Play AND Learn?
Every kid engages in several different games, whether it be by themselves or with other children around them. My personal favorites were the game of LIFE, Guess Who?, Twister, and Chutes and Ladders. These games all have set rules and are common among all childhood cultures in the United States. As we learned in class, there are many benefits to children participating in these games. Increased math skills and problem skills are among the most important. I wonder where I would be if I never played these games. Would I have liked math as much as I do? Would I have the same problem solving skills as I do now? And would my intelligence be at the level it is today allowing me to still be attending the University of Michigan? I never realized how much of an influence moving up and down ladders on a board game or simulating real life with game pieces would have on my life. Because games are critical for a child’s development, most children play. I find it unique that regardless of the environments in which we live, there is a shared “children’s culture” that is common among all kids.
Every kid engages in several different games, whether it be by themselves or with other children around them. My personal favorites were the game of LIFE, Guess Who?, Twister, and Chutes and Ladders. These games all have set rules and are common among all childhood cultures in the United States. As we learned in class, there are many benefits to children participating in these games. Increased math skills and problem skills are among the most important. I wonder where I would be if I never played these games. Would I have liked math as much as I do? Would I have the same problem solving skills as I do now? And would my intelligence be at the level it is today allowing me to still be attending the University of Michigan? I never realized how much of an influence moving up and down ladders on a board game or simulating real life with game pieces would have on my life. Because games are critical for a child’s development, most children play. I find it unique that regardless of the environments in which we live, there is a shared “children’s culture” that is common among all kids.
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI found your post very insightful. As a child, I played card games and board games religiously, and I now find myself also thinking how influential were these games in my development. I for one, think that games enable and expand children's critical thinking and problem solving. I also find your last statement about regardless of where or what environment we are raised in there is a commonality between games and children. This also makes me think if there were different games that made an impact regionally between children. Were there games better for cognition and developmental skills than others?
It is interesting that you bring this up because while I was just home over spring break, I had an experience that definitely relates to this. My mom is an elementary school teacher and is therefore working with young children all the time. For Christmas this past year, my dad bought her an iPad. I went to look on it while I was home this last week, and noticed that almost every app she had was some sort of educational game. Whether a "fishing" game associated with math problems, a matching game associated with the pronunciation of words, or just a fun drawing game to help stimulate cognitive control, all of these "games" were meant to help a child learn. I was a little curious about this being that we had just discussed the topic in class so I asked my mom how often she uses these and how well they work. She told me that she uses them quite often, especially when working with a child one-on-one, and that she has seen significant improvements in the children that have used these games. So, although these games are not necessarily the "classics", and aren't as much shared as games like monopoly, it is clearly evident that games play a major role in a child's development.
ReplyDelete-Emma Kessler
I think that your post is extremely interesting. I believe that there are a set of games that are common to every generation. For us it was life, twister, guess who, etc. Yet, with technological advances I think that children still have a set of common games for their generation but they are more electronic based. My little cousins are always playing games on their iPads, or even sports on their Wii. I think they are learning the same valuable lessons that we learned at a young age but they are just using the advanced technology of this generation. The only thing that I fear is that they are not getting the same social interaction that we got by playing games with multiple players.
ReplyDelete-Shannon Funsch
I think the benefits of intelligence board games provide to children is under rated. Through playing board games, children gain number and shape recognition, letter recognition, social skills, verbal communication skills ect. In this way, kids are exposed to a depiction of society in a safe setting, in which the board game provides a boundary, otherwise noted as the "magic circle". For example, I played junior monopoly a lot as a child. This game can help improve skills in math, reading, reasoning, and social skills. For this reason I think the concept or theory behind board games should be used more often in the elementary school curriculum.
ReplyDelete-Jen
The Fantastic Four
Nice post Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI think that society has shown time and time again that games are an essential part of learning, especially at the earlier stages of development. I believe that the reason for this is the fact that young children often do not have the ability to conceptualize to such a complex level, something that adults take for granted. Thus, the incorporation of games, and more specifically, simulation, are extremely effective in the learning process. I recently read an article in the New York Times about how in some schools, teachers are starting to use music to teach math. The manner in which they approach this process is quite interesting. By using the natural subdivisions in musical beats, they are better able to help students conceptualize what a fraction is. Instead of having students simply look at numbers all day to learn fractions, they instead get to create fractions with music. I think that this concept can be applied to many kinds of learning experiences, and may prove conducive for equalizing the playing field for students who have different learning styles.
-Alexander Chen