Manipulative Board Games ... A Must!
We all know about board games but what are manipulative board games? Simply put, they are games that utilize objects to help us to explore concepts and solve problems in a hands-on manner.
Because manipulatives are tangible objects, it makes it easier to get our heads around abstract ideas. Plastic, paper, or wood -- manipulatives can be constructed from just about any material -- and they can take any form, such as cubes, blocks, tiles, or miniature buildings.
The difference between simple play and activities using manipulatives is profound. In play, there are no rules; whereas in play involving manipulatives, there are specific rules that have to be followed. And in following a set of rules, games involving manipulatives allow players to use objects to help solve specific problems and reach certain goals.
Board games are a great example of manipulatives at work. Players find the solution to the game, in part, because they can actually touch and rearrange the game pieces -- quite different than to being only able to think through the problem.
In real life, manipulatives can be represented by models such as those commonly used by architects and automobile designers. Same principle.
At Family Games America FGA, we strongly believe that learning should co-exist with play. Our award-winning Tantrix? game, which can be played alone or with others, is a terrific example.
The challenge of Tantrix? is to arrange a series of hexagonal tiles, each with three color tracks, so that the tracks form a complete line or closed loop. The trick is, you can only use one color, and all the intercepting colors have to match.
Sounds easy, right? Not so fast! Tantrix? can actually be quite tricky, alone or in a group. It's one reason it's such a popular game. You can watch how Tantrix is played by viewing our YouTube video here.
Cathedral?, another of FGA’s popular award-winning board games is a duel of strategy where the manipulatives are represented by miniature medieval buildings, made of wood. Each building occupies between one and five square spaces on the board. Part of the goal of Cathedral? is to build territories. The second goal is to maximize your space on the board, therefore limiting your opponent’s ability to do the same.
Again, the concept is quite simple, but, once again, not as easy as it looks! Watch a cool video on YouTube here.
I’ll be posting a series of weekly posts on this and other related subjects. Please feel free to like and add your comments in the space below.
In the meantime, we at Family Games America, hope you found this article informative. We invite you to check out our line of games, puzzles, and toys, by visiting our website at www.familygamesamerica.com