Most certainly board games have educational value in addition to being good quality family entertainment. From early childhood, they can be beneficial in helping a child learn in many ways. These include such basics as color recognition, reading, spelling, vocabulary, number recognition, and counting. Board games also teach children to think ahead, to be alert and observant, and to take note of ways to win. In addition, they learn the importance of the strategies involved in winning.
The most basic games for young children, such as Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Chinese Checkers, and Trouble, do involve a lot of luck. As such, they are not too hard for the youngest children to be involved in. However, even simple games that are based largely on luck can still be educational. They encourage a child to think about small ways in which they may gain an advantage. Trouble is certainly a good one in that respect.
Some games also encourage children to develop their memory. Some will require them to think and respond as quickly as possible. The old card game Snap is of course a classic example of this.
Games such as Yahtzee teach children about making choices with regard to the die they have thrown. Learning to make decisions even as simple as this is a very important aspect of any child’s overall education.
There are also many children’s board games that teach children fine motor skills. Barrels of Monkeys and Pick Up Sticks are two examples. These are old games that have been around for many years but there are modern variations of them now.
Scrabble is a particularly good game for encouraging children’s literacy development. What’s more, no matter what our age, we can all continue to increase our vocabulary and word power by playing Scrabble. There are many other great word games too. Upwords and Boggle are two other popular ones that have been around for a number of years.
A game like Cluedo is very good at teaching kids to think about various scenarios. It involves solving questions with clues with regard to what happened, where and how, and what was used.
Some games encourage children to develop various artistic talents. Pictionary, for example, teaches them to sketch things quickly. On the other hand, games like Charades can build their acting abilities. It also can increase a child’s confidence to do things in front of others.
There are so many trivia and quiz games on the market these days too. These are fantastic for encouraging children to develop their general knowledge and to delight in learning new facts.
Even a game like Monopoly can teach children concepts about using money and thinking about the best ways to use it. These are, of course, subtle lessons but who knows just how much such simple games can contribute to a child’s overall education in such areas? It’s certainly more than likely that there are people who have been inspired by their childhood games of Monopoly to become successful in business investments throughout their adult years.
Then there are the social educational benefits children gain while playing these board games. They are learning to relate to other people, to play alongside them, and to just have fun through participation regardless of who wins. It also fires them with a desire to do their best. The flip side of this is that they must also learn how to accept defeat graciously and be good sports.
There are undoubtedly other ways in which board games can be extremely beneficial in giving children a well-rounded education. Maybe this article will inspire more families to turn off their electronic devices at least one night a week and play some fun board games together. It’s bound to do everyone a lot of good and you’ll be creating great memories in the process!
Need more board game ideas? Check out our top family board games here!
