Educational Benefits of Cultural Board Games.

There is no denying the value and ongoing inclusion of Board games in almost every culture in the world. Games provide an opportunity for social interaction, education, intimacy and entertainment and are a valuable asset to any culture and its development.

In some cultures, games, like sport, are national pastimes. In Ghana, the national Board Game is Oware. In Nepal, it is Tigers and Goats. Head to Madagascar and you will find Fanorona. Visit Malawi and you will find Boa, in Peru, Perudo Cachito and in Cuba you will find Dominoes. The list is endless.

Board Games are very satisfying and playing them brings a sense of delight, fun and education to the players.

In Education, playing board games is considered to be a useful way of increasing social interaction and developing cognitive and fine motor skills in Kids. Games like chess enhance cognitive skills and decision making and therefore support a kids overall educational goals. The simple act of rolling the dice, as in the game of Double Shutter (Shut the Box), intuitively leads children to learn numbering. Some games are expressly manufactured and developed to assist educational goals through colour identification, classing and numbering. Playing these games also advances reading skills as well as hand and eye coordination.

But this is not all. The advantage of playing board games goes far beyond educational attainments and mathematical skills. When kids play these kind of games, either in the classroom or at home, they are playing to win! healthy competition means healthy peer relationships. negotiation and compromise.

Through board games kids can learn to communicate or connect with others and recognise how to enjoy shared experiences. Educational Games help with the classification of ideas and the development of new communication skills as well as handling adversity.

Good Quality Educational Board Games also increases memory retention. Playing a game of Tantrix Gobble, chess or Yahtzee requires attention to details and this also helps in raising our visual discrimination and pattern recognition.