Games have been with us for thousands of years as a way to refresh our minds, associate with our peers, and increase our overall health. Gifted children with active minds need to be challenged with games that stretch their thinking and encourage creativity.
There are many ways to categorize games for gifted children. Games can be grouped by age or grade level, size of group, type of game, or theme. There are also individual games that can be played without a group or leader.
During holidays, gifted children have the opportunity to spend more time with friends and family, or just relax and enjoy their games of choice on an individual level. There are many games that have holiday themes as well as standard games that can be played at any time.
Christmas Games
Christmas party games abound and can be found on many websites. Games include Christmas Carol Pictionary, Candy Canes and Guess the Christmas Character (20 questions). These games stimulate the imagination and fuel the curiosity that is common with so many gifted children.
Other Christmas games include Funniest Christmas Presents, where children describe the funniest present they ever received, and the other children try to guess whether the child’s story is true or false.
Another game is Christmas A-Z where children take turns coming up with Christmas-time words that start with a different letter of the alphabet. This helps build vocabulary and allows children to share experiences.
Hannakuh and Passover Games
There are many games for the Jewish holidays as well. Among them are Hanukkah and Passover Concentration. Children can also take a Mitzvah Moonwalk and look for Space Challah or Kiddush Cups.
Just like the games with Christmas themes, they also come with Jewish themes. Classics like Pictionary and Charades can be played with just about any theme in mind.
For just plain fun, children can play Hanukkah or Rosh Hashanah Bingo. Many board games like these can be found online from many toy and game providers,
Game Types May Vary for Gifted Children
There are many types of games that can challenge gifted children, including classical board games, drawing games, card games, action games, video games, riddles, and PowerPoint guessing games.
Many traditional board games have been popular with children for decades. Monopoly teaches financial management. Scrabble builds vocabulary. Sudoku strengthens mathematical knowledge.
Riddles require out-of-the-box thinking where children have to deduce relationships and follow the course of logical events to reach a solution. Riddles encourage children to think of problems from different perspectives to navigate misleading clues.
PowerPoint games provide an opportunity to use graphics for group games. There are templates that can be downloaded from the Internet for PowerPoint Jeopardy. This medium is also great for Memory games or Zoom-in games where objects or secret words are distorted through “close-ups.”
Some games combine elements from other games. Fishbowl is a game that combines Taboo, Password, and Charades. Gifted children love complexity.
Retailers Offer Games to Challenge all Intellects
Almost all department stores and general retail establishments offer games, including Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys R Us. The Internet offers a host of games that are continually updated for current content and for current thought on child development philosophies. Many games, puzzles and related gifts can be found on Amazon.
“Days of wonder” is an award-winning game developer that has distributed over 5 million board games in 40 countries and hosted 45 million online games. It offers digital versions of its games in the IOS App Store and on Google Play as well as on its website.
Popular Days of Wonder games include Ticket to Ride (best-selling train game), Small World, and Shadows over Camelot.
Parents should Limit Screen Time
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests limited media exposure for children under 2. For children 2-5, parents should limit exposure to 1 hour a day. After that, parents should decide how their children are reacting to the exercise of watching and/or interacting with video.
The Academy recognizes the value of video but also encourages parents to use reading, music and physical activity to complement these activities. Parents should also be aware of unwanted ads or confusing information (fact vs. fiction) for children.
The Game of Baking Cookies
Making cookies can be a very educational exercise and can be made a game. Children can read a box and see what the recipe requires. They can also be asked to double the recipe and determine what the new requirements might be. This exercise combines reading and math skills as well as real-world application.
In addition to recipes and menus, there are instructions for assembly or installation that can also combine development skills. Thermometers can be used to show conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit. The night sky is there to find and discuss constellations. Why buy a game when you have so many sources of intellectual challenge in your home already?
The next time you go shopping, ask your children to apply the store’s discount percentage to the price being offered. This is a test of mathematical skills and can be made a game by parents. It’s a good example of “one-on-one” time that parents should spend with their children in gaming situations. Not every game needs to be with peers. In addition, personal attention enables parents to provide full explanations and answer all questions.
Good Housekeeping magazine suggests a “family night” so that children can enjoy the emotional support of family in a game-based environment.
Whether you buy a game or allow your children to access other game sources, or participate in family game time, the purpose should be fun and emotional release. If the process is also educational and developmental in some way, that’s all the better.
