Board Games: A Tool for Cognitive & Behavioral Development - Essay Sample

Introduction

Most board games are games involving the moving of an item from one place to the other in a particular pattern. Although traditionally board games were seen as tools of entertainment, modern scholarship has linked board games to cognitive and behavioral development. Many schools and parents in low-income regions have resorted to the use of board games in promoting the development of their children. In a bid to determine the effects of board games to behavior change and academic outcome, this study sought to assess the effectiveness of three board games viz; Chutes and Ladders, Hoot owl Hoot, and Charades in the development of cognition and behavior in the low-income Hispanic population. The data were obtained from children aged 2-8 years with the assistance of their parents. This study focused on four main areas of development for young children and these are motor development, language, and communication, cognitive and emotional or social development. Besides, the study sought to validate that board games are beneficial to interpersonal interactions and positive competency, and academic outcomes among the Hispanic population.

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Cognitive Development

Children undergo cognitive development as they grow. This happens mostly in their first five years when they are eager to learn a lot of things that happen in the environment. There are four main areas of development for young children and these are motor development, language, and communication, cognitive and emotional or social development (Paino, 2001). Cognitive development explains the ways in which young children think, figure out and explore things. Brain development in children is part of cognitive development. To help the cognitive development of children, the Hispanic community has resulted in the use of board games which are very effective in the growth and development of children. Some of the board games mostly used to aid in the cognitive development of children are Chutes and Ladders, Hoot owl Hoot, and Charades. Basing on the data obtained from the economically lowly-placed Hispanic community, each of these games has its various benefits to the cognitive development of the child. They were also asked about their school performance before they started playing the games and now. The analysis of the data revealed that the more a child spent playing board games, the higher the performance in school was likely to be. Besides, those who spent more hours playing board games such as Hoot owl Hoot showed better socialization skills with their peers.

Chutes and Ladders

This board game requires the player to count out the spaces as they move their tokens. This game helps in the motor development of the child as he or she moves the token. Motor skills involve the movement of bone structures. In Chutes and Ladders board game, the child moves their arms right, left, up and down as they try to follow the path to place their token. This frequent flexing of the arm helps the children a lot in being able to move his arm to do other things. It also helps in school when the child is writing. Writing involves moving of the arms and this is what Chutes and Ladders train the child to do. It also helps the child in language and communication. In cases where there are more than two players, the children communicate with each other as they inform each other of their turn. This kind of communication is reflected in their daily lives and also helps them in their interactional process. The game also helps in cognitive development especially in counting numbers between 1-10. The dice used to play Chutes and Ladders has some numbers printed on it which indicates the distance the child is able to move their token. To move from one point to another, the child has to count correctly the number of spaces to move.

Hoot Owl Hoot

The Hoot owl Hoot was a game that was found to improve the behavior of the children and common among the Hispanic population. In the Hoot owl Hoot, players have three cards which they must play before the sun sets (Paino, 2001). The player who puts all the owl tokens before the sunset wins the game. Besides, since most games are played by more than one player, the children converse a lot as they play and this improves their relationship with each other. Hoot owl Hoot is a game that has different play levels which helps the child to grow from level to the other. The game helps the child in the communication skills and use of language as it teaches them to work together since they all have to be successful to win this game. The game is designed to be played by two or four players and requires the application of a simple strategy which helps the learners to develop cognitively. From the data obtained, children in the Hispanic community use Hoot owl Hoot to learn simple strategy, problem-solving and social development which helped in school performance.

Charades

This game is a pantomime. This means that those who are playing act out a phrase, a group of words or a single word without speaking. For instance, one to denote football, one may point to his or her feet and then pretend to throw a ball. The other person is expected to guess the word denoted within the shortest time possible (Carlson, 2008). For children, they may use movies titles or things that they are familiar with. This game is majorly used to enhance cognitive development. Children are taught to think as fast as possible and come up with answers. From this study, children who spent a lot of time playing charade performed best in Mathematics and languages since these two have a lot of pictures drawn for the children to determine the name of the picture. Charade was also found to enhance social behavior for the children. The major reason for this is that as they play, the children play in groups and they communicate a lot as they try to outdo their peers.

Matrix for the Three Games

Motor Development Language and Communication Cognitive Development Emotional or Social Development

Chutes and Ladders Promotes motor development of the child Enhances cognitive development of the child Promotes social behavior of the child

Hoot owl Hoot Promotes motor development Enhances cognitive development of the child Charades Promotes language and communication Enhances cognitive development of the child Promotes social development

Literature Review

Ramani and Siegler (2008) conducted a study that looked at the use of board games among children of low-income families. In their analysis, they cited that board games are only beneficial in learning mathematics and not in any other way. This is inconsistent with the findings of this paper which found that board games have a variety of benefits to children. Some of the benefits are improving the social behavior of children, their cognitive development and improvement of motor skills. Ramani and Siegler (2008) research restrict the benefit of board games to only mathematical knowledge benefit. My study found out that young children need to be taught various behavioral skills as well as the importance of academic performance. Many of them are in the stages of learning how to speak coherently read and write. While they can be let to learn these skills on their own, the use of different board games can go a long way in helping them. Unlike video games which are basically meant for entertainment, board games are meant to improve a child's cognitive development and behavioral outcomes. As the children play, they become joyous and this joy helps them to solve the problems that they encounter. Besides, as they try to solve the various patterns present in the game, they develop cognitive skills. At a young age, children learn by playing. Contrarily, Ramani and Siegler (2008) do not find anything beneficial of board games other than mathematical knowledge.

A study conducted by Bruni and Silverman (1975) found out that board games are majorly a tool for entertainment. The authors argue that board games are used to make the children happy and that is all. This is inconsistent with my findings as children games are a major tool for education. From my study, it was observed that children who spent a lot of time playing board games ended up performing better in school. Besides, they exhibited better behavioral skills than those who did not participate in such games. The deduction from this is that enjoyment is not the primary purpose of board games. The main aim of children engaging in board games is to enhance their cognitive development. My study found out that board games have a great effect on children's behavior and academic outcomes. Different games have different influence on the behavior and academic outcome of the children. This study used data obtained from low-income Hispanic families on the influence of playing board games such as Chutes and Ladders, Hoot owl Hoot, and Charades. Data were obtained from young children aged 2 to 8 years. The games used for this study are Chutes and Ladders and Hoot owl Hoot. Data was obtained on the number of hours that each child spent playing the game. They were also asked about their school performance before they started playing the games and now. The analysis of the data revealed that the more a child spent playing board games, the higher the performance in school was likely to be. Besides, those who spent more hours playing board games such as Hoot owl Hoot showed better socialization skills with their peers.

Conclusion

From the findings, it is evident that board games can be used to shape the behavior of children as well as their cognitive development. Were teachers and parents to use boards with children, then they will be helping them a lot to develop their relationship and cognitive skills.

References

Bruni, J., & Silverman, H. (1975). Making and using board games. The Arithmetic Teacher, 22(3), 172-179. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41191160

Carlson, D. (2008). Playing the Classrooms-Game: Building a Community of Learners at the Start of a New Year. The English Journal, 98(1), 57-60. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40503210.

Paino, P. (2001). Games Students Play: Teaming Up In Physics Class Leads To Cooperative Learning. The Science Teacher, 68(4), 28-30. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24154538

Ramani, G., & Siegler, R. (2008). Promoting Broad and Stable Improvements in Low-Income Children's Numerical Knowledge through Playing Number Board Games. Child Development,79(2), 375-394. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27563489