As just about anything you attempt to do with a 3-year-old, playing a board game with them requires a Mother Teresa level of patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Between a preschooler’s short attention span and their inability to sit still longer than a few minutes, you’ll be lucky<\/strong> to get through a whole game with them. As an added bonus, they have an almost gleeful disregard for following the game rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And yet, skipping board games with your preschooler isn’t the answer, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because research shows that playing board games with your preschooler improves their social skills, such as by developing a cooperative spirit, teaching them how to take turns, and nurturing other prosocial behaviors like sharing and helping others.1<\/a><\/sup>Eriksson, M., Kenward, B., Poom, L., & Stenberg, G. (2021). The behavioral effects of cooperative and competitive board games in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62<\/em>(3), 355-364. <\/i><\/a><\/span> Board games can also boost educational knowledge.2<\/a><\/sup>Noda, S., Shirotsuki, K., & Nakao, M. (2019). The effectiveness of intervention with board games: a systematic review. BioPsychoSocial Med, 13<\/em>(22). <\/i><\/a><\/span> For example, playing a number board game with a preschooler supports their early mathematical development.3<\/a><\/sup>Elofsson, J., Gustafson, S., Samuelsson, J., & Träff, U. (2016). Playing number board games supports 5-year-old children’s early mathematical development. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 43<\/em>, 134-147. <\/i><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n