2023-07-13 08:11:34
by Ruggiero Corcella
The results of a Chilean meta-analysis: “classic” games increase numerical skills and mathematical knowledge, linguistic performance and cognitive and social-emotional skills even in children aged between 3 and 6 years
There is game and game (thankfully). Tabletop ones, considered a bit old-fashioned, are instead valid tools to help children (even very young ones) develop a whole range of skills and abilities. The confirmation, which also sounds a bit like a “revenge” with respect to the video game empire, comes from a systematic review of studies on the subject (in the last 23 years) conducted by researchers at the Pontificia Universidad in Chile. of any type, it is essential to support the neurodevelopment of children, especially in the first years of life but also in the following years. Different games allow for the development of different skills and functions, and they must integrate to allow harmonious growth», underlines Antonella Costantino, director of the Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Operative Unit of the Milan Polyclinic.
The goal of the research
It has long been known that board games enhance learning and development, including reading and literacy. Now this new study, published in Early Years , notes that, for three to nine-year-olds, the number-based board game format helps improve counting and the ability to recognize if one number is higher or lower than another. Researchers say children may benefit from programs — or interventions — in which they play board games a few times a week under the supervision of a teacher or other trained adult.
“Board games improve math skills for young children,” says lead author, Jaime Balladares. «The use of board games can be considered a strategy with potential effects on basic and complex math skills. Board games can easily be adapted to include learning objectives related to math skills or other domains.
The different types of game
Games in which players take turns moving pieces around a chessboard differ from those involving specific skill or gambling. The rules of the board game are fixed, which limits a player’s activities, and the moves on the board usually determine the overall game situation. However, kindergartens rarely use board games.
The Chilean study aimed to collect the available evidence of their effects on children. The researchers set out to investigate the extent of the effects of physical board games in promoting learning in young children. They based their findings on a review of 19 studies published since 2000 involving children aged 3 to 9 years. All children participating in the studies had special board game sessions, on average twice a week for 20 minutes over a period of one and a half months, led by teachers, therapists or parents. In some of the 19 studies, children were grouped into the numbers board game or a board game that didn’t focus on math skills.
The results
The results showed that math skills improved significantly after the sessions among the children for more than half (52%) of the tasks analysed. In nearly a third (32%) of cases, children in the intervention groups performed better than those who did not take part in the board game. The results also show that from the studies analyzed to date, board games on language or literacy areas, while implemented, did not include scientific evaluation (i.e., comparison of control with intervention, or pre- and post-intervention groups) for evaluate its impact on children. According to Dr. Balladares “an interesting space should open up in the coming years for the development of intervention and evaluation of board games, given the complexity of games and the need to design more and better games for educational purposes”. any type, it is essential to support the neurodevelopment of children, especially in the first years of life but also in the following years.
Free play, board and video games
But what are the “potential” inherent in the different types of game? «Free, symbolic and imaginative play, both alone and with others, allows you to develop emotional and relational skills and flexibility, the ability to identify with other points of view and other people’s emotions, to negotiate creative solutions, to learn recovery strategies and other skills connected to them, to process tiring events but also simply full of emotions, to experiment actively and firsthand», replies the child neuropsychiatrist.
«The different types of board games (the article analyzes only a few of them) instead develop memory and cognitive and neuropsychological skills, ability to wait, logical and reasoning skills, critical thinking, concentration, ability to deal with frustrations and retry, ability to make inferences and solve problems, cognitive flexibility, ability to internalize rules and awareness that rules are not absolute but related to values, contexts and goals and can therefore be different in apparently similar games, if the goals of the games are in different realities”.
«Video games improve attention and visuo-spatial skills, response inhibition and working memory, speed. All this is true in a balanced use and with an adequate mix of the different types of games and without excessive performance pressure from the adult world».
The negative consequences
But to what extent can a game be useful or become harmful? «Any game or activity can lead to negative consequences, more or less relevant, if it becomes the only occupation or is subject to excessive pressure and strong competition. Furthermore, as in all things, it is valid in the face of “good quality” games, attentive to developmental windows (i.e. to the specific needs and emerging functions of each age) and to the relevant elements for the different stages of development, interesting, motivating, balanced, not based on mechanisms of addiction or strong competition. And on this, as clearly highlighted in the review, we still have a lot to study. In the little ones, the aspect related to the ability to develop inferences and automate the recognition of images, quantities, positions is very valuable, also because it is less easily experienced outside of play activities”, concludes the expert.
July 13, 2023 (change July 13, 2023 | 08:11)
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