With the lockdown extending and we are spending more time at home.

So the question arises, ‘What do we do the whole day at home?’
“Board games.”

Playing ‘ Board games ‘ with your family members or friends is a great way to spend quality time at home.
Board games are great fun and also helps us stimulate our minds.
Board games will also help you learn the moral values that are essential to lead a happy life.

Here is a list of 5 valuable and fun board games you can play at home.

1. ChesS

2 players can play this game.
The chessboard is set up like a battlefield, with the white and black army.
The purpose of the game is to use the queen, horses, knights’ elephants and pawns to save your king and check-mate the opponent’s king.
It involves lots of strategic thinking and observation.
It is a fun game that makes you think and have patience.
The Chessboard game fits well with the proverb “think before you leap”.

2. CAROM

It a board game which can be played by 2 to 4 people.
In carom to there are black and white coins. There is one red coin, which is the queen.
A striker is used to strike these coins so that they reach the pockets at the 4 corners of the board.
It is a game, which requires good eye and hand coordination, to strike the striker in the required direction.
It is a game of patience and coordination.

3. Word Scrabble

Scrabble can be played by 2 to 4 people.
Scrabble is a board-and-tile game, where the players participate in making words with lettered tiles on the square board.
The words spelt out by letters on the tiles should join like words in a crossword puzzle.
Players draw seven tiles from a pool bag of tiles at the start and reload their supply after each turn.
Words are scored by totalling up the point values of their letters, multiplied by any of the squares that may be covered, such as double letter, triple letter, double word, and triple word.
The person with the highest score wins.
Scrabble helps you learn new words and their spellings. It hence increases your creativity. It also stimulates your brain cells to construct or use letters to create words.

4. Snakes and ladders

Snakes and ladders is a simple game, which can be played by 2 to 4 people.

The board has 1 to 100 numbers marked on the squares.

The dice are rolled out and the player moves his/ her piece according to the number on the dice.

The person may get a ladder to climb up, or a snake to go down again.

The player who reaches the 100 square mark is the winner.

This game helps you in Mathematics as it is the game of addition and subtraction.

5. Ludo

Ludo can be played by 2 to 4 people.
The game starts only when the player throws the highest number of dice, which is 6. Only then can the player start moving his / her piece from the home circle.

With each throw, the player chooses which piece to move. The piece moves in a clockwise direction around the path given by the number thrown.
If no piece can move according to the number thrown, play passes to the next player.
The player who moves all 4 pieces into the home triangle first, is the winner.

Valuable lessons we learn from Board games are :

Patience

Winning any board game requires tolerance and plan.
There is a proverb in Hindi related to patience, which says, ” Patience will give you a sweet outcome/ result.”

Strengthