8 Reasons Why Playing Board Games Is A Good Thing

When you think someone is playing games with you it is upsets and infuriates you. You come up with best possible scenarios to snub the person and get a one up on them. But since when did this pleasant and relaxing ritual of “playing games” get such an ugly connotation? I believe playing games is a good thing, that is, if you play the right sort of game. Here’s why:

1. Higher IQ levels and better social skills: Studies have shown that adults who grew up playing games indoor and outdoor (in groups) had better social skills and higher IQ levels than their peers who played alone. Get your child a strategy game like chess set its not to late for you to learn too!
2. Encouraging creativity: Certain games encourage creative thinking and thinking out of the box. Games like pictography in which you need to draw a word to make your team mates guess and win brings out the best of creativity in every child whether or not the child is confident of his/her drawings.
3. The brain – Use it or lose it: Memory games help keeping your brain sharp. Retaining information in your brain well into old age has one simple rule - use your brain or lose it! The more you memorize the better your brain gets at remembering.
4. Better world citizens: Games encourage a spirit of sportsmanship, you get used to the idea “You win some, you lose some”. In this day and age of cutthroat competition this thinking is essential for reducing stress. Children who grow up while being encouraged to embrace victory and loss are calmer as adults than their peers. Housie, bingo, tambola are some group playing games where only a few people emerge as winners.
5. Get down to their level: Board games level the playing field (no pun intended) Adults and children sit down together and play the game with same rules that apply to both. Here there is no ‘adult – child’ boundary its just about playing. Most adults have known to mention their happiest times of their childhood being when they played with their friends or parents at school or at home. Board games you could consider looking at are – Ludo, snakes and ladders and business games.
6. Build better relationships: Best way to connect with your child is through games. Studies have proved that parents who give their children undivided attention while playing with them and listening to their concerns on a daily basis raise teenagers who are more willing to discuss their decisions and choices them.
7. Games are good for adults: It helps keep the brain sharp and alive. They help de-stress at the end of the day. Meeting friends over a cup of tea and card game is slowly becoming a lost ritual. Why not schedule a date with your old friends and break out the cards? You find yourself rejuvenated after a good tête-à-tête.
8. Learning through fun: There are many games that encourage the child to learn geography, history and even build their vocabulary while having fun. Click here to find such games. You could even teach your child about the value of money and consequence of his / her decisions through board games with money transactions. Find such games here.