Board Games Can Improve A Child's Ability To Do Math.

 

Who would have thought it.  Board games are awesome for helping young children learn mathematics as long as the game is based on numbers, like Monopoly, Othello, or Chutes and Ladders.  

There was a comprehensive review done of all the studies addressing this issue over the last 23 years. It is well known that having children play board games improves reading and literacy but the study published in the journal Early Years focused on children 3 to 9 found that number based board games help improve counting, addition, and identifying if numbers are more or less.

In addition, it appears that children benefit from playing these types of board games two to three times a week under the supervision of a teacher or trained adult.  Board games are a fun way to help build skills in younger children.  It can also be considered a strategy to help young children improve their math skills.  Furthermore, it is easy to adapt learning goals to the games so one knows the specific skills a child is working on.

Most games require students to take turns and the rules limits what can and cannot be done.  In a game like Monopoly, students get an opportunity to practice using money while getting some fiscal exposure. Unfortunately, most preschools never use board games as part of their curriculum so they don't have as much exposure as others.

The study looked at 19 studies beginning around the year 2000 and later and the studies looked at children between the ages of 3 and 9.  In addition, all but one study looked at the connection between board games and mathematical skills.  The studies had children playing board games twice a week for twenty minutes at a time over a period of one and a half month period.  All sessions were monitored and lead by teachers, therapists, or parents. 

In some of the studies children just played board games while in other studies they played number based board games. Or students might be playing number based board games but were allocated different types such as dominoes etc. Furthermore, children were assessed before they began and after these sessions. The assessment might involve counting out loud to see where they were before starting and how much they gained over the time of the intervention.

The authors of the study rated success based on four categories such as basic numeracy, deepened number comprehension,  can they accurately add or subtract numbers, and do they have an interest in math. The results indicted that children's math skills significantly improved (52%) over the time of the study, while one third (32%) playing board games improved more than those who didn't participate at all.

It is felt that additional scientifically based studies addressing this questions specifically should be done.  If you want to check this out, this link takes you to the article.  So I'd like to know how students would do if they played specific board games designed to help students learn specific skills.  The ones you can buy from educational companies.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear. Have a great day.