I have up to now manged to avoid the whole games console requests and have always stuck with child specific tablets, although the eldest is starting to take an interest in his older friends consoles so i feel this is about to change, maybe Santa will get a reprieve this year but i suspect next year he will need to dig a bit deeper!
In my attempt to distract from technology i have always spent time playing board games with the kids, although not always a pleasure with a child that hates to lose, however it has improved over time as well as helping to teach them to take turns or work together. Those times of family time sat round the table with no other distractions can be precious and can be about so much more than just passing time and can be multi generational so all the family can join in, which is especially important at this time of year and creates lasting family memories.
As well as at home i use board games in daily play in the playschool, they are a useful tool in helping to develop the children's social skills by teaching them about turn taking, working together, mathematical development by learning colour or number recognition and often is a time when we can work one to one on speech and language development, all important development stages in the early years framework.
Drumond Park have recently done some research and it shows there is a boom in table top game sales, it is quite an interesting read if you would like to take a look.
Table-top games sales set to soar this Christmas
Research reveals parents are planning
to spend the festive season – and beyond – sitting down and enjoying some good
old family fun with their children. The market for table-top games is booming
as ‘quality time’ becomes more precious than ever before.
This Christmas, children may well be cutting
down on the time they spend with their electronic games in favour of something
infinitely more precious – play time with their parents! Perhaps it’s the insecurities
that Brexit has bred, or the unsettled state of our society), but it seems that
a huge proportion of parents want to create opportunities to engage with their offspring
- in a way that’s entertaining, relaxing and meaningful for all the family,
young and old alike.
A
predicted 51% increase over last year in the purchase of table-top games (which include traditional
board games and action games) among parents of 4-9 year-olds may well be on the
way.
The prediction has emerged from new
independent research carried out this Autumn on behalf of Drumond Park, one of
the UK’s largest producers of table-top games for all ages. A total of 1,000
respondents, all parents of 4-9 year-olds, answered an anonymous questionnaire
online.
The research confirms that on average
this year, parents have bought or are planning to buy at least three table-top
games for their family to enjoy. This is on top of the six games they already
own, on average. The number of new purchases is likely to reach a peak average of
3.37 for parents of six-year-olds, a massive 65% increase over 2015.
This is surely an indication that
parents are looking for a return to more traditional ways of interacting with
their children. One where whole families and multi-generational groups of
friends can all sit down and enjoy the fun and laughter of playing games
together.
Mary Wood, Marketing Director at
Drumond Park, says: “We are hopeful that such a quantum leap in purchase
intentions may indicate a fundamental shift in the mindset of parents. Perhaps
they feel that electronic games, while very popular with their children, don’t
bring the family together in the same full-on way that a rumbustious table-top game
can. The entertainment and social engagement value of games is infinite, and we
believe UK parents are acknowledging that in their Christmas buying list.”
Emotional
bonding
Enthusiasm for table-top games may
well be rooted in parents’ own experiences as children. They recall happy times
when their parents joined in with
them, and took a genuine interest in things their offspring loved to do.
Pressures on today’s parents leave
them little spare time to be active participants in their children’s pastimes,
but a table-top game offers a perfect opportunity to relax with the kids. A
game doesn’t take much time to play, all family members can take part together
and, while everyone’s attention is focused on the game, the sense of emotional
bonding is palpable – even when there are the inevitable arguments about whose
turn it is, or who has ‘bagged’ the favourite playing piece.
But the main reason parents want more table-top
games than ever before is because their children just love them. In previous
independent research, undertaken by Drumond Park in May of this year, 86% of
4-9-year-old boys and girls said playing table-top games is one of their
favourite forms of play. For girls only, the figure is 87%, while almost 90% of
6-year-olds of both sexes rate table-top games over other forms of play.
Tellingly, three-quarters of children
agreed that playing table-top games meant they could spend more time with their
parents. So it’s not just the adults whose happiness quotient goes up when the
family plays together.
“There’s no doubt about it… whatever
difficulties our harried 21st century lives throw at us, table-top
games are a perfect outlet for good old family fun” says Mary.
I am currently running two competitions on my page, one to win one of Drumond Parks Crazy Claw game - ends fri 25th Nov
http://www.mumswinehq.com/2016/11/review-and-give-away-crazy-claw-game.html
The other is for one of the hilarious Stoopido games ending Fri 2 Dec
http://www.mumswinehq.com/2016/11/review-and-giveaway-stoopido-hilarious.html
http://www.mumswinehq.com/2016/11/review-and-give-away-crazy-claw-game.html
The other is for one of the hilarious Stoopido games ending Fri 2 Dec
http://www.mumswinehq.com/2016/11/review-and-giveaway-stoopido-hilarious.html
