Here you’ll find resources for getting kids into games, or for getting more out of games.
Educators & Parents
Many of these initial resources are links to articles and blogs about the impact of games. We’ll share ideas for how to use and extend games in clubs, classrooms, home school, or around the kitchen table. As we build this out, we’ll curate these resources to highlight more concrete plans and approaches. If you share your ideas, we can highlight them.
This site by librarian John Pappas offers a number of resources for librarians who want to incorporate board games into their collection. There are links to his initial articles on the About page. His Board Game Night 101 offers a solid guide for running a board game night in libraries and elsewhere.
Do you feel like “serious” gamers speak a different language? Don’t know a meeple from a mini? Check out this glossary on King Doxsee’s blog (King’s GameNight). Is this how gamers around you talk? Are there words or phases that are missing?
We are posting this link because it is the type of helpful resources that bounce around the Internet and make games easier to play. The polished link is where it was discussed on Geek Native. The buzz may have started with a Reddit thread by the sheet’s creators (u/inuyasharuls and u/axelles). They don’t claim that this is research based, just that this is what worked for them. What works for you and what would you like to see if we created one (we have some ideas) for a free download?
The American Library Association (“ALA”) Games and Gaming Round Table has this excellent Free Games Directory. Check these out, but also familiarize yourself with the Games & Gaming Round Table of the ALA. Librarians provide community resources and these folks are constantly looking for ways to do that with games. Keep an eye out for International Games Week each November.
The librarians at Campbell University offer this guide to Board Games as an Educational Tool. Brief as it is, it offers some links as a starting point to additional academic support for the use of games in education.
Just what it sounds like. This might be the resource for someone who loves 100-page instruction manuals and working their way through lists.
At Father Geek, “We believe games are an excellent medium to teach children (and adults) important social and cognitive skills. In essence, the game becomes the medium of the lesson and the game play the teacher. By participating in the games with children, parents and educators can further support the skills being taught, share in a positive experience, and obtain a deeper personal connection with all those involved.” This blog includes a list of “Geek Skills,” that we all need and in its reviews of games by “new players, non-gamers, casual players, and gaming elitists,” they identify which of these cognitive and social skills are best represented.