Students, and maybe even a few tutors, may scoff at the idea that learning is fun…but well, it is. (Hey, at least we didn’t say “school is cool.”)
The bottom line is that, when students have fun in their learning, that’s when their engagement levels rise exponentially. Perhaps students don’t realize they’re learning when they have fun doing it. Or maybe they simply don’t care all that much when an activity gives them an important skill.
Board games actually do that, so if you’re a student, you can play tabletop games with friends and family, and walk away with valuable takeaways that you can use in the classroom.
Think we’re kidding. We’re dead serious. See below to discover how a few board games actually facilitate important academic skillsets.
Scrabble: language skills and deductive reasoning.
You think of words, yes, but you also save letters for higher scores later in the game. This means that Scrabble develops not only language skills, but also deductive reasoning.
Clue: logic and critical thinking.
When you find out who killed Mr. Boddy, you have to determine the murderer through a process of elimination based on the information you have available. Really, it’s scientific at its core.
In Monopoly, you are presented with a series of choices. Do you purchase properties early on and see more money trickle in, or do you wait to purchase the more luxurious properties later in the game and collect a lump sum?
There you go—decision-making and economics all wrapped up into a nice package.
Got any more examples? Leave your ideas in the comments!