3 Ways to Be a Winner!

Multi-faceted Benefits of Playing Games

by Madeleine Buckley View Bio

Madeleine Buckley

Madeleine Buckley is an assistant editor at Adventure Publishing Group, where she writes toy reviews for The Toy Insider, a site that provides parents, grandparents, or any gift-giver with the most up-to-date insight on toys and children’s entertainment year-round. The Toy Insider also publishes an annual Holiday Gift Guide, which appears in Family Circle magazine. Buckley contributes to The Toy Book, the leading trade magazine serving the toy industry. This keeps her up to date on all the top toy trends and all things play!

Games may seem like one of the modest toy categories, but it couldn’t be more varied. From simple outdoor games — such as tag or hide and seek — to the most complex tabletop strategy board game, there are games designed for every age, interest, and skill level.

Games also may have one of the most obvious benefits of play: They teach kids the value (and fun) of friendly competition, introducing them to the reality that we all lose sometimes, and that that’s okay.

Many games have the added benefit of introducing school-readiness skills, such as math, identifying colors, and reading. Yet others, especially those involving skill rather than chance, encourage more abstract, critical thinking skills. To succeed in many games, kids must look beyond their first instinct, considering the impact of their move as well as their opponents’ reaction to each possible decision. And, fortunately, the ramifications of this critical thinking exercise will be much lighter than most real-world situations.

Lastly, playing games can encourage teamwork, whether they are cooperative games or can be played on teams. By working together to reach a common goal, kids will utilize communication skills and practice compromising as they help decide what moves to make.

Games are a great tool to teach kids about compassion, as they learn how to be a humble winner and a gracious loser.

Here are some tips to further encourage these benefits:

1. Encourage kids to create their own games: Whether they utilize pieces from other games or make their own board and pieces from scratch, creating their own game is a great exercise to encourage kids’ creativity and skills. Not only will they use their imaginations in creating the game’s premise, but they’ll also use logic and critical thinking to plan cohesive rules and explain the game to others. This is also a fun way to encourage learning about a specific topic.


2. Look for cooperative board games and games that teach specific skills: Some games are simply designed for fun, and those are great! But there are also many games designed for both fun and for teaching a specific skill. If you’re looking to foster a specific skill in a creative way, do some research and find a game catering to that skill. Companies produce games designed to teach kids about emotions, math, geography, vocabulary, and more. There are even companies that specialize in cooperative board games, where players work together to achieve a goal instead of competing against other.


3. Talk about winning and losing on broader scale: Especially when playing with younger kids, games present a great opportunity to talk about ways to respond to wins and losses in life. Be sure to model the appropriate responses to winning or losing when you play and take time to explain the importance of not being a sore loser!

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