The Importance Of Family Game Night

Family Game Night

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY GAME NIGHT

Game nights are my favorite nights of the week, and while I have three a week (which is way more than the standard person) even one night a week can make a drastic change for you and your family. Family game nights specifically hold several benefits for health, relationships, academics and much more. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be as structured as a “game night” per se just hanging out and sharing time with your family having fun is both a win/win situation. You improve the quality of life of all those involved, and you get to have fun.

SCHEDULING

The reasons to have some form of game night is outstanding and study after study has proven family time and board games have a direct correlation to decreased stress level and better grades in children. While not every family can do the “every Saturday sit-down” as I like to call it that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for your family.

Setting up a schedule isn’t a must, though it does make it easier to actually commit when there is a time slot saved for it. In fact, many families make time for each other throughout the week. Growing up my family was way too sporadic and entwined with our everyday lives to have a family game night but to get around that we would keep games by the dinner table and those who ate dinner together could play a couple of rounds of a card or dice game before continuing with our day. This worked for us, and though it may not be traditional, whatever worlds for your family, do that.

BENEFITS

The risk, which there are none I can think of, out weight the rewards in this case. Family game nights promote stronger family ties, bonding, and trust. They also have been studied to greatly improve social skills and academic prowess in smaller children. In fact, kids learn all kinds of skills playing games such as strong character skills, imagination, and creativity, problem-solving, and communication, just to name a few.

In line with all the above-mentioned benefits, there’s also the growing of family traditions and the overall reduction of stress for all involved. Even if you’re playing a high strung, high stakes game the positive reaction is still phenomenal. There is just something about putting all your mental energy into playing a game that lessens the stress and workload of students and parents alike.

CONCLUSION

To wrap this up, I’ll leave you with this. What is there to lose? There is no reason you can’t do it. Even if you don’t have games there are so many places you can borrow or play with others. Check out local game shops or libraries or call over other family friends. If you’re worried about the time commitment, don’t be. I mean what’s going to be more important to you later, remembering the joy of watching your child win their first game or the post on social media from Bobby-Sue telling you about what she had for lunch today. Our lives and our time with our family is too short to be worried about the future of things, live in the now and have some fun.

Nakoa Davis
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