What better way to spend quality family time than with a board game or two? To celebrate NSPCC’s Big Board Game Day on 27th May, children and families all over the UK will get together to play their favourite board games and have fun!
We are huge supporters of this day, which is a great way to bring the family together across generations. Here are a few fun facts on why it’s great to get your children to play board games!
Number and Counting
Many board games incorporate an element of numbers and counting. Whether rolling a dice to recognise the number of dots, counting how many squares you need to move or counting winner tokens at the end of a game, board games are a great way to reinforce numeracy skills.
Bus Stop is a great game for teaching counting, addition and subtraction. Children will develop their adding and subtracting skills as they move their bus around the board, counting passengers on and off.
Concentration Skills
Board games are great for developing children’s concentration, increasing their short-term memory and enhancing brain development. They are especially great for children who struggle to concentrate, encouraging them to focus and hold their attention through to the end of the game to find out who will be the winner!
Pop to the Shops is a fun board game that encourages children to concentrate through various activities, including matching items, counting spaces as they move around the board, and learning about handling money and giving change.
Social and Emotional
It is incredibly important for children to play and interact with others. Board games help to reinforce key social skills, including communicating verbally, sharing, waiting, taking turns and interacting with others, and are also lots of fun!
Unlike a traditional board game, Can You Guess? includes a board for each player. It is a great game for developing these all-important social skills, and it encourages children to carry out fun actions to develop their confidence and performance skills!