by Cathryn Whitehead

Created on: May 09, 2008   Last Updated: August 04, 2010

Board games have been around since 3500 BC. Played on a marked surface with counters or tokens that represent a player, fun board games have entertained people for thousands of years. Bringing families and friends together, teaching skills, strategies, and sportsmanship, board games are the ideal entertainment for a rainy day as well as a definitive response to that familiar child's cry of "I'm bored!"

Board games can be categorized as based on luck, based on strategy, or a combination of both. Young children prefer games based on luck, such as Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Trouble, or Sorry that don't require any decision-making. These are fun for children and can build their confidence because they're likely to win since adults prefer making decisions during games. Most family board games, such as Monopoly, The Game of Life, Jenga, Scrabble, Battleship, Chess, Pictionary, Bingo, and Yahtzee combine luck and strategy. As children play these games, the element of luck gives them a chance while they develop the skills needed to win.

Grandparents can bond with their grandchildren by introducing them to vintage board games they played in their youth, such as Careers, Sorry, and Monopoly. I spent an enjoyable afternoon teaching my seven year-old grandson to play Monopoly. He already knew the basic concepts, having played a computerized version with his friend, but counting the paper money and picking up my strategy of buying every piece of property I landed on changed the game for him.

Besides Monopoly, many computer games based on board games have becomes popular. Computers don't need as much space and it's not necessary to set up and put away game pieces. With the internet, people can play internet board games online with other people or against a computer. Many sites encourage adults to play computer board games for money or prizes. Sadly, these factors have caused a decline in classic board games. However, the convenience and novelty added by internet board games doesn't compare to the personal interaction experienced when playing traditional board games. Playing online Bingo, cards, and checkers just isn't the same as seeing and hearing the response of an opponent with a winning hand or a losing play.

There are hundreds of educational board game for sale in stores and online, including lesser known ones that involve geography, history, numbers, and words as well as popular games such as Scrabble, Upwords, Trivial Pursuit, and Where in the World. Many classic and strategy board games such as chess, Monopoly, Risk, Stratego, and Dungeons and Dragons also teach words, geography, numbers, diplomacy and cooperation.

Some people prefer games that imitate real life. Monopoly is related to our real estate market, Risk to war, Clue to a murder mystery, and Life deals with circumstances and decisions we come up against in our own lives. Others prefer games that don't simulate real life, like Scrabble, chess, checkers, or backgammon. When parents choose a game for children, they often pick one that they enjoyed; at other times, they might pick one that has been recommended by others. In either case, the best way to ensure that children play the game more than once is to play it with them. Children learn best by interacting with others; they do what you do rather than what you say-even when playing board games.

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