How Board Games Help Children Learn Valuable Life Lessons

Children learn best through hands-on activities. Playing board games with family and friends allows children to learn in a safe, fun environment. Games allow the young and young at heart to become immersed in a world outside of their own for a few hours at a time. Here are some of the ways board games help children learn life skills and lessons.

Bring Families Together

Family activities often involve each family member doing their own thing. Going to the pool, for example, usually involves children splashing each other while adults sit in the sun. With board games, everyone is in it together. Each player is on the same level, which creates the perfect environment for family bonding. This gives children a deeper appreciation for family time and helps them bond with other family members.

Build Academic Skills

Aside from being a great source of family fun, board games can help prevent summer learning loss. Games like Monopoly and Connect 4 teach basic math and geometry skills. Card games and games like Candy Land and Uno help children learn to strategize. Most games help with language and communication skills, especially word-driven games like Scrabble. Board games allow children to learn in a low-pressure environment centered on fun.

Reduce Stress

Games provide an opportunity for children to learn in an environment where they’re not graded. School can be stressful in this way, but so can summer vacation. Summer family time typically involves packing, long hours traveling or trying to do as much as possible in a short time. When playing board games with family and friends, everyone can fully engage with what they’re doing at the moment. For a few hours, the stress of the outside world disappears — even if the stress from competition does not.

Teach Children to Lose and Win with Respect

Even if your child plays to win, losing can be just as rewarding. By playing games, children learn how to lose — and, more importantly, how to win — with grace. This will help your child in school, in the business world and beyond. Board games teach children how to work both together and independently to achieve goals. Even in separate roles, these games allow players to be part of a bigger picture. 

We encourage children to learn life lessons wherever they can, especially from fun sources like board games. Our Polk private schools foster an atmosphere of care and an environment of high expectations and effective discipline. To learn more about what makes us different, contact us online.