The Importance of Games

Anyone who knows my boys, or even follows us on social media, will know that they are both very into board games right now! They have both always loved playing games, and we have a bookcase dedicated to games and puzzles that has constantly been expanding and changing as they've both grown. However, since the start of Games Night at our favourite book shop where the boys discovered the game Hero Slam - created by comic artist Jamie Smart, this family card game is absolutely brilliant and genuine fun for all the family. It was one of the most looked forward to events of the month, getting to go to Games Night and play Hero Slam, and then it was one of Bear's Christmas presents, and we have played it virtually daily since Christmas Day. Genuinely, I think I can count on one hand the number of days we haven't played!

There were several other games made an appearance at Christmas, Labyrinth, Quoridor, and even Exploding Kittens, all of which were quickly added to the games days that now take place. Bear quickly picked up the rules for each game and can play independently, with very little intervention at nearly six years old. The Cub, at three, has picked up the rules enough to be able to play with some assistance. Some games he plays as part of a team with an adult, others he plays and there are exceptions made because of his age, and others, he plays just as well as anyone else!

From playing games weekly, if not daily this last month, I have seen a quick development in skills from both boys, especially the littlest who now has a grip of his numbers from one to ten, and to a certain extent, knows which number is bigger out of a pair when comparing cards for which is better. The skills involved in games like Labyrinth and Quoridor, where they have to play ahead, see how the board may look in future turns, and guess what other players might be up to have developed quickly, and Bear is really good at seeing how a board might look in the future and planning for it. He's always been a lucky little thing where games are concerned, always able to roll the right numbers or draw the card he needs, but this involves real skill of having the foresight and he plays incredibly well

There have been days among January when the only 'learning' we have done has been playing games, and I do count it as learning, especially if there has been a 'teachable' moment in there somewhere. For example, Bear needing to add several large numbers together recently, so we looked at simple column addition and he picked it up really quickly and has used it several times since. With The Cub, we have been able to identify numbers and put them in numerical order to decide which card is better, and being able to know who has won because their card was higher. They have also taken to designing their own cards to add to the deck for Hero Slam after talking about what they thought their own scores would be if they were heroes in the game.

We have a lot of Orchard Toys games which are great for number and letter recognition, dice reading, colour sorting and matching and many more basic skills. The Cub has several favourties amongst these and they are always quick and easy games for when we don't have as much time to play. They're great for when we have fmaily roudn too! The boys are happy to play with anyone :)

I am hoping to add some more games to our stash soon and would love to hear what your recommendations would be for younger players. I am feeling an introduction to Scrabble coming on, as that is a firm family favourite, and there will be lessons in Chess from Pops at some point soon too!

What are your go to games with your children/family?

Momma Bear x