You Should be Playing Boardgames with Your Kids

There’s no doubt that when kids (or adults) today think of playing games, they’re thinking on a phone, tablet or computer. Bringing out a board game is like traveling to a foreign country – and there are a lot of reasons for you to take the trip.

Board games teach real-life skills like turn-taking, sportsmanship, problem-solving and critical thinking for different situations. This is why they’re used continuously in Speech Therapy. They teach crucial skills that games on the phone just can’t measure up to.

When you’re playing a board game, you can model for your children how to praise others and how to be proud of their success, but not boastful. Kids need to learn how to react appropriately when things don’t go the way they should – in other words, and board games can teach your children how to be good losers instead of sore ones. It’s a fun way to model these skills and give them practice at it.

Depending on how many people are playing the game, another excellent life skill that you’ll be working on is patience. This is especially great for younger children as they’re learning how to wait their turn. They’ll also determine rule following. Chances are, young kids are going to want to use the pieces of the game however they see fit. This can be fun sometimes, but playing the game by the set-out rules vs. playing however they want is a great lesson in playing by the rules.  

There are lots of benefits to games on a phone or a tablet, but there are just a few things that are easier learned the old fashioned way – so get out those old board games, dust them off, and start learning.

Here are some of my favorites (with Amazon links!):

Mancala
Chutes and Ladders
Battleship
Candyland
Operation