Screen-free games · KS1 & KS2

Learn to play.
Play to learn.

A calm space away from screens, somewhere between home and school, where children come for the games and leave with the skills that last. The play is the hook. What they build is the real win.

240+
games in our collection
1 hr
of play every week after school
100%
screen-free
KS1 & KS2
curriculum aligned
Several MENSA Select games
Aligned to KS1 and KS2
240+ hand-picked games
Completely screen-free
What we do

Purposeful play, ready for your school day

Flexible sessions that slot straight into the school calendar. Each one is run by an experienced teacher, mapped to real learning outcomes, and packed with games children genuinely love.

W

Workshops

One-off or themed sessions that drop into the school day and bring a topic to life through games.

C

Curriculum Days

Full days built around your objectives, with games matched to specific KS1 and KS2 outcomes.

H

Holiday Camps

Screen-free morning camps where children play, problem-solve, and make new friends.

L

Lunch & After-School Clubs

Regular weekly clubs that keep minds busy and social skills growing all term long.

P

PPA Cover

Reliable, fully-planned cover that teachers can trust. Engaging, purposeful and self-contained.

+

Something bespoke?

Tell us your year group and goals and we will shape a session around exactly what you need.

Inside the room

This is what screen-free looks like

Real mornings, real games, real focus. No devices in sight, just children leaning in, taking turns and working things out together.

Why it works

The play is the hook. The science is the reason.

Children come for the fun. Underneath it, every game is hand-picked for what it builds. The research on learning through play is clear, and a little surprising.

The numbers

An hour of play, gains that stuck for weeks

In a landmark study, young children who played a simple number board game for around an hour got measurably better at counting, comparing and estimating numbers, and the gains were still there nine weeks later.

The brain

Games train the brain's control tower

Focus, working memory and self-control make up what scientists call executive function, the brain's air-traffic control. Researchers find playful games are one of the most natural ways for children to strengthen it.

The grit

A safe place to learn how to lose

A board game is a low-stakes place to feel frustration, wait your turn and try again. That is exactly where patience, flexible thinking and resilience quietly take root.

The people

Off the screen, tuned in to each other

Face to face across a table, children practise real conversation, reading expressions and taking another person's point of view, the social skills no screen can teach.

The skills it builds

Children think they are just playing. Here is what they take home.

Communication
Reading the room
Confidence
Empathy
Collaboration
Resilience
Patience
Focus
Critical thinking
Problem-solving
Decision-making
Adaptability
Kind words

Loved at school. Continued at home.

Some of the best reviews come from the dinner table. Parents keep telling us that game night has made a comeback at home, with brand-new favourites appearing on family shelves and everyone gathering round to play together again, screens switched off.

I loved it! My favourite thing was playing Sleeping Queens because I love card games. We had so much fun, I wish I could go every day!

A gameschooler

I really enjoyed the sessions because we played such fun games. I learned some brilliant new ones too. I can't wait for the next one!

A gameschooler

Thank you so much for this board game experience. ‘A’ simply loved it. He was so excited for the club that he got himself ready by 7am! 😂

A gameschooler's parent
Current clubs

Where you can join us

Each club has its own school, day, year groups and price. Find the one you want and book straight from the table. New clubs are added here as they open.

After-school clubs Weekly, through term time
SchoolDay / TimeYearsPriceBooking
Priestmead Primary SchoolKenton, HarrowNew Thursdays3.20pm to 4.20pm, straight after school Years 3 to 6Maths, literacy and reasoning £90for the 10 week Autumn 2026 term Book

Would you like a club at your child's school? We are opening more after-school clubs this year, and every new one is listed here. Tell us where your child goes and we will take it from there.

Email us
Holiday sessions Full days in the school holidays
VenueDatesAgesPriceBook
North London Collegiate SchoolStanmore Dates to be announcedNext camp goes up here once set Year 2 and above Tell me first
Our approach

A programme built game by game, skill by skill

We are, quite happily, game obsessives. We spend our days digging through hundreds of board and card games to work out exactly what each one teaches, then designing sessions that use them to draw those skills out. Because the right game, played well, is a brilliant teacher. It grows the developmental and social skills a screen-heavy childhood leaves little room for: reading the room, working with others, losing well and learning to back yourself. Nothing here is left to chance.

We dig into every game

Across 240+ games, we test and curate relentlessly, choosing each one for the specific skills it quietly develops.

We design for the skills that matter

Every session is built backwards from the developmental, social and thinking skills children need, never bolted on as an afterthought.

We teach for a digital age

Screen-free, face-to-face play that rebuilds the focus, conversation and empathy a connected childhood can crowd out.

The brains behind it

The Game School wasn't dreamt up in a boardroom. It grew from a stubborn belief that the things which shape a child most, the courage to speak up, the patience to lose and try again, the instinct to read a room, are slipping through the cracks of a childhood lived on screens. So we set out to teach them the way children have always learned best: by playing.

SS
Swati Shah
Co-Founder · Educator & Life-Skills Specialist

For Swati, it always comes back to learning. Seventeen years with children have made her brilliant at turning tricky concepts into games kids genuinely want to play, and a firm believer that, in a digital world, soft and developmental skills are not the extras, they are the core. LAMDA-certified in communication and presentation, she builds sessions where understanding and confidence grow side by side.

Learning through gamesDevelopmental skillsCommunication
KS
Kunjal Shah
Co-Founder · Facilitator & Real-World Skills

Kunjal brings the real world to the table. Her instinct for clear, practical thinking becomes games that teach children to weigh up a choice, understand the people around them and back their own decisions, the quiet life skills that outlast any exam.

Decision-makingProblem-solvingConfidence
Booking

Book a place in an after-school club

What to expect

An hour of play, problem-solving and new friends at the end of the school day.

  • A weekly hour of games chosen for what they build
  • A collection now over 240 games strong
  • Literacy, maths and reasoning, boosted through play
  • Calm, fully screen-free sessions, run by an experienced teacher

Ready to book?

Days, year groups and prices sit with each club under Current clubs. Pick the one you want, then book from there. It takes a couple of minutes.

Any questions, email info@thegameschool.co.uk.

See our current clubs