Let the Games Begin

For Christmas this year I thought about getting a Wii. Fortunately that was not possible (I could not believe I was one of "those parents" getting caught up in the Toy Fad Frenzy) I say fortunate because it not having a game system lead us to explore other game options like Board games, improvised games like Obstacle Course, Living room relay, and Scavenger Hunts , and some computer games (Online puzzles, Kid Pix, and Some others). The plus over video games is that we connect as family better than I think we may have with a video game system, also in addition to general entertainment there is a lot of learning going on. Some of the games we have are educational in nature so there is some intended learning built in Out of this world has a bunch of Space and Earth facts and practices counting skills since you need to move the number of spaces that you roll with the dice. Aside from the intended learning's built into the game there are also the learning's that come from playing any game such as: following directions, playing by the rules, playing fair, being a good winner and loser.
So were having fun as a family and sneak in a little social and cognitive learning while were at it.