Photo courtesy of Shannon Hart
This is a safe space, and you can be honest with me. Did you get a board game for your kids for Christmas? Yeah, me too. My kids are at the perfect age to want to play them, and I’m at the perfect age to want to sit still for long periods of time. Everyone’s a winner.
Except, everyone is not a winner, are they? In fact, my son Henry (8 years old) is actually getting quite good at beating everyone. So now I’ve had to put some real effort into my once dusty game skills in an attempt to make my entire family a bunch of losers. Some other notable game skills we’ve been working on:
- Learning to win
- Learning to lose
- Waiting your turn
- Being patient
- Math
- Reading
- Responsibility (keeping track of all the pieces)
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that board games are a hot-n-ready casserole of life skills to dish out to your family. Is everyone good at these skills? No. But practicing them is so great for both kids and parents.
There have been so many positives in this fun, new endeavor of game playing in our house. I highly recommend snagging a board game if you need a last minute gift. They’re easy to wrap. Plus, if nothing else, they’re a great reason to clean off your dining room table. Happy holidays!
– Shannon Hart, mother of two, Vermont native and graphic designer at the Addison Independent