What do Children learn from playing games?
Young kids from ages 3-5 learn matching skills, counting, the value of money, sportsmanship and the ability to lose. As parents we teach our children to be their best and in my opinion most people are a little competative. The fun of playing a game is magnified by the opportunity to win the game. Over time young children improve their ability to play and adapt to the game and the situations that are presented. The may knowingly or unknowingly discover a better way to retain information, when to take risks and when to hold back.

I also mentioned that they can learn good sportsmanship and that they can learn that it is okay not to win. I have a two year old and i already have a million hopes and dreams for her. The poor girl hasn’t played in any type of organized event and i have already envisioned the college basketball games and trophy’s that will adorn the walls of our home. We always want the best for our kids and often we associate what is best for our kids with winning. In reality the best for our children is to have happy successful lives that in reality are going to have some hardship, some loss, set back and dissappointment.

Playing board games with our children can allow us to teach them some of the lessons that can frankly take a life time to learn. It is fun to try and to do your best and that is a principle that can be reinforced by playing your favorite card, dice or board game. You won’t win everytime that you play a game, but will you have fun everytime you play? Will you anxiously look forward to the next time you can get together and play? “Absolutely” The point is, winning isn’t everything, in fact winning means very little. We have an opporunity to reinforce this philosophy with our families as we play games together.

What can adolescents learn from playing board games?

For the young adults the lessons get a little more interesting and complex, but the application and the principles remain the same. Their learnings and opportunities will expand from matching colors and shapes to economic impact of decsions, risk aversion, bluffing, bartering and trading. We can continue to reinforce sportsmanship and we can even make suggestions on differing strategies and approaches. For the young adult a new world can be opened to them. Playing a board game with or against their parents, or with their friends levels the playing field, it teaches life lessons and allows them to break free from the traditional molds of society.

Each of the categories will receive a score between 1 and 10 with 10 being the stronger score. The games will be evaluated by their length of play and then will receive an overall score. I may only have 30 minutes to play a game and so even though my favorite is much longer i want to know the best for the the slot. Games will be slotted into three different time categories. Games less than 30 mintes, games betwee 30 and 60 minutes and games that are over 60 minutes.

Once a game is slotted into a time category it will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. Fun
2. Uniqueness
3. Appearance
4. Replay ability
5.Learnability

Each game will receive a total score out of 50, the higher the score, the stronger my recommendation on the game will be. Of course the review score will be subject to my personal bias, but i will do my best to fairly evaluate each game according to the aforementioned criteria.

Puerto Rico is a great board game because everyones turn applies to you, helps you and ultimately can set you up to win the game. Within each role that are so many decision to be made that the game is extremely engaging and helps move your forward. You will be making decision on where to place your workers, what crop to produce and harvest. what buildings to build and what goods should you trade or ship off.

Because puerto rico is such an engaging game it is great to play with family and friends. It is a strong enough game to keep the gamer having a good time and versitile enough to keep a new player coming back for more.