Benefits of Board Games

Board games are life, learning and laughter in a box. Whether the game is one of chance or of strategy, life lessons and social skills come into play with the mere throw of dice. Young children and especially elementary school students can learn and enhance basic skills in the casual and friendly atmosphere of a game. And let’s not forget laughter, one of the key ingredients to successfully learning new ideas. Studies have shown that children retain more information in a relaxed and happy environment.

The ancient Egyptians are credited with creating the first board game, although only royalty had the time to pursue this type of activity. While the basic idea of this pastime remains a bit unclear to archaeologists, it appears to have been a game of chance. Despite the fact that games were played throughout the centuries, it wasn’t until the fairly recent past, specifically the 20th century, that board games gained popularity. This interest is linked to the development of the middle class, a group of people who finally found the happy median between work and play. With increased leisure time, board games became an enjoyable way to spend hours with friends and family.

Board games are based on either luck, strategy or knowledge, or a combination of all three. For instance, Chess relies on strategic moves, Monopoly has an element of both luck and strategy and Candy Land relies on drawing the right colored cards. All of these elements of board games can bring a level of success to a child’s development.

Playing board games teaches vital social skills. There is an exciting atmosphere of communication and competition that encourages verbal expression while cultivating traits of patience and persistence. The attention spans of young children can be strengthened by focusing on the game, as they need to remember the rules as well as when it’s their turn to participate. The element of luck in some board games highlights the uncertainty that often surrounds us in life, but also sends a firm message not to give up.

Every board game has specific boundaries, which makes this activity perfect for children. By providing a combination of both security and risk, the child is allowed to master their developing emotions in a casual and compassionate environment. The very fact that the game has a distinct beginning and end gives organization to a child’s thoughts and promotes logical and progressive thinking.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of board games is the time spent together. Children are able to improve their social skills and build their self-esteem while they interact with people in a positive way. Playing board games offers a simple, stress-free solution to enhance the emotional, intellectual and social characteristics of children. Many parents and educators understand the varous benefits of board games and use them regularly in the home and classroom. Emerging readers can increase their recognition of sight words and develop better comprehension skills in the casual and friendly atmosphere. As a learning tool, children are able to more quickly master the mechanics of reading as they play sight word games to instantly recognize high frequency words.

The sight words game Er-u-di-tion, for example, incorporates over 300 sight words in an interactive and exciting game. By introducing the child to these words, the transition to a more structured reading program will give them a higher degree of success without the stress. Everyone wins with board games!