What Family Game Night Can Teach

Our family loves games and my hot date is no exception. I started playing games with him when he was 4. At that age he was old enough to understand taking turns and rules of the game. Each child will vary in their ability to grasp these concepts. His first board game was Chutes and Ladders. I still giggle each time I see one in stores or at someones house. Games are a great way to teach some very valuable life skills. We have advanced to Yatzee, UNO, Scrabble. Monopoly, Trouble and The United States Game, plus card games. And he loves them all! 

Here is what my hot date has learned from playing games with the family...

1. Cheaters NEVER win! I think its natural for children to want to win at a game and to try and cheat. I think we all needed to be or need to be taught how, “Not to take the easy way out”.  My hot date was no different. What he learned early on is that cheating never allows you to win, it actually sets  you back a few places or takes  you back to the beginning of the game. 
2. Taking turns and waiting your turn makes for a more enjoyable game. Oh, this was a hard one for an only child but it was definitely a lesson I was determined to teach him. When we started playing with larger groups he was impatient about waiting his turn and would often rush other players or grab the dice and begin his turn before others had finished moving or their transactions. I taught this by first, taking the dice before his turn and talking to him about waiting and patience. I also encouraged him to watch the board and see what others were doing and how it would effect him. LOL, Rome was not built in  a day and this concept wasn't taught in a day either. It took time and patience and I still have to reiterate “taking turns” from time to time. 
3. Monopoly has taught him to count large sums of money quickly and correctly. I love the game of monopoly for so many reasons. We started playing with him when he was 6. He was slow with money at first because of his age but we waited and helped him out and encouraged him to take his time and get his money count right. I was not surprised that he improved in his fast math facts over time by playing the game. Funny enough, since my hot dates likes to build houses and hotels on his property, he also taught himself how to multiply. Allow your kids to develop their own style of playing. My son haggles and heckles other players but can take it when others do it to him…he knows its all in good fun and when to stop...most of the time. 
4. Losing is a part of life. So when we first started getting into harder board games, like Dinosaur Train, Sorry and Trouble, I had to explain that he was not always going to win. And that if he wanted to win he needed to EARN it. I refused to dumb anything down for him or let him win. This gave him a HUGE sense of accomplishment when he did win because he knew I did not let him win. It is making all the difference in the world. And his "happy dances" and huge smile are worth me losing to an 8 year old. 
5. Life isn't fair. When he does not land on “free parking” or get the correct roll of the dice he wanted in Trouble or the winning card in UNO he no longer falls apart. He plays the game full on and with gusto but no longer craters when he does not win. However, he will ask for a rematch! This is because I remind him that he played well and that is what counts. I tell him that he played fairly and I appreciate that. I talk to him often about life not being fair…..he understands this well because he is an only child who would love to have siblings and that isn’t going to happen in our current situation. 

These are not absolutes but guides. Enjoy your children at every stage and appreciate them where they are. Try not to wish for them to get older, time will take care of that soon enough.