Board Games are Great for Math

Want to give your child an edge in learning math? Want to keep your own brain healthy and strong? Then play a board game. The library has a small collection of board games and card games. The games don't circulate, but you can bring the kids over for an hour of "game night" on a Tuesday or Thursday evening, or a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Games are a great way to help children learn basic math skills. Board games require counting: how many spaces forward? How much money in the bank? There's addition and subtraction when dealing with the bank in Monopoly.

Then there's strategy: many games force players to think beyond the next move. Checkers, Battleship, Parcheesi... even Tic-tac-toe. And the cool thing: the more kids play, the more they learn how to think strategically. Just rolling the dice and moving around the board helps teach "cause and effect" because different rolls land you on different squares that will offer a chance to buy Park Place or Marvin Gardens.

Games also teach children cooperation. Even when the goal is winning, there are some games (like Parcheesi) in which players can team up against another player - though those alliances may be short-lived.

Games at the library include:
Monopoly
Battleship (great for strategy)
Parcheesi (great for strategy and cooperation)
Boggle (great for language development)
Wheel of Fortune
Trivial Pursuit
Pictureka (great for creative thinking)
Dominoes
Checkers
Tangrams (great for math/spatial thinking and creativity)