Does Scrabble Make Your Child Smarter?
Playing is a natural environment for children to learn and gain new skills that would last them a lifetime. Parents and family could be a potent example of how to have a good time and pick up a few good practical skills for daily use as well.
Our family plays Scrabble.
Let me share with you how our 6-year-old toddler got addicted to this game that is one of his favorites along with the ever popular LEGOS.
Here are the areas where we saw considerable improvement in our child while exposing him to such game playing as Scrabble.
Reading Skills
As his dominant way of learning is kinesthetic, it is important for us to provide him ways and resources that would only enhance his learning ability. Scrabble does a fantastic job!
Picking the letters with his fingers, arranging them on a wooden nest, changing constantly positions of arranging and rearranging those letters – all these moves are working together with his brain’s ability to form words while he is busy finding and picking the right letters to put on the Scrabble board.
My toddler is ecstatic playing the game, as he is directly in control of the process and making his own choices what letters go where. This is one of my happiest moments to see it my child!
Critical Thinking
As this Word Game is made about looking for existing words, it is an excellent source for making up new words by the players. Creating new concepts while trying to coin out words allows players to think creatively and strategize their moves in order to complete the task with all possible letters in their arsenal.
Positive reinforcement for thinking out-of-the-box could be an invaluable skill any child could adapt to and learn while doing what they do the best – PLAY.
Solitude Learning
By that I mean that Scrabble could be played alone, without any company at all.
It was pretty profound for me to watch my 6-year-old choosing Scrabble over his favorite games and just spend time putting words and sentences together. Those words were of the real vocabulary. Some were of his own creation. But what really matters is that this solitude gaming provides moments of fun and satisfaction from the process. Who would have thought that finding and putting together words could be so addictive? But it is.
In summary, Scrabble is an awesome outlet for children and grown-ups alike. Family could be a strong catalyst in providing examples what fun could really be. Playing games together is a fun and learning experience for all, bringing family members and friends closer in life.
If you are so good at playing Scrabble, did you know that you can compete with the best? And you can do it with your TEAM! Check this amazing National School Scrabble Championship happening in April 2014!
Viva Scrabble!
