We all know that playing board games may be a form of entertainment that helps your family to bond. However, there are more benefits to board games for your child than you think.
Board games come in different levels of difficulty and rules, there is definitely something for everyone. Simpler board games may help young players identify numbers, colors, shapes and develop hand-eye coordination in moving pieces around the board. Having them follow the board rules and waiting for their turn are also important takeaways for them to hone patience and understanding skills.
Depending on game difficulty, playing board games may also help older kids, teens or even adults develop logic and reasoning skills. Strategy games like Settlers of Catan, Mastermind or Cashflow 101, may help to improve critical thinking and boost spatial reasoning.
Board games like Scrabble, Once Upon A Time, Taboo and more, are fun board games that can be used for your child to learn new English words or improve communication skills.
Meanwhile, games that requires players to remember several pieces of information at once, might help a child who’s having trouble with reading comprehension – all while still having fun in the comfort of their own home.
In the world today, it is easy for us to be distracted with our phones, ipads and video games. Board games, when played without interruptions, are a good way to sharpen your child’s focus and lengthen their attention span. Make it a rule to put away mobile phones and gadgets during the game, and reap the benefits by having everyone commit to playing the game through to the end.
Board games are a good way to encourage kids to team up and work together — a life skill that they'll learn and takeaway into the real world. Games like Pandemic help to teach children how to be cooperative and coordinate actions in order to achieve their goal.
You may also look for games that are suitable for different age range and encourage your older child to work together with their younger siblings.
Playing board games are also a great way to boost social skills as they allow your child, especially the shy or younger ones, to learn about soft skills like sharing, patience, communication and interpersonal skills. These soft skills are best taught by examples, and what’s a better way than having them experience and learn over a fun session of board games.
More often than not, we all have that bit of competitive streak in us. Likewise, losing may be really difficult to our child, especially if he or she easily gets frustrated. While it may be tempting to allow them to break some rules at first when they make a wrong move in the game, it is advisable to play by the rules sometimes as this will encourage them to cope with their emotions, promote resilience when things don’t go their way, and also let them learn how to be a good loser.
Last but not least, the most obvious benefit is allowing your family to spend an uninterrupted time with each other. Board games allow families to get together and strengthen family bond. It is a subtle yet effective way to let your child know that you care and look forward to their company.