In my studio, I have a checklist of skills that every student should be working toward/eventually have. It's everything from naming all the notes on the grand staff in a minute or less to being able to play all the major and minor scales. These are concepts and skills that we work on one or two at a time, and I use games to help as much as possible. Why?
Well, first of all, games are fun! Why do worksheets or exercises when you can play a game? The kids enjoy it more and are willing to do lots of repetitions, in fact asking for the games five minutes into the lesson. Why, of course, we can practice this theory skill, but first we have to do all the actual work :).
Secondly, games help me to connect to my students more. It gives a chance to chat a little bit, see how they respond to different tasks, what they grasp easily and what is harder.
Finally, they serve as a good reward at the end of a lesson. The more the student focuses and accomplishes what s/he needs to during the first part of the lesson, the more time we have to play (educational) games at the end.
Bonus: it's fun to see them come up with variations and use their creativity in that way, and I get to be creative in making up and modifying games the time.
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