Most people associate board game play as a fun activity for family night, however, did you know that board games can benefit the entire family and teach you children essential life skills? Skills that could help them through their entire lives and make them better in their careers someday. Here are just eight skills that your children can learn from board games, increase their brain development, and help them prepare for the real world.
- Strategy And Logic
Numerous games encourage logical and strategic reasoning. Chess, for instance, necessitates planning, some foresight, and taking logical steps towards reaching a goal. If forces a player to think about their next move and how it will set up their rival’s next move.
- Attention and Focus
Following instructions, planning strategies, and taking turns all necessitate attention and focus. Kids learn quickly that making a sudden decision can have instant consequences when you are playing a game. Attention is also needed, since it is essential to keep your eye on rivals, weighing their next moves and actions. Kids can start sharpening their attention and focus to plan, organize, prioritize, and check their opponents.
- Patience
When you must focus and pay attention to your opponents in a game, it takes patience. It also takes patience to wait for your turn, working on a long-term goal and getting through the roadblocks. It also takes patience to continue playing and sharpening your skills to become a good player and start winning the game.
- Teamwork
In the game Pandemic, players must work together to fight diseases and eliminate the risk of epidemic. Players use their strengths to work as a team to reach the end goal. Collaborative games teach kids to communicate, work in a team and how to pick up the slack. Check out big play games website for a great selection of games.
- Problem-Solving And Critical Thinking
Certain games like Settlers of Catan require critical reasoning. Strategy boards like Catan necessitates players to scrutinize the present situation on the boards and use their collective knowledge to foresee what will happen next. You must be able to see the bigger picture and understand the minor details to win such a game. You must rely on strategy, instead of making rash decisions.
- Managing Resources
Games like Settlers of Catan and Monopoly contain real-world financial situations in a safe environment. Players learn how to save money or how to resource cards in order to make sound plays. They learn how to protect their resources, make better trades, and what it feels like when losing or squandering your resources. Board games like these can teach your children valuable leadership and business skills.
- Creative Thinking
In some instances, the right move is not necessarily the obvious one. Board games teach kids to think big. In scrabble for instance, players are forces to make the best out of a bad situation and to use creativity.
- Communication And Negotiation
Negotiation is a vital leadership dexterity. Certain board games necessitate players to make alliances and deals to move forward. While this type of play is competitive, it is also a form of collaboration and cooperation. These games teach kids to communicate well with others and players must learn how to adjust if their game plans are not panning out and when negotiation creates new possibilities.
