Play Games, Boost Your Mood!
Photo by Aksel Fristrup on Unsplash
Last weekend some of our therapists took time together outside the office to play board games at Emerald Tavern (which has an amazing tabletop game library and is open to all ages)! It got me thinking about play in all its forms, in and outside the therapy room, and how much benefit there is to scheduling time for games (for kids and grownups). Research strongly supports role playing games, board games and even (some, moderate) video game play in a wide range of mental health boosting capacities: reducing anxiety, increasing social connection, supporting executive functioning skill building, and improving mood. Couples, families and friends (yes, coworkers too!) who game together report high levels of relationship satisfaction. Here are a few of our favorite reasons to game on:
Laughter
You will smile, you will chuckle, you will perhaps end up rolling on the floor. The endorphins you feel from a full belly laugh are deeply therapeutic. Some of our favorite games for laughing with friends, family and colleagues include:
Apples to Apples
2. Collaboration
Board games can be cooperative or competitive, but in groups they almost always engage our collaborative selves. Working together to problem solve, strategize, coordinate, communicate. For kids, cooperative games can be a great way to help them enjoy game play without the competitive pressure that some win or lose games can elicit. A few of our favorite cooperative family games good for kids around ages 4+ include:
Race to the Treasure and other Peaceable Kingdom games
3. Learning about Ourselves and Others
When we play games we get a deeper look at our values, our interests, our intuition, our style. Role playing games can teach us about our moral compass, our dark side, our deepest fantasies. Board games can get us thinking more creatively about who we are, and we can learn more about the inner world of the people we play with.
As kids, our natural state is play. More schools are moving towards playful engagement through games for meaningful learning and sparking creativity. We regularly use play in therapy sessions, through art, movement, board games, card games, and sand tray exploration. If you haven't had an opportunity to really play lately, dust off an old Scattergories or Balderdash set and see how it feels.
Want to play for free? Here's an amazing online game library!
Want some research to back all this up? We got you!
Effects of Board Games on Health
The Effectiveness of Intervention with Board Games
The Power of Boardgames for Multi-domain Learning in Children
BONUS!! What's your therapist's current favorite board game?
Shawn: Photosynthesis
Jessie: Wingspan
Tracy: Dragonimo with kids, One Night Ultimate Werewolf with grownups
Blake: Hive
Alicia: Cribbage