The Benefits to Playing Board Games

The-Benefits-to-Playing-Board-Games-Blog

We were recently given approval by my school’s principal to form a club among students with and without disabilities.

 

I was so excited by my idea when pitching it to my principal; I didn’t think of all the activities we would need.

 

When it came time to create our schedule, I had a brief moment of panic…

 

“All these kids are coming, but what will we do!?”

 

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And then it hit me: we can play board games!

 

Benefits to Playing Board Games  

Not only are games engaging, but they also provide numerous opportunities to strengthen cognitive and social skills.

 

Cognitive Skills that Benefit from Playing Board Games

 

There are many obvious academic skills involved in games. Take counting, for example: roll the dice, read your number, and move that many spaces—the easy practice of numeral recognition and one-to-one correspondence! 

But it goes so much deeper than that. 

Board games challenge children (and adults!) to: 

  • Solve problems
  • Use working memory
  • Apply strategy
  • Utilize creative thinking
  • Comprehend and analyze information. 

These are functional life skills that our children will need every day in the real world. 

The best part: your kids are having so much fun playing, they don’t even realize they’re learning!

 

Social Skills that Benefit from Playing Board Games

 

There are numerous social skills tied to games: 

  • Communicating
  • Collaborating
  • Being flexible
  • Paying attention
  • Following rules
  • Accepting loss
  • Winning graciously

And the list of social skills goes on! 

 

These skills are critical to helping children develop: 

  • Positive relationships
  • Resolve conflict
  • Participate in group activities
  • Manage emotions
  • Learn self-control

Again, these are functional life skills that our children will need every day in the real world. 

Plus, who doesn’t want to have some fun and make new friends? Win-win!

I have rounded up some fantastic games for you to try out in your home or classroom below. Check them out and let us know which ones are your favorite. 

 

Games Your Kids Will Love

 

So what do you think? Do you play board games with your kids? 

Drop your favorite games in the comments below- I’m in the market to add to my collection. ☺

 

Is your child struggling in these areas? 

We offer one-on-one special education tutoring that can be done from anywhere you are! Why? Because our special education experts conduct their sessions online!

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The Benefits to Playing Board Games

Picture of Luke Dalien

Luke Dalien

Author Luke Dalienhttps://specialedresource.com/author/lukedalien/ has spent his life dedicated to helping others break the chains of normal so that they may live fulfilled lives. When he’s not busy creating books aimed to bring a smile to the faces of children, he and his amazing wife, Suzie, work tirelessly on their joint passion; helping children with special needs reach their excellence. Together, they founded an online tutoring and resource company, SpecialEdResource.com. Poetry, which had been a personal endeavor of Luke’s for the better part of two decades, was mainly reserved for his beautiful wife, and their two amazing children, Lily and Alex. With several “subtle nudges” from his family, Luke finally decided to share his true passion in creativity with the world through his first children’s book series, “The Adventures Of The Silly Little Beaver."

8 Comments

  1. I love this post! We homeschool and use board games in our daily learning. There are so many awesome games out there, I love your recommendations!

  2. We love playing board games together! We try to do it at least once a week. Sorry, Uno, and Uno Flip are some of our favorites. Sierra

  3. Interesting read! I recently bought a 300 piece puzzle for myself and my (almost) 4-year-old daughter to do together. A little advanced for her but we had so much fun working on it together. I could really see how much it got her problem-solving skills working. Can’t wait to play board games with her. This has inspired me to look into a few that might be age-appropriate for her 🙂

  4. That is a great idea. I loved board games as a kid. Slowly working on teaching my almost 4 year old to play board games. He’s not as into them as I would like, yet but definitely learning to enjoy them.

  5. In a couple of weeks, it’d be my nephew’s birthday party, so I’m looking for the perfect gift. I liked that you said board games help children communicate better, so I think I’ll look for a few board games for my nephew’s present. Thanks for the information on how children benefit from playing board games.

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