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Creating Your Own Board Games

Guest blogger: Toi Wells

As an early childhood educator I have learned that young children enjoy creating learning items for their classroom environment. The children I have worked with loved creating books, art and games for the classroom. I found that one great way to include literacy with learning math was having children create a math board game using a book or character from a book as the game theme.

This can be a small group activity in the class and can span multiple days. The teacher can assign small groups based on children’s similar interests. To create the board game you need supplies such as a large white board, colored sharpies, rulers, tape, glue, and your book related themed items such as stickers and other fun decorative items. Reading the book and presenting the idea of making a game from the theme of the book will most likely help get the children intrigued. Once the board game is created, the adult can guide children in writing the rules of the game. Use the children’s own words and help guide them to create sensible and manageable game rules.

The game can cover many different math concepts such as one-to-one correspondence or basic counting. Creating a board game allows you to modify the rules based on a young child’s ability and frustration level. Making a game with a spinner with the numbers 1-5 is a great way to foster numeral recognition. Then, when a child moves a token the correct number of spaces, cognitive connections start to be made about the number symbol and the amount it represents. To make a game more challenging, a die can be used or multiple dies where the the child must add up the total pips and then move the correct spaces.

One of the benefits of creating your own board or card game is that the child can decide when they are ready to challenge themselves. The child can create a game that can be played with one player, and this can help the individual child learn without having the pressure of others watching. Other games can be played with multiple players, using partners or the collective.

Creating games can also help children connect with their artistic personality by giving them the freedom to decorate the board and game pieces based off of their interests. This will keep the child stay engaged, and encourage self initiative. Learning is most powerful when connected to a child’s interests and making games can be a rewarding and fun part of the learning process

 

Toi Wells

Toi Wells, M.Ed., is a preschool teacher at University of Illinois at Chicago Children’s Center, which provides high-quality early care and education for the children of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) students, faculty and staff. The UIC Children’s Center also provides valuable classroom experiences for UIC students majoring in early childhood education or related areas and advances our knowledge of young children and their families through university-based research projects. Wells, who believes that early childhood education lays the foundation for a successful life, works with preschoolers at the Center to foster the development of their cognitive, social-emotional and self-regulation skills. She especially enjoys working with the children on activities designed to foster the development of early math and literacy skills. Prior to her work at the UIC Children’s Center, Wells served as a KinderCare program specialist, an early childhood teacher at The Gardner School and an infant teacher at Green Beginnings Chicago, LLC. She earned her M.Ed. in early childhood education, with a concentration in special education and ESL, from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2016 and her B.A. in business administration, with a concentration in management, from Georgia State University in 2009.

Read more posts by Toi Wells

One Reply to “Creating Your Own Board Games”

  1. I love this idea. I like making games for children. Making your own board game gives you ownership. What a great motivator for children.

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