! (I’ll include some of the cards in the comments so you can see what I mean).
That makes Finspan a fantastic springboard for an ocean or marine-life unit study. And then when the kids play the game again, it’ll reinforce everything they’ve learned.
But even if you’re not a homeschooler, this is one of my favourite games. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who loves modern tabletop games.
It’s easy to learn, you’ll be making interesting decisions each turn, and at around 30-60 minutes, it sits in the perfect “long-enough-to-build-a-strategy-but-not-so-long-that-you-can’t-play-it-on-a-weeknight” timeframe.
It’s definitely one I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys modern tabletop games!
If you’d like to find more games which can be used in homeschooling, there’s plenty. Just drop by Brain Spice today between 11am-2pm and I’d be happy to show you! I’ve been homeschooling for 14+ years and I’m always happy to share tips! I’m here every Wednesday 11am-2pm 😊
- Janelle
🐠 Finspan
▪️ 1–5 Players
▪️ Ages 10+
▪️ 5 Minute Set-Up Time
▪️ 30-60 Min Playing Time
▪️ Game Complexity: Light-Medium
👉 Available in store and online at Brain Spice: www.brainspice.com.au/products/finspan
