Do you feel like you’re losing your kids to online games? I can always tell when my twelve-year-old son has been playing these types of games for too long. Let me paint you a mental picture: He’s been online gaming for an hour or two after school. I call him downstairs to get washed up for dinner. The creature that emerges from his room has a glazed look in his eyes, answers questions in a series of grunts and guttural sounds and exhibits some of the same characteristic behaviors of your average TV show zombie.
Suffice it to say, I am not ok with this. I want him to have fun and enjoy his free time, but I feel guilty if allowing him to play online games is going to lead to a life of sloth-like, anti-social behavior. And I know I am not alone! I’ve talked to other parents who feel the same way.
However, I think I may have found a solution. The answer to breaking my son away from the hypnotizing effects of online gaming is (drumroll please)…….GAMES!
Not more video games. Board games. Card games. Family game night games. I’ve found that playing board games together breaks the spell that online gaming has on my son — and the kids are not the only ones that need a break from being online. With most of our days in front of the computer, tv, and phone screens, adults can also benefit from taking time out to gather around the table. Screen fatigue is real and one of the best ways to combat it is to fire up the original game console – your table!
Unlike video games. Board games offer an escape that can be shared with family and friends.
Here are three huge reasons we’ve learned that playing games as a family is a great thing:
- You will all end up laughing at some point — which is healthy.
You can’t play a board game without laughing. It’s impossible. Give it a try and you will see. Boardgames lead to laughter. Studies have shown that when you laugh, your endorphin levels rise. Endorphins are the hormones your body secretes that create a feeling of happiness inside of us. Basically, when you laugh, you get happy. Being happy and having a good time reduces stress. Stress has been linked to wide variety of health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. In fact, a recent online survey found that 53% of people polled play board games specifically for stress relief.
- Playing games is good for you and your kids’ brains.
When you play board games, you are practicing essential cognitive skills, like problem-solving and decision making. The brain areas that are responsible for complex thought and memory formation especially benefit from playing board games. These benefits extend through all age groups. Board games are good for the mental growth of kids and young adults, but board games help the brain retain and build cognitive associations well into old age as well. Experts have found that playing board games can help the elderly to keep their minds sharp and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
- Spending time together will make your family stronger.
Getting your entire family in the same room is no easy feat. Work schedules, school activities and kids sports may make sitting down around a table for dinner, let alone a board game, seem like an impossible endeavor. But what my family discovered is that once we made the initial effort, the reward made it easy to do it again and again. Playing games as a family strengthened the bond between each of us and brought us closer together.
Trent Howell who runs the website The Board Game Family says, “Like most families, there are always plenty of activities that keep us busy. For us, they include work, school and homework, church and volunteer activities, sports (wide mix), boy scouts, youth groups, and everything else that keeps the engine running and the home in good order. And that’s why we play board games. With so much going on every day, we really need time to connect as a family and enjoy time together sitting around a table and laughing. So we make the time to pull out a game and have fun.”
