WHY GAMES ARE THE BEST TEACHING TOOL
1. Games are the best way to fully engage kids.
- Games turn spectators into participants.
- When a kid is playing a game they are completely engaged in what they are doing.
- Kids become active instead of passive.
- Games engage kids like nothing else.
2. Games can illustrate lessons.
Character traits can be taught through game play. Things like honesty and citizenship are learned through playing games. Math skills can be practiced and developed through the use of games, also.
3. Games teach kids how to win and how to lose.
In the real world sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. If you want to prepare kids for life on this planet as we know it, then you have to let them experience winning and losing. They need to learn to be gracious in victory and how to keep from being devastated when they lose. That is a critical life lesson.
4. Games promote teamwork.
This one is the most obvious but it it still true. Games teach kids how to work together for a common purpose.
5. Games provide a natural way for kids to interact and connect with adult teachers.
- The teacher explains the game to the kids.
- The kids listen because they instinctively know they need to understand the game in order to play it.
- This cultivates a rapport between the kids and the teacher.
- That can become an effective step toward opening communication lines with the child.
- The connection that happens during the explanation of the game is sometimes more meaningful than the game itself.
6. Games reach boys like nothing else will.
Boys are wired for competition. One of the reasons we are losing the boys in our culture is because we have ignored the motivation that comes from competition in our education systems.
Boys Adrift by Dr. Leonard Sax talks about this destructive trend. The boys who are not athletic enough to compete in sports still need an outlet for their competitive side. Parents with boys will tell you their boys turn everything into competition. Example: “Who can get into the car first!”
Boys Adrift by Dr. Leonard Sax talks about this destructive trend. The boys who are not athletic enough to compete in sports still need an outlet for their competitive side. Parents with boys will tell you their boys turn everything into competition. Example: “Who can get into the car first!”
7. Games allow a kid to be a kid.
Our coarse world forces kids to grow up too quickly. It is healthy for a kid to be able to have fun playing. They need a few minutes to forget pressures from home and school.
Play is like oxygen in a kid’s world.