I talk frequently about the amazing results playing a game can have on a child’s learning, however, it is not until the results are visible that it becomes reality just how important learning through play is in a child’s development. Here is just one real story where we can resonate the long term benefits of learning through playing games.
Dr. Sylvia Bunge, a neuroscientist at UC Berkeley and Dr. Allyson Mackey ran an eight-week programme as an after-school activity at a primary school that had a history of low test scores. The children in second, third and fourth grades played games twice a week for one hour, rotating games every fifteen minutes.
The games used were carefully chosen educational board games, video games, and card games, that required thinking upfront, planning, making comparisons and logical reasoning. This research relates to my personal experience during the volunteer programme I mentioned having run with the charity, their results were mindblowing too.
To keep the sessions fun, the neuroscientists made sure that every fifteen minutes, the kids moved to a new table, so their brains always had something new to work on.
At the end of the eight-week period, tests were run and the results were amazing, the children’s reasoning scores improved by an incredible 32%. In terms of IQ, that would be an extra ten points and above in IQ gain. According to a similar writeup, school increases a child’s IQ by twelve points on average every year.
Silvia Bunge and her team were able to beat that with gaming sessions of only twenty hours altogether in just eight weeks! Just imagine what a how much more of a difference if we made it a habit and incorporated educational board games in our children’s lives and family lives? Improving that further by improving social skills, using board games would yield even more results.
Playing a board game and having fun is key, with so many to choose from making sure you choose the right one for your children is key.
Race To Infinity ticks all the boxes, fun, longevity, learning, memories, life skills… take a look!
