Ever notice that you’re better at some board games than others? Different games require different abilities. Games from Snap to Backgammon can involve your child in different ways of thinking and reacting. Dads Space presents some top tips to family gaming that’ll leave you and your family anything but bored!
Age-appropriateness Make sure the board and card games you choose are age-appropriate for your child. Children eight and up can usually manage traditional games like chess and backgammon, but younger tots may be happier playing simple games like Happy Families or Snap. If in doubt follow the guidelines on the box, most have them.
Night out at the games If you have older children, you could arrange a games night once a week. Make it a special event: have healthy snacks like fruit or veggies and dip on hand, and play your family’s favourite games. This is a great way to spend time together—and you can find many games with two-player, three-player, or more play options!
It’s not the game, it’s how you play it. It’s like any activity you do with children: make it a light-hearted and fun experience with lots of positivity and encouragement, and they’ll want to do it again and again.
Games old and new A surprising amount of thought goes in to producing new or alternative board and card games, so if you want to try less mainstream board games, give it a go! If you want to find interesting and new games, you can find them at specialty games shops or online. Many of them will have themes that match your child’s interests, like dinosaurs or fairies or world geography.
Gaming skills It’s worth thinking about what skills you need to play these different games. For example:
Charades: teaches non-verbal communication
Simon says: attention to detail
Chess/draughts: thinking ahead
Jenga/kaplunk: spatial reasoning
Snap: reactions
Scrabble/Balderdash: vocabulary/language
If your child has trouble with a certain skills, like spelling or numbers or memory, try playing games with them that’ll give them a chance to develop these skills.