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Developing Problem Solving Skills in Children by Learning Checkers and Chess

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john

on June 13, 2009

in Articles, For Parents & Teachers and Tips

When young children discover the games of checkers and chess they have a head-start in developing their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Problem solving games like checkers and chess have many advantages over other types of games since they are very socially interactive (unlike video computer games that are especially popular these days.)

Having children play problem solving games like checkers and chess is a fantastic way for them to have a closer look at how their decision making determines the outcome of the game.

To convince children that they should try playing the games of checkers and chess, you might want to encourage them by suggesting that these games are a form of combat, instead of just simple game pieces and a checkered board.

The “Stop and Think” strategy of seeing things should be implemented at an early age so that children at all developmental levels can build the foundation for a lifetime of positive problem solving and critical thinking developmental skills.

Critical thinking and problem solving skills are vital at any age, and many family therapists would agree, if more people used the stop and think principal, fewer marriages would end in divorce.

A useful strategy for teaching your children problem solving skills includes the following five steps:

1. Identify the problem and have them finish the sentence; “The problem that I’m having is …..”
2. Consider 3 possible ways to remedies the problems with solutions.
3. Spent one minute for each of these options and decided if they are good or bad decisions.
4. Out of the three possible solutions, decide which one is your best option.
5. Employ your chosen option to the situation and see if it is successful.

A simple way to teach the five step strategy to young children is to apply it to the game of checkers. That way the decisions that they make in regard to the checker moves will in no way have any consequence in the real world.

The following exercise of allowing the young student to actually make the entire checker board moves for instance, before any opponent can make a counter move. Instill in them to always refer back to the old adage; “Consider all of your options.” that type of play can prove to be beneficial by removing any anxiety they my face in a real game or real life situation.

• The first move for the young player to consider will be to choose one move after considering three potential ones.
• Make that chosen move. Once they have committed to that move have them ask allowed; “Was that a smart move or not the best choice?” If the decision is made that it was not the best choice, have them make another move.
• Once again, make that chosen move, only this time have them ask themselves; “Now that I have committed to this move, what are the options that my opponent has to counter my move?”

Its best to have the kids think in terms of considering all of their options and to slow down and really think about the consequences of these moves, feeling free to go ahead change that initial move to one that they feel is more beneficial.

A suggestion to parents might be try this critical thinking exercise with your children at home by playing the game of checkers with them and allowing them the freedom of changing their moves even after they’ve taken their hand off of the checker game piece. This training exercise is best employed if the child is age 6 or older so the full grasp the concept of critical decision making. After each game if you closely observe, you’ll see the child’s decision making skills develop and become more refined.

Now the next step is to bridge the gap between the game of checkers and real-world scenarios using the terminology from the game, Like asking; “Is this the best option or maybe we should re-think our options.”

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Have a Wonderful Time in Wonderburg

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Wonderburg Game Download
Wonderburg Strategy Guide Download

on May 7, 2009

in For Kids & Teens, For Parents & Teachers, Game Reviews and Reviews

Buy properties and fix them up as rentals either for sale or rent in the game; Wonderburg. Your goal is to move into a village neighborhood that’s encountering some sort of problem like a giant who often steps on the house and subsequently requires them to be rebuilt or pirate ghosts that continuously cast spell on the houses requiring a witch’s service to remove the spell.

To improve the well being of the citizens (your tenants) you might choose to make contributions that improve the overall health of everyone. One example of this is to build a mill so that there will be no food shortage in your village.

To be successful in this in this time managed strategy game requires patience and planning so that you are able to both maintain and purchase new properties for rental income and basically buy up the neighborhood. As with any investment, the return on your investment must be put aside for periodic repairs and maintenance of your rental properties.

As your rental income adds up, you have the option of upgrading you existing homes and charging more rent or buying empty lots with your acquired rental income. When you decide to build new dwellings they can be anything from a shack to a mansion. The more extravagant the home the more costly it is to build since you’ll need to purchase more building materials. The up-side is you can chare a higher amount for the rent.

If you decide that you want to build a house or make repairs then materials must be ordered. The materials are usually expressed in units and are charged accordingly.

