Board games make young kids better at math, UC Education scholar suggests study
July 10, 2023
The study developed by UC Education academic Jaime Balladares, suggests that number-based board games help improve counting, addition, and the ability to recognize if one number is greater or less than another.
A study prepared by the UC Education academic Jaime Balladares for scientific journal early years -and picked up by international media such as with the BBC, La Vanguardia, Daily Mail y Forbes– states that the board games based on numbers, such as Monopoly, Othello, and Snakes and Ladders, give young children better performance in math.
The research developed by Professor Balladares contemplated an exhaustive review of 19 investigations published on the subject in the last 23 years, which involved children between the ages of three and nine. These investigations had to meet two criteria. First, to compare the children's skills before and after the game-based intervention, and also to have a control group: a group that plays ruled games versus a group that does not play.
Many people believe that the importance of games is obvious, says Balladares, but the truth is that it is not. “We know that the game is important, but we thought that this was very well documented and reported. From the year 2000 to date we have only found 20 scientific articles, and that is bad news. 19 of these 20 articles were only in mathematical skills”, he indicates.
The use of board games can be considered a strategy with potential effects on basic and complex mathematical skills, says the researcher. Board games can be easily adapted to include learning objectives related to math skills or other fields.
The number-based format of board games, the study reveals, helps improve skills such as counting, addition and the ability to recognize if one number is greater or less than another.
“The evidence showed that there are very few games Scientists validated available for schools with small children, and therefore, it is difficult to venture into comparing between games”, points out Balladares.
“Did you do anything today, or did you just play?”
A study by Professor Balladares, which is in progress, is entitled "Did you do something today or just play?" The phrase is a quote that they collected in a study carried out with 12 kindergarten educators, who were asked which are the hindering and facilitating of the game. “One of the educators told us that phrase, which was what a parent told her when she withdrew her son from school,” explains the teacher.
Local research, says the academic, indicates that children are playing very little in pre-kindergarten y kindergarten, and that the activities that were done before today are being replaced by guide, paper and pencil work.
“For now, the data shows that in the event that a Educator de toddlers or Teacher de Primary If you see yourself in the dilemma of using games or pencil and paper guides, you should opt for the first, because everyone would have a better time and it would not hinder learning, quite the opposite. According to other investigations in the area, the game increases the enjoyment and the involvement of children in the tasks that are proposed to them”, he complements.
“When we talk about cultural change, we say: yes, we must train educators in the game, promote it. But this change must also occur in the proxies. If the parents believe that there is a dichotomy between playing and doing something, then there is a serious problem”, concludes the academic.
Check the coverage law who has had this investigation:
“Family game night may also be sculpting kids' math abilities, study shows,” CNN.
"Board Games Help Young Children Get Better At Math, Study Shows," Forbes.
“Should you play more board games at school?”, BBC.
"Board games improve the mathematical ability of young children", La Vanguardia.
