Did you know playing board games on a frequent basis is really good for you? Games don't need to be overtly academic to be educational, however. Just by virtue of playing them, board games can teach important social skills, such as communicating verbally, sharing, taking turns, and enjoying interaction with others.
Board games can foster the ability to focus, and lengthen your child's attention span by encouraging the completion of an exciting, enjoyable game. Even simple board games like Snakes and Ladders offer meta-messages and life skills: Your luck can change in an instant — for the better or for the worse. The message inherent in board games is: Never give up. Just when you feel despondent, you might hit the jackpot and ascend up high, if you stay in the game for just a few more moves. Check out all the benefits below!
1. Taking Turns
This is one of the first things you learn about playing games, that there are times when you get to act, and times when you wait. Drawing cards, moving bits around on the board, grabbing the dice—these are things you shouldn’t be doing unless it’s your turn. Playing games teaches kids that there are appropriate times for everything, and this will extend outside of games to real life.
2. Math Skills
This encompasses basic skills (adding pips on dice, tallying up scores) and more complex ideas (evaluating probabilities). Not every board game requires math, but a vast number of them do rely on at least some basic arithmetic. Playing games will give your kids practice, improving their math skills and setting them up for STEM careers down the road.
3. Thinking Ahead
Theory: More complex games require you to think about not just what you’re doing this particular turn, but what your long-term strategy is. It doesn’t help to capture your opponent’s pawn if it means they’ll take your queen in the next move. The ability to think ahead while playing games will help your kids think ahead in real life, too.
4. Actions and Consequences
This is related to thinking ahead, but is also worth mentioning. Actions have consequences: your actions can have positive and negative consequences on both yourself and on others. Games give you a closed environment in which the cause-and-effect can be more easily tracked, but they help develop a mindset that will help you think about the consequences of your actions in the real world.
5. Being a Good Sport
Nobody likes a sore loser—or a nasty winner, either. Playing competitive games with your kids lets you model how to be gracious, whether you win or lose. They’ll come to see that what you love is the play, not just the win. Teach them the difference between in-game attacks and personal attacks.
6. Prevent cognitive decline
There are increasing studies out there coming out about board games playing a role in preventing cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Keeping your brain working, learning and engaging in different activities is much like working out a muscle. If you stop, it will lose its strength. It’s important to note that playing games won’t ensure you won’t get sick but you can at least take an extra precaution. Not to mention, our society is very ‘screen centric’. Giving your eyes and brain a break from the screens you are constantly surrounded by can only do your entire body and soul good.
1. Taking Turns
This is one of the first things you learn about playing games, that there are times when you get to act, and times when you wait. Drawing cards, moving bits around on the board, grabbing the dice—these are things you shouldn’t be doing unless it’s your turn. Playing games teaches kids that there are appropriate times for everything, and this will extend outside of games to real life.
2. Math Skills
This encompasses basic skills (adding pips on dice, tallying up scores) and more complex ideas (evaluating probabilities). Not every board game requires math, but a vast number of them do rely on at least some basic arithmetic. Playing games will give your kids practice, improving their math skills and setting them up for STEM careers down the road.
3. Thinking Ahead
Theory: More complex games require you to think about not just what you’re doing this particular turn, but what your long-term strategy is. It doesn’t help to capture your opponent’s pawn if it means they’ll take your queen in the next move. The ability to think ahead while playing games will help your kids think ahead in real life, too.
4. Actions and Consequences
This is related to thinking ahead, but is also worth mentioning. Actions have consequences: your actions can have positive and negative consequences on both yourself and on others. Games give you a closed environment in which the cause-and-effect can be more easily tracked, but they help develop a mindset that will help you think about the consequences of your actions in the real world.
5. Being a Good Sport
Nobody likes a sore loser—or a nasty winner, either. Playing competitive games with your kids lets you model how to be gracious, whether you win or lose. They’ll come to see that what you love is the play, not just the win. Teach them the difference between in-game attacks and personal attacks.
6. Prevent cognitive decline
There are increasing studies out there coming out about board games playing a role in preventing cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Keeping your brain working, learning and engaging in different activities is much like working out a muscle. If you stop, it will lose its strength. It’s important to note that playing games won’t ensure you won’t get sick but you can at least take an extra precaution. Not to mention, our society is very ‘screen centric’. Giving your eyes and brain a break from the screens you are constantly surrounded by can only do your entire body and soul good.
I had been long on the look out for a really informative and easy to understand write-up on this topic. Thanks for being so precise and to the point.in your presentation.
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