You also have the choice to sell any property you own anytime you like and can decide whether or not you want to accept the offered price made by the potential buyer or wait for a higher offer.

After an allotted period of time, the game pauses and you are given a score which is determined by the money you have earned from your tenants as well as the speed in which you’ve acquired the properties.

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Tournament

Published

Free downloadable Strategy Games

on February 27, 2009

in For Parents & Teachers, Games & Activities and Indoor Games

The playing board This is a game of strategy made popular in Britain during the Nineteenth Century. In modern times the game is still played in certain circles due t- the interesting possibilities in which t- defeat your opponent. This is basically a duel between tw- Queens which each have supporting armies.

- Players: 2
- Game pieces: (1) six-sided board containing 91 spaces laid out in a grid.
- 14 game pieces, players have different colored pieces. 6 soldiers for each player
- There is als- a Queen game piece for both sides.
- The space in the center of the board is considered the throne.

Once straws are drawn t- see wh- begins first, turns are taken by each player moving their game pieces (which includes both the soldiers and the Queen) and this is done throughout the perimeter of the six sided board. Your ultimate goal is t- get your Queen t- the throne located at the center of the game board with her soldier surrounding her on all sides.

Few words about rules. All game pieces including the Queen are allowed be moved in the direction of the game board’s center and is allowed t- be moved either laterally or diagonally int- an adjacent free space. In this game you are not allowed t- jump over any other pieces.

You are only allowed t- move your game piece backwards if you are in danger of being ‘Imprisoned.’ Imprisonment happens when you become trapped between tw- opposing game pieces. If the queen and other game pieces are in danger of becoming imprisoned, the queen must move from danger first and then you have the choice which game piece you wish t- move next.

T- win the game place your Queen inside the center square with all your soldiers surrounding her. If the soldiers are in position without the Queen, you lose.

This is a game of pure strategy since the moves are quite simple and game pieces are never removed from the table. A way that you can hinder the progress of advancing opponent is t- imprison one of his pieces and even better if the Queen is among them. If you should see the opportunity t- imprison, it is best t- always take full advantage of it.

T- increase the complexity of the game, add the following rule when imprisoning an opposing Queen, the player has the option of sending the Queen anywhere on the game board.

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The Hus

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Free downloadable rids strategy games

on February 18, 2009

in For Parents & Teachers, Games & Activities and Indoor Games

The Hus Kids Game This is a game of South African origin and is similar to the game Awele. Ancient game boards made of stone have been found in many locations.

1. A game board is created by placing four rows of egg carton each with eight pockets and filling them each with beans. Participants in this game are only allowed to move beans on their side of the game board.

2. Straws are drawn by all players to see who gets to go first. The starting player begins by emptying one of his egg carton pockets of beans and moving in a clockwise direction, puts these beans one by one, in other pockets. The player will lose a turn if he should end up in an empty pocket.

3. The player will capture the beans of a pocket if the players last distributed bean is placed there and then will continue with the deposit of the beans.

4. Should a player deposit his last bean in one of the pockets on the inside row, he has the opportunity to take his opponents beans that are inside as well, the player has the option of taking beans anywhere in this row.

5. Once the player has gathered all of his beans, he once again deposits them in the egg carton pockets beginning with where he made the last deposit.

6. It is required that a player make his first deposit of beans in a pocket that contains at least two beans. The winner is the player who captures all the beans of his opponent.

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Awele

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Downloadable strategy games, free downloads!!!

on February 18, 2009

in For Parents & Teachers, Games & Activities and Indoor Games

awele-kids-game Awele is a strategic game that originated in Africa and can be played outdoors with the game drawn in the sand or anywhere with an actual game board.

1. The game board is constructed by taking a regular one dozen egg carton and placing 4 beans in each of the pockets. Players are each assigned a pocket which is located on 1 side.

2. Players in this game will take turns removing all of their beans from one of their holes in the carton while moving the action in a counter-clockwise direction redistributing them 1 by 1 into other pockets.

