The prevalence of snow days lately may leave many families stranded at
home. If you have a house full of bored students, it’s time to bring
out the board games. Board games offer a plethora of educational opportunities
and happy family memories too.
It’s important to select games that will interest your students,
so ask them to participate in selecting board games. If you are unsure
whether you will enjoy board games, consider going to a board game coffee
shop where you can rent games for only a couple of dollars. This will
give you a chance to experiment to find games that suit everyone in the family.
Try to buy a combination of strategy, skill and trivia games. Trivia games
have obvious educational advantages as players learn interesting facts
when others answer questions. You can buy packs of questions that suit
each age group so that its fair for all the members of your family and
so that your students don’t outgrow your game.
Strategy games are a great way to educate students on planning ahead and
being flexible enough to alter their plans with the changing circumstances
of the game. Planning strategies also requires higher cognitive functions
and many of these games require teamwork which strengthens bonds between
family members.
Being able to follow rules to achieve a goal is one of the most important
skills that board games teach. Following instructions is a great asset
in the classroom. Its important that students feel involved, so ask them
to resolve disputes by consulting the rules or to read the rules before
the game begins. You can also get them to practice their math by keeping score.
Board games also give you the opportunity to reinforce important social
lessons like teamwork and being a good sport. Student all go through a
phase where they have trouble dealing with losing or being good winners.
Learning to win or lose with grace is an important social lesson.
Teamwork with parents and siblings helps to reinforce positive family relationships
and encourages family members to work together to achieve a common goal.
Playing board games is just a great way for the family to have fun together.
There are so many games from charades to trivia to strategy games that
you are sure to find something that you enjoy. Having a selection of games
means that students get to work on a number of different skills with each one.
You can order games online or at your local department and book store.
If you want to try out a game without too much financial input, look out
for games at garage sales. Ensure that all the elements of the game are
still in the box if you are buying them second hand.
