10 Reasons Why Board Games are Educational

Board games are educational because they increase your brain functions. Playing a board game of any kind will stimulate brain areas responsible for complex thought processing and memory formations. 

Engaging in a board game educates you as it helps practice essential cognitive skills. Board games also help you hone decision-making, problem-solving and strategic thinking at a higher level. 

New research found out that playing board games are educational and help your brain grow in more ways than you can imagine. Board games also improve your logical thinking to help you become a better learner. Moreover, it can also decrease the probability of developing Alzheimer's and dementia. 


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How Board Games are Educational

Apart from the enjoyment factor of playing board games, there are several other reasons why you should take it on as a hobby. While playing a board game can be a fun family activity, it also teaches you to consider the idea of rules and how you must learn to follow them. Some of the board games even help you to reason about certain moral decisions while you play. 

You can even play board games with your kids and help them learn about the concept of winning and losing. Most importantly, it can teach them how to be well mannered and graceful whether they win or lose. This activity also enables you to educate yourself and the young ones about being a good team player and sportsman spirit. 

Other intellectually educational aspects of board games include the following. 

  • You will learn about planning skills and how to plan ahead and consider all possibilities for outcomes. 
  • You will learn to detect patterns 
  • A board game can help you watch, learn and predict opponent's moves as well as outcomes of your alternative moves. 
  • You will learn something new everything and remember them for future reference. This can help you not only to become a good board game player but also a wise person to make well-thought decisions.  

Board Games Can be Rewarding

Some of the board games can be educational and rewarding to boost logical reasoning. For example, if you play a game of Clue, it can teach you how to use deductive logic. Suppose you have seen a Sherlock Holmes movie or series and seen him come to conclusions by observing things, i.e., deductive reasoning. 

However, that does not mean that you or your kids will become great students at school. Board game education is all about building your mental skills and abilities, not teaching you how to be great at your studies. 

That said, researchers carried out a study on children with learning disabilities. These researchers split these students into two categories. Those you would receive math instructions for 5 hours per week and others who will receive math instructions for 4 hours and chess instructions for 1 hour per week. 

The researchers tested the kids' abilities of both groups at the start and the end of the school year. The students in the second group that received both math and chess instructions demonstrated improvement in their basic math skills such as addition, counting, etc. 

So, it is safe to say that board games' skills may translate into players' academic skills in some scenarios. This may result as a board game player learns to follow the rules, reflect, and control their impulses. 

Therefore, it is logically possible that all these experiences and gameplays translate into enhanced academic performances due to self-control and level of focus. Additionally, there are games explicitly focusing on subject areas such as numbers and alphabets that would foster several transferable skills from a board game to educational life. 

Board Games and Meta-Cognition

According to research, children become better at learning if they believe in intelligence being malleable. Moreover, while playing a board game, your kids will learn more as they attempt to explain their moves or reasoning process on why they made a certain move in the game.  

So, if you wish to teach your young ones about problem-solving skills, board games can be highly efficient learning tools. The more the kids practice, the stronger their mental skills get. You can help your kids become better by encouragement to explain their strategy. 

Educational Benefits of Playing Board Games

While playing board games can be entertaining, they can also benefit a player in general life education. For example, they can teach your children to make close bonds with people, strengthen their relationships and even meet new people. 

Most board games require a minimum of two players or more. This instills a sense of cooperation and educates a child or an adult about interacting with others. A board game play teaches you how to be a team player and interact with others in a competitive environment. 

  1. Exercising Your Brain

Playing a board game exercises your brain and stimulates areas responsible for logical and critical thinking, and builds your memory muscles. 

  1. Learning to Set Goals and Art of Patience

Playing a board game can teach you how to plan ahead, set goals. Moreover, you also learn that in order to be successful, you need patience at times. It takes a combination of strategy and patience to win. The most playful way to learn these skills is in a stress-free and challenging environment while playing a board game. 

  1. Learning from Your Mistakes

A board game typically results in two outcomes, i.e., you either win or lose. In some cases, the game might be inconclusive, which is known as a draw. However, all these three scenarios give you an opportunity to reflect on how you played a game and learn to be better at it the next time. 

In case of losing or a draw, you can learn from the mistakes you made. You can also learn from how your opponent played and adapt their best moves in the future. This can also help you hone your creative skills. The more board games you play, the more variety of scenarios you will face to help think in different ways for a solution. 

  1. Enhancing Self-Confidence

As you build good memory, learn to think logically, creatively, and deductively, playing board games can boost your self-confidence. Each game educates you to strengthen your creative side of the brain with non-intrusive methods. 

The board games are a great way to help timid adults and shy children to develop stronger personalities and a sense of individuality. This educates them to know to express themselves, become a part of a group, and being noticed. 

  1. Offering Early Education to Kids

Even the simplest of board games can help educate your young ones. They can learn to count spaces and identify colors. The shuffling of cards or movement of pieces on the game board can help them learn about the dexterity of card movement and hand-eye coordination. 

Moreover, they also get to learn to abide by the rules and wait for their turns. These are all important lessons that are going to service your child far beyond the board gameplay. 

  1. Brain Buzzing for Older Kids

Board games can be an excellent means to boost healthy brain activity and development in your older kids or teens. Research suggests that you can give them strategy board games that can be helpful to stimulate the frontal lobe of their brain. 

This part of the brain is responsible for executive functioning skills, including organizing, planning, and making better decisions. 

  1. Boosting Language Skills

Looking for a sneaky but fun way to help your school-aged kids to work on their language skills? Or maybe you have a reluctant reader at home. In such cases, board games such as BOB Books Happy can help expand your or a kid's vocabulary. This board game will also help them flex their brain muscles for spelling skills. 

