The Best Games For Teaching Your Children Social Skills (And Other Skills)

Today is Black Friday and today is the day that many parents will seek to stock up their toy supplies for their children and maybe start doing their holiday shopping. It can be overwhelming trying to pick out activities that your children can benefit from and won't just be bored of after 3 days of playing with.

Here is a list of some of my favourite board games that have a variety of educational benefits for children. Playing board games with your children is not only a great bonding activity, but an ideal chance for you to help your child practice many essential skills. These games are ones that I repeatedly bring out when facilitating social skills groups or teaching the individual skills listed under each game. In my experience, these games are all simple enough to avoid frustration in many younger children (as many of the newer games can be too complicated to comprehend easily) and they are all just really fun for a child (the main goal).

When you play with your child, you're making learning fun (rather than learning just being more work).  I tend to gravitate towards many of the more classic games, and  you may even find that you have some of these games stashed away in your closet from your younger years.

1. Don't Break The Ice:

I don't think I've encountered a child yet that doesn't love this game (or an adult). This game really lets kids get into it and be a little rambunctious. This game is an excellent opportunity to teach a child to gracefully win or lose when played traditionally. If teamwork is an area of need for your child, you can also modify by making the goal to work together to avoid breaking the ice

Other Skills Practiced During This Game:

• Turn-taking
• Fine Motor
• Critical Thinking

2. Operation:

 Many of us will remember Operation from when we were younger. It has definitely stood the test of time. It's no wonder as this game can have tons of benefits for children learning! This game is a fun opportunity to help your child learn to label or find the different body parts.

Other Skills Practiced During This Game:

• Turn-taking (most of the games listed in this article will have this benefit)
• Fine Motor
• Critical Thinking: 

3. Guess Who

Another classic from our younger years! This is one of my favourite games to play with kids, as it has unlimited conversational benefits. It's always tricky to find a way to teach conversation skills  in a manner that doesn't feel artificial, so this game is a great way to work on conversation in a more natural manner. This game is especially beneficial for teaching your child to ask and answer questions about defining attributes (for example: "does your person have brown hair?")

Other Skills Practiced During This Game:

• Turn-taking (are you starting to sense a theme?)
• Scanning an array
• Critical Thinking

4. Jenga

One of the primary educational benefits of Jenga is that it teaches children to wait for their turn (there is often a long wait as other children spend time deliberating on what next move they will make). It is also a perfect opportunity to work on decision making.
 
Other Skills Practiced During This Game:

• Turn-taking
•  Fine Motor
• Patterning
• Graceful losing and humble winning
• Colour  recognition (if using the newer multi-coloured version)

5. Snakes and Ladders

This game is always my go-to when working on emotional regulation. It's a perfect opportunity to teach a child to focus on dealing appropriately with frustration (what's more frustrating then thinking you are in the lead, then having to slide down a snake, putting you in last place).

Other Skills Practiced During This Game:

• Turn-taking
• Graceful winning and losing
• Counting/number recognition

If you would like more information about teaching your children social skills (or other skills), we would love to help! Please visit: www.kidsfirstbehaviour.ca or contact us at info@kidsfirstbehaviour.ca