Benefits of Board Games for Children
17 September 2023
Who could possibly believe playing games can benefit your kids? Although you might not consider them relevant, the games they play - either with friends or family - make up a big part of their growth and development.
Some of the most popular games for families are undoubtedly board games. They have proven popular even after so many years because they are exciting, challenging, and provide real, tangible benefits for your children! Read on as we discuss a couple of these benefits in further detail.
Board games help mould your children into the people you want them to be. They teach our children helpful values in a manner that is far more exciting than giving them boring lectures! Through board games, your children will learn the importance of teamwork, patience, respect, and how to accept defeat or victory gracefully.
Here are some specific ways board games can be beneficial for our children:
Language Skills
In this age of technology, iPads, tablets and mobile phones, our kids simply aren’t getting enough social contact. One common problem among children is their reluctance to read and engage with other kids. Board games help tremendously in these aspects since your children are given an avenue to play and engage with others in a fun way.
It’s also a big help to your child’s reading comprehension since they have to read, remember and understand a lot of things when playing these board games - for example, think about all the rules you’ve got to follow when playing Monopoly. There’s quite a bit of reading (and arguing!) involved. It’s also noted that kids who play board games regularly tend to perform better at school, mainly due to all the other skills they learn.
Focus
Ask any parent, and they’ll tell you that training their children to be able to focus is easily one of the most challenging aspects of parenting. Board games benefit your children by encouraging them to focus on the little details. Let’s say you’re playing chess: your kids have to understand what each piece does and what has happened in the game so far while also planning their next few moves. They’re also going to look out for other people cheating - so it’s safe to say there’s a lot of focus involved!
Do keep in mind that when playing these board games, try to limit the use of phones so your children can focus entirely and immerse themselves in the experience.
Teamwork
The great thing about board games is that it pushes children to work together. If you’re playing a board game in teams, it’s brilliant fun to scheme together and even more fun when you win. Even in individual games, your kids might have to team up with someone to eliminate another player and eventually compete against that same person. There’s a lot of scheming involved!
In summary, board games are highly effective in instilling the value of teamwork in our kids. Not only does this teach them how to work better with other kids, but it might lead to the beginning of some great friendships. If you’ve ever played a team game and have experienced winning together, you’ll know that it builds an everlasting bond that’s hard to break.
Learning How to Lose
One vital lesson children must learn is the ability to lose gracefully. In life, they will not always win, and it’s key that your kids learn how to deal with this feeling. It’s best to expose them to this feeling early on so they know how to deal with the emotions and experience of losing. While some may take losing during board games a bit too far, generally this is an excellent introductory way for children to experience not always coming out on top. There could be some tears, but it’s a great way to build mental strength and resilience for the future.