Sometimes I notice recurrent themes in my Twitter feed and start bookmarking them.  This morning, I saw a few tweets related to using board games for learning, and thought I would share them with you.  The first one is from Maria Copete (@copeteworld), who uses Monopoly to teach her students about American Capitalism.  Just in case you are unable to view the tweet I’ve embedded below, she shared a great Google Slide show to go along with the lesson here.

@JBuckLearns @maineteacher @legitkfrauey @StacyBrownBISD @SofiaGeorgelos Here you go! Feel free to modify as needed for your classes: https://t.co/5yDogoOHV3

— 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒆 ☕️ (@copeteworld) January 28, 2020

In one of  the responses to the tweet, Sofia Georgelos (@SofiaGeorgelos) shared a document that she uses with the Game of Life, where she asks her students to change the rules to reflect Communism instead of Capitalism.

Thank you! And here’s the link to my handout for the Game of Life: https://t.co/I2aa4pUGYY

— Sofia Georgelos (@SofiaGeorgelos) January 28, 2020

For those of you who want to encourage families to spend more time playing games together, I like this idea from Todd Nesloney (@TechNinjaTodd), where he mentions that his school partnered with a toy store to donate games to be played that evening, and sold them at the event.

One of my favorite activities we did was a Family Game Night. We partnered with a local educational toy story and they donated games for us to play with families. Then they sold them on the spot if you liked the game.#WeLeadTX #KidsDeserveIt #TellYourStory pic.twitter.com/RQSWjf0KCT

— Todd Nesloney (@TechNinjaTodd) January 27, 2020

Whether focused on specific topics, such as economic systems, or to develop skills such as strategic thinking and problem solving, board games can serve as opportunities for engaging students and bringing communities together.