Games to Simulate Life Skills
The most valuable type of learning is called "experiential learning," in which a person is educated through their successes and failures. A safe way of exposing children to experiences that will instill life lessons is through the use of games. Games are fun and more readily accepted by children, and adults, than lectures or reading. The games are much more controllable and safe than real life experiences.
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Types
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Perhaps the most obvious game that simulates real-life experiences is the appropriately named Life. During the game of Life, participants are allowed to choose whether to go to college or not, pick an occupation, decide to get married, opt to have children and learn the consequences of choices made earlier in the game. Not all choices are obviously geared to win, however. Though a college graduate may earn more than his noncollege opponent, that is not always the case. Added to that, there are life experiences which, though they do not impart money, affect the final score at the end. Such experiences as writing a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize or inventing an indispensable gadget are all possible for all players, regardless of education.
Effects
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Payday is a board game that teaches children how to budget their money so that they can continue to move along a board that simulates a calendar month. Expenses such as rent, hospital bills and car repairs are interspersed with getting raises, finding money or other positive random events. Gameplay is open-ended, leading to very long sessions if the children adapt to the rules quickly. Through Payday, children are taught how saving money instead of spending it can be fun and help them "win" in real life.
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Features
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Another board game that can teach important life lessons is Clue. In the game, children must use deduction and logical leaps to solve the mystery of the murder of Mr. Boddy. With multiple rooms, weapons and suspects, the game is never the same twice, which prevents guessing. In the real world, deduction is an important skill for investigators, archaeologists, police officers and historians. Clue essentially prompts children to think critically about the crime scene and the evidence they have available to them to be successful.
Considerations
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Role-playing games also encourage imagination and math skills, build vocabulary, teach history and mythology and encourage play acting. These skills can inspire a career as a writer, a computer programmer or accountant, an English teacher, an historian or archaeologist, or as an actor or politician, respectively. Psychologists suggest that play acting, such as that through role-playing games, can assist a child in acquiring the tools for dealing with real-life situations such as disappointment, frustration, victory and success.
Potential
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Some games do not simulate life skills so much as open up a child's mind to possible career opportunities. Play doctor's kits and the board game Operation may inspire a child to become a physician, surgeon or nurse. Monopoly, on the other hand, may inspire a child to become a real estate broker or investor. Other life skills such as mathematics are taught in card games such as Uno, rummy, gin, hearts and spades. Vocabulary can be expanded with Scrabble, Boggle or Upwords. Some software programs even teach children other languages through games, including Spanish, French and Chinese.
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