It’s Your Move

There are images floating around the Internet and our collective consciousness of families sitting at the kitchen table playing board games. I’m sure you’ve seen these images. Many of them come from a time before color was invented, back when the entire world existed only in shades of gray, in a mythical time when only the most gifted artists were able to conjure up color. A little later, of course, the world stumbled upon color and we were given boxes containing such games as Monopoly, Life, Stratego and Battleship in unrestrained colors that now resemble something from the last thirty minutes of Easy Rider. Psychedelic, dude.

While I’m not sure how many families are out there sitting around the kitchen table playing Life or Sorry (instead of sitting on the edge of the couch as Jimmy once more crushes Dad in Call of Duty), I do know that there’s a good number of teachers out there using partner games and other activities as learning tools in the classroom. You ask for them and The Mailbox delivers. Playing a game with another student or a group of students offers an alternative method for discovering and reinforcing skills that are being taught in the “conventional” hours in the classroom.

At my house, we play Uno, which teaches number recognition, strategic thinking, and concentration. My wife plays cutthroat-style, and we keep score, which gives our kids a chance to practice their math skills as well. And I am itching to get back to playing chess with my oldest son. I never learned chess as a kid but taught myself several years ago when my son wanted to play.

Are there games you bring to your students that you find are great tools for reinforcement and enhancement of classroom learning? Do you find your students blossoming in unexpected ways as the result of playing a challenging game, such as chess? We want to know!


3 thoughts on “It’s Your Move

  1. hi,it is interesting playing class-room games during bad weather conditions moreover it improves self esteem.wold like to know and learn more class-room games. thank you

  2. My fourth graders loved playing board games before school. Parents told me they could not wait to get there. One favorite was Lewis and Clark where you answered questions and earned trade beads. they really knew their Lewis and Clark facts! Yahtzee was also a fav for math!

  3. My students love to play Frog games! While these educational games are expensive to purchase, you could easily make your own. Write multiple-choice questions on cards with the answer on the back. Each card says “move ahead one,” “move ahead two,” etc. If they answer the question correctly, they move ahead as the card instructs; otherwise they stay where they are. It’s a fun way to practice anything.

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