Playing games is an easy and excellent way to spend unhurried, enjoyable time together. As an added bonus, board games are also rich in learning opportunities. Games don't need to be overly academic to be educational, however. A game like apples to apples is fun and educational. Just by virtue of playing them, board games can teach important social skills, such as communicating verbally, sharing, waiting, taking turns, and enjoying interaction with others. Board games can foster the ability to focus, and lengthen your child's attention span by encouraging the completion of an exciting, enjoyable game. Even simple board games like the game apples to apples offer meta-messages and life skills: Your luck can change in an instant - for the better or for the worse. The message inherent in board games is: never give up. Just when you feel despondent, you might hit the jackpot and ascend up high, if you stay in the game for just a few more moves.
Board games have distinct boundaries. Living in a complex society, children need clear limits to feel safe. By circumscribing the playing field - much as tennis courts and football fields will do later - board games can help your child weave his or her wild and erratic side into a more organized, mature, and socially acceptable personality. After all, staying within the boundaries (not intruding on others' space, for example) is crucial to leading a successful social and academic life. The apples to apples game is a great example of the fun and learning. Don't judge a book by its cover, or an appealing little card game by its box. Apples to apples game is a game of comparisons that is receiving rave customer reviews and was a national competition winner with Mensa, the high-IQ organization. This simple game is designed to be played by 4 to 10 people, making it a good choice for parties or family groups. It comes with a card tray and two sets of cards: red apples and green apples. The red apple cards name a person, place, thing, or event, and the green apple cards feature a characteristic (from adorable to zany). The judge (who rotates on each turn) reads a green card, and all the players have to slap down their choice of red apple cards for that characteristic. Some juicy choices and comparisons are bound to emerge--along with some fruitful lessons in famous people and events. It's an apple barrel full of laughs. With apples to apples game each player has a hand full of noun cards. A judge turns over an adjective card, and players lay the card(s) from their hand which most closely matches the adjective played. The judge then collects the cards and chooses which he/she thinks is the best match. Players can argue for their cards to be selected, but the judge (who changes each round) reigns supreme, he may choose the funniest match, the exact opposite or whatever tickles his fancy at the time.
On the surface it doesn't sound like that much fun, but I think the game apples to apples shines when the word is 'spooky' and people lay everything from 'Democrats' to 'Charlton Heston'. Playing games like apples to apples has benefits for the elder crowd as well as children. In the New England Journal of Medicine study, researchers looked at leisure activities of seniors over a 20-year period to see whether they developed dementia. The study also examined the result of frequently challenging the brain by doing crossword puzzles, playing board games or cards, reading, writing for pleasure and playing musical instruments. They also looked at the physical activities' affect on the brain, such as tennis or golf, swimming, dancing and housework. They found a reduced incidence of dementia among the people who participated in reading, playing board games, playing musical instruments and dancing. And the researchers found that people who engage in the activities were more frequently less likely to develop dementia. The engaging play of apples to apples game stimulates the brain and helps ward off dementia.