Learning Through Games With Toddlers

When your toddler is around 3 years old you may want to start thinking about using board games to help them learn and grow. When we were growing up, board games were all the rage. But as handheld technology started to rule the world, the board game fell by the wayside.

You may be asking why you should dust off the old board games in the attic. Board and card games have a lot to teach your children. Not only can they teach them about success and disappointment, they can teach valuable cognitive and social skills through hands on experience. And many children learn more effectively through hands on experience.

Here are some of the benefits of playing board games:

•    Learning to follow rules
•    Being honest
•    Focusing on a single task
•    Social Skills
•    Taking turns
•    Sharing
•    Learning to count
•    Matching
•    Learning colors, numbers and letters

A few examples of games that incorporate these skills:

•    Candyland          
•    Chutes and Ladders
•    Sorry
•    Trouble

There are so many board games that you can choose from. Not all the games above may be appropriate for younger children. Make sure that you check the age rating to verify that the game is appropriate for your child and be very wary of small pieces particularly around the younger players.