Cait Curley, school psychologist and founder at Never Board Learning, joins the podcast to talk a little Wordle, her belief that almost all of school can be fun and games, and the academic power of gamification.
Most of us acknowledge that children learn through play, but the power of games continues well beyond elementary school. Middle schoolers and high schoolers build creativity and problem solving skills through playing games (especially board games) along their entire educational journey.
The Basics of Play-Based Learning
Play-based learning simply means learning through play. Play-based learning, or gameschooling, is a type of learning that is essential for a student’s development.
“The research has shown that not only does play benefit the whole child, meaning physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development, but it doesn't end at a certain point,” Cait says. “There's no play developmental window.”
Cait’s speciality is learning through board games and card games. As a homeschool parent, educator, and psychologist, she advocates for families and classrooms to incorporate game play into their academics.
Game Play Frequency
The beauty of games is that they can be as formal or informal as your academic plan. The Curley family plays games at least once a day, and even intermittent gameplay can strengthen a child's development.
“When you are playfully and joyfully learning those facts and the information, the conversations you have, in the play that you're having together, stick more than they would otherwise,” Cait says.
Her boys went through an obsessive play phase with Memoir ‘44, a World War Two-themed board game, and absorbed and retained an incredible amount of knowledge about the WWII era.
“It's because they were interested in it when it was presented to them,” she says.
Game Play Theory
Two tiers of learning occur when playing a board game. On one level, you are learning to play the game itself. On another level, you are developing transferable skills in logic, inference, probability, language arts, and trial-and-error, among many other strategies.
Playing Wordle, for example, is educational. Not only does Wordle teach you to play Wordle itself (the importance of the first word guess and likely letter combinations), but it also teaches valuable language arts knowledge that comes from conversing about language (vocabulary, usage, and letter frequency).
Getting Serious With Games
Aside from the fact that play-based learning is developmentally appropriate at every academic stage, it is also especially socially appropriate with preteens and teens.
To counter the academic pressures of junior high and high school with family games is “magic,” Cait says.
As a school psychologist, she played games with older children in order to create emotional rapport. With eyes and hands focused on the game pieces and mind and speech engaged with another person, the game posture fosters conversation and confidentiality.
Play-based learning, much like education itself, can be a long process. “But once you've been doing it for a while, you see countless examples of how your children have learned skills,” Cait says.
What game should your family play? Any game a student is interested in outweighs an educational-specific game. That goes for video games, too.
Connecting with a child about their interests, whether that’s Scrabble or Call of Duty, shows them that their interests are valuable and important. That validation alone is probably enough to develop your children’s eagerness in more game play.
Action Steps for Parents and Educators
1 — Learn More About Gamification
If you aren’t yet persuaded that games matter, Cait recommends reading Stuart Brown’s book Play.
If you’re a classroom educator, get in touch with the support staff in your school system. Speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and school psychologists are already using games and will want to help you do it, too.
2 — Get Some Games and Play Them
Cait recommends numerous games and resources that range in complexity and duration. Here are just a few:
- Classic games: Cards (check out the Bicycle website), Monopoly, Sorry
- Word games: Scrabble, Bananagrams, Wordle, Word on the Street
- Tabletop games: Cloaked Cats, Memoir ‘44, Dominion
While many games are highly affordable with a long “shelf life,” some can be more selective in expense or playable niche. Cait suggests trying a game before you buy it and to invest with years of play in mind.
Looking for more game ideas? Check out our STEM Gift Guide, a list of educational and challenging gifts for your student, from the instructors and mathematicians at Art of Problem Solving.
3 — Stay Curious
When adults model enthusiasm toward play, children learn to value games, too.
“Pursue your own interests,” Cait says to parents. “Even if you fail — especially if you fail — and have fun or a sense of humor doing it, you're teaching your child how to pursue curiosity and lifelong learning. That's the end game no matter what type of education you're doing right now.”
Guest Links
Recommended Resources
- A library card. Your public library is one of the best places to ignite curiosity and dive down rabbit holes. The library contains more than "just" books, too.
- Open-ended toys. The best toys are the ones that are open to interpretation: blocks, dress-up clothes, puppets or figurines, art supplies, and the legendary cardboard box!
- Community support. Find others who embrace play-based learning. You’re invited to join the fun in the Never Board Learning community.
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This episode was brought to you by Art of Problem Solving, where students train to become the great problem solvers of tomorrow.
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