In case you have a child who struggles with reading comprehension, certain board games can help.  These games allow the players to remember various pieces of information simultaneously while having fun. 

  1. Sharpening the Concentration Span

Board games can your kids sharpen their focus and increase their concentration span. However, in order to do so, they must finish the game from beginning to end. Do not leave a game in the middle and come back to it after a few days.

For example, you are playing a game of checkers with your young ones. For your child's education to concentrate and finish the game, you must without any distractions or leaving the game in the middle. 

No smartphones, turning on your TV, playing a song, or watching the latest news. The focus must be to finish the board game first without any interruptions. This will help improve your child's declining attention span, no matter what distractions come their way. 

  1. Social Education

Board games teach you the value of teamwork. This is one of the most vital skills one must learn to survive in the world out there. A board game can help you realize that while you might be born with luck, things can change at any time for better or for worse. 

You get to learn that nothing in life comes with a guarantee and to survive, you have to work with others and share. This will be a life-long lesson for the kids as this is what we all do throughout our lives. 

In case you have an anxious kid at home, a board game can help them navigate their friendships and social scenarios in a convenient manner. The structured gameplay can offer easy learning methods for your child to hone their interpersonal skills and relationships with peers. 

In case you or your young one struggle to strike a conversation with anyone, you must play guessing board games to promote opportunities for an ice breaker. 

  1. Learning to Deal with Rough Patch in Life

In continuation of our previous educational aspect of a board game, the board games can educate you about dealing with rough patches in life. The gameplay teaches you that things can go wrong, and you must not give up and see things through to the end. 

Board games are the best way to educate your child about dealing with frustrating times and events. This will teach your child to give a more respectful response in an unfavorable scenario in life than slamming the door shut or stomping off in anger. 

If your child has a low tolerance towards losing, it is ok to allow them to break a few rules at first to make the board game fun. However, as they learn to play, ask them to abide by the rules and use their coping skills if things do not work out their way. 

This will increase their mental resilience and stay calm in case of losing. In simpler terms, you can say that board games can help you educate your child on how to be a graceful loser and that they can improve and always win if they practice more. 

While you may want to use board games as an educational tool, remember that they are primarily a way to unplug. Do not turn a game into a strict training session for the kids. The idea is to let them enjoy a game while slowly educating them about all the skills mentioned above. 

Apart from the learning and fun activity, board games can be an excuse to spend quality non-screen time with your family and friends. Trust us; it might surprise you to know how refreshing it is to not look at your smartphone, laptop, or TV screen for long durations. 

People are already struggling to find ways to create real-life connections in this digital age. Therefore, board games are a perfect means to educate your children about real-life interactions than making virtual connections all the time. 

10 Recommendations for Educational Board Games

If you are looking for a fun board game for both adults and kids, here are some family board games to keep you entertained as well as educate your kids. These educational board games teach your kids how to learn life skills while having fun with the family. 

  1. Guess Who

This game is suitable for anyone at the age of 5 or up. Guess Who is probably one of the most educational board games for kids. This allows kids to use conversations and ask questions. The game requires two players, and the kid will pick one card with a person drawn on it. 

The kids will now try to guess the player by asking each other a series of questions. For example, where is the character from? What does he/she do? What are the traits or physical features of the person on the card etc.? 

As they get into conversation with each other, the answers help them get confident about making a guess about the card. 

  1. Connect 4

A board game that requires strategy will encourage your kids to use their thinking caps and counting skills. This educational board game is an amazing way to start a conversation and get your kids talking while having fun. 

  1. Feed the Woozle

This one is an educational but fun board game for kids aged 3 or up. The game can help them practice their language skills with the help of silly food words. The players will work as a team to feed the Woozle by spinning the spinner to find out which food to feed. 

  1. Bingo

This is a board game suitable for both kids and adults. This game can help your children getting familiar with numbers. This educational board game can be fun while trying to get a number 5 times in a row and shout Bingo. 

  1. Sequence for Kids

Sequence is a board game that helps them to learn matching skills using animal figures. The game is also good for hand-eye coordination and other cognitive skills. Moreover, the game also encourages the players to communicate with each other. 

  1. Monopoly

Monopoly has been around for decades and can be a fun but educational game for both kids and adults.  The buying and selling of the property and conduction business help the players to learn about the corporate dealings, cause and action, and penalties for wrong-doings and mistakes. 

Typically, monopoly is for anyone aged 10 or up; however, you can also get a junior version for younger kinds due to its demand. 

  1. Scrabble

An educational board game suitable for kids aged 8 or up. This game is perfect for improving language skills as it is all about spelling and vocabulary. 

  1. Scattergories

A board game suitable for anyone 8 years or older and allows a maximum of six players in a game. The game is about improving your thinking skills to come up with a word with the correct spelling.

  1. Perfection

Another game to improve your kid's language and shape recognition skills. Moreover, the game also promotes enhanced hand-eye coordination. The game is suitable for anyone above the age of 5 up to 10. 

  1. Story Cubes

This board game is everything you will need as a parent to get your child talking. The game encourages them to use their imaginations and start telling a story. Each cube has six pictures on each side and requires the player to create a story using all the images on their cube

The game is as fun for adults as it is for kids aged 8 years or up. Teach your kids how to have fun while practicing their creative thinking and language skills. 

There is a myriad of options when it comes to educational board games for kids, teens, and adults. However, the ones mentioned above are great stepping stones to explore the world of board games.  


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