I was over at the Carrot Ranch last week, discussing the benefits of playing board games as a family with the children. Pop over there to see which games I suggest and add your own favourite board games in the comments.
One of the best ways to have fun while learning, or to learn while having fun, is by playing board games. Playing games together as a family helps to bond family relationships. Adjustments can be made to suit most numbers and ages and rules can be adapted to suit your purposes. While the main thing is to have fun together, there is a lot of learning going on too.
Social Skills
One of the greatest benefits of playing board games is the development of social skills.
Some of the social skills children learn include:
Getting along and taking turns
Playing fair — accept the roll (if dice are used) or draw (if cards are used) for example, and respond accordingly: don’t try to pretend it wasn’t a “proper” roll (e.g. dropped); or attempt to change the count by skipping or counting twice on a square.
Abiding by rules — all…
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Norah Colvin 
I miss playing board games. I had purchased several new ones and was so excited to start Game Night at Ranch Headquarters, then we locked down. Something to look forward, too!
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You will have lots of games ready for Game Night once this COVID thing is over. That’s something to look forward to.
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Really good points, Norah. I have a pile of them in a cupboard that we never play. Can you even play Scrabble online?
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You can! And there are lots of apps too. I play a couple of word games on my phone that are fun. Words with friends is a Scrabble-type game and Word Blitz is like Boggle. You play against people rather than the computer, though you can play the computer too. 🙂
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I enjoyed your post the first time over at Carrot Ranch. I never was a fan of video games like my son is, but we are so desperate for competition over in the US that the 24-hour sports network (ESPN) has been airing athletes against one another playing video games. I wonder if there’s something like that for board games.
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I wonder. My family has been trying to figure out how to play some of our favourite games together online or over zoom but it’s not so easy. While some are available, they don’t seem to get good reviews.
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Great post Norah, good to have this timely reminder as we all seek ways to fill our days!
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Thank you, Kate.
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my pleasure, my favourites have to be word games 🙂
Free and easy if you have friends of a similar bent!
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I agree. I love word games too. Balderdash is a particular favourite. Such fun!
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not one I’ve played yet, my nephew and I used to make them up as we went 🙂
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Making up games is fun. 🙂
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I’ll comment on the other site too, but I must say that I stopped playing board games when I turned 13 – and returned to them when my first grandchild turned 5. We are all (all six grandkids) having so much fun with them now! 🙂
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Wow! That’s a long time without games, Pam. Didn’t you play games with your own children? I’m so pleased you have found them again now.
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Ummmm, not enough game playing with my own kids. Life seemed so busy with all of their activities! But we did play a lot of Uno. ;-0
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Fabulous, Norah. This is so important. I left a comment over at Carrot Ranch, too.
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Thank you, Jennie. It’s so lovely to have your support.
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My pleasure, Norah!
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Agree 100%. Some of our most cherished moments involve board (and card) games played as a family around the camping table whilst on holidays. Nothing beats it. Sadly it is not something we automatically allow to spill into everyday life back in the grid. Unless there’s a power outage of course! D x
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I’m pleased you enjoy games, Dimity. There are so many good ones to keep us entertained whether at home or away.
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