3. When a player distributes his last bean and it ends up in another player’s pocket which already contains 2-3 beans, the player with this last bean will seize those beans as well as the beans in the preceding pocket. Play continues like this until they have made a complete revolution of the game table.

4. Each player must deposit beans throughout the game board, with the first pocket to remain empty. If a player’s beans are all gone, an opposing player will offer to give him one. If this proves ineffective, all players will pickup their beans and the game ends. A count is taken and the player with the most beans at the end of the game wins.

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Seega

Published

Downloadable strategy games. Free downloads!

on February 18, 2009

in For Parents & Teachers, Games & Activities and Indoor Games

Seega is a strategic game that originated in Egypt and can be played outdoors with the game board drawn in the sand or anywhere with a game board drawn on cardboard.

1. A game board is drawn on a sheet of cardboard and straws are drawn by each player to determine who begins the game first. Each player will place 2 game chips on the board with every turn.

2. The space located at the center of the game board needs to stay un-occupied. The game is started by the player who places the last 2 game pieces. Game pieces are only allowed to a space immediately adjacent to the space where the game piece sits. Diagonal moves are prohibited.

3. An opponent can capture a player’s game chips by surrounding them on 2 sides. If a player is in a position to capture the chips of an opponent, he must do so. After each capture of an opponent’s chips, that player takes another turn.

4. If a game piece should occupy the center position of the game board, it is free from capture. If on the game board, all pieces of a player are in a blocked position, the opposing player is allowed to take another turn.

5. Once all of a player’s game pieces have been captured the game is over.

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Ati Dada

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Downloadable strategy games

on February 18, 2009

in For Parents & Teachers, Games & Activities and Indoor Games

Ati Dada is a strategic game that originated in Africa and can be played outdoors with the game board drawn in the sand or anywhere with a drawn game board drawn on cardboard.

1. A game board is drawn on a piece of cardboard and each player begins with taking ten sticks as game pieces to start the action. Each player will mark his sticks in some way to identify them from the other player’s.

2. Players each take turns in forming and creating an intersection with one of their sticks or at the corner of a formed square. You’re attempting to create a line with three sticks placed in a row.

3. When a player has formed a line with three of their sticks, the opponent’s sticks are removed from the game board. In the event that all the sticks are in play on the game board, players take turns strategically moving their pieces in an attempt to align all three to form a line. One stick is only allowed to be moved per turn. It is forbidden to move the same stick on the same line twice in a row.

4. The player left with only 2 sticks loses the game.

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Tablut

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on February 18, 2009

in For Parents & Teachers, Games & Activities and Indoor Games

This game is of Scandinavian origin where the Muscovites and Swedes find themselves engaged in battle.

1. One of the game pieces is to be marked as the king and then all of the pieces are placed on the game board. Chess pieces can be used in place of traditional game pieces if desired.

2. Game pieces are allowed to be moved in both a horizontal and straight ahead direction and pieces can be moved for as many spaces as the player sees fit. In order to capture your opponent’s game pieces, you must move your game pieces in a way, as to “sandwich” their piece between two of yours. If a player should happen to move one of his game pieces between two of your game pieces then that piece is safe from capture.

3. The king is seated on his throne, also known as his “konakis” and is located in the center area where only the king is allowed.

4. The Swedes will win if the king manages to reach the edge of the game board. The muscovites are the victors if the king should find himself captured.

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Turkish Checkers

Published

Downloadble board games. Free downloads!

on February 18, 2009

in For Parents & Teachers, Games & Activities and Indoor Games

A variation of one of the world’s most popular games: Checkers.

1. One player chooses a game piece color then both players place their checker pieces on opposite ends of the game board facing each other. Turns are taken between each player to move their game pieces one space at a time.

2. Game pieces can be moved forward and backwards and to the left and right. You capture the other player’s game piece by jumping over it and landing on an unoccupied space.

3. It is possible to make a series of jumps if your opponent’s game pieces are lined up properly. If you can land your game piece on the last in your opponent’s end, this piece becomes a king.

4. Once a piece becomes a king, it can be moved however many spaces the player wants. Once you take all of your opponent’s pieces you win the game.

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