Why you should play games

Play games for fun, to explore, build friendships and keep your brain sharp throughout your life.

In early childhood, games are an exploration. Games aimed at younger children feature bright colors, shapes and simple goals. Games help children learn to take turns, to follow directions, and cause and effect. Even if the game pieces end up in a mouth or scattered across the floor, it is a new and different experience.

Grade school skills of reading, math and logic open up more games. Luck plays a big part in junior games like Chutes and Ladders, Candyland or Checkers. Learning to handle victory and failure with grace is good for everyone.

Games help young adults learn more about themselves. Complex games might have them work together or compete in new ways. Some games involve themes that might inspire research or thought outside the game. Ticket to Ride^® is a game where you play as a rail baron, laying down the routes that connect the nation. In Terraforming Mars^® you play as a corporation sponsoring projects to grow plants, adapt animals and add heat, oxygen and water to the barren Martian surface. Games can build a social group. You might make a lasting group of friends and find a lifetime hobby.

Adults use games to learn and have fun. Games also encourage an active and flexible mind, which we all want. A lifetime of experience and practice makes senior players exciting and interesting opponents. Consider inviting some fun seniors to join your games.

You can check out board and lawn games in the library's Red Carpet room.