Board Games - Gymnastics for the Brain
One of the strange things about board games is that historically they tend to be enjoyed by people regarded as geeky or nerdy - highly intelligent people play table top games.
Board games are absorbing, engaging, hilarious fun. The benefits of board games for kids? Some are obvious. Kids enjoy playing them, and board games are opportunities for families to play together. In addition, social scientists have argued that games teach lessons about getting along with others (Kamii and DeVries 1980; Zan and Hildebrandt 2005). In addition, new research suggests that your board gaming habit also does wonderful things for your brain! Board games improve logical thinking, make you better learners, and decrease your probability of developing dementia and even Alzheimer’s (New England Journal of Medicine 2003)! For example, games encourage kids to
The grandfather of all board games, chess, has been linked to higher math scores on standardized tests. Games like clue - simple enough for children - Clue is actually a logic game of staggering complexity. So much so that students at university use it to practice AI-creation. What do Board Games have to do with learning? Board games have been demonstrated to be very effective at to teaching information - but they are may be more effective at introducing, practicing and reinforcing the higher order thinking skills that are required for future learning of all kinds. Board games encourage players to:
References: Research about board games for kidsBright GW. 1983. Use of a Game to Instruct on Logical Reasoning. School Science and Mathematics 83(5): 396-405. Gobet F and Campetelli G. 2006. Educational benefits of chess instruction: A critical review. In T Redman (Ed): Chess and education: Selected essays from the Koltanowski conference (pp. 124-143). Dallas, TX: Chess Program at the University of Texas at Dallas. Gobet F, de Voogt A and Retschitzki J. 2004. Moves in mind: The psychology of board games. Psychology Press. Franklin S, Peat M and Lewis A. 2003. Non-traditional interventions to stimulate discussion: the use of games and puzzles. Journal of Biological Education 3(2): 79-84. Herrnstein RJ, Nickerson RS, Sanchez M and Swets JA. 1986. Teaching thinking skills. American Psychologist 41: 1279-1289. Kamii C and DeVries R. 1980. Group games in early education: Implications of Piaget's theory. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Lorenzen T and Chang HL. 2006. MasterMind©: a predictor of computer programming aptitude ACM SIGCSE Bulletin 38(2): 69 - 71. Neller T, Markov Z, and Russell I. 2006. Clue Deduction: Professor Plum Teaches Logic, Proceedings of the 19th International FLAIRS Conference (FLAIRS-2006), Melbourne Beach, Florida, May 11-13, 2006, pp. 214-219. Reid D. 2002. Describing reasoning in early elementary school mathematics. Teaching Children Mathematics. December 2002: 234-237. Shanklin and Ehlen. 2007. Using the Monopoly board game as an in-class economic simulation in the introductory financial accounting course. Journal of college teaching and learning 4(11): 65-71. Smith J and Cage B. 2000. The effects of chess instruction on the mathematics achievement of Southern, rural, Black secondary students. Research in the Schools 7: 19-26. Wood LE and Stewart PW. 1987. Improvement of practical reasoning skills with a computer game. Journal of computer-based instruction14(2) 49-53. Adapted from: https://geekandsundry.com/playing-board-games-is-good-for-your-brain/ https://www.parentingscience.com/board-games-for-kids.html |
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