Board Games

Hi and what a magical week we have had....

We had a wonderful time at the seaside visiting the SeaLife Center and then a walk on the beach on my Birthday . The children seem to enjoy my Birthday more than I do these days, but I enjoy seeing them happy so the added year is worth every moment of it.

I was talking with a dear Aussie friend who said her son was old enough to start playing board games and she should go out and buy some. Why? A child will have as much fun creating their own game with you and you can use what ever theme you choose. You can make the game as traditional or outrageous as you like too and at a fraction of the cost. Got no dice? Cut out a card hexagon and put a matchstick in the middle. Number the edges one to six. So you have the money to go out and buy one - lucky you! But what does that teach our children apart from "Money can buy everything"? Building your own board game can get their imagination working full speed and you can enjoy learning their level of creativity and fore thought. They will learn to be resourceful and to improvise. They are doing art and design, maths - counting squares, geography - mapping out the game, social skills - planning the game and planning the interaction of players, communication - during design and in planning the communication needed such as speach, mime, cards etc. Your child will learn to consider other people and how many people they will want to interact with during the play of the game. They will learn to organise - write rules of the game and much much more. And guess what? Mum learns that this is more fun and rewarding than traipsing round shops spending un-affordable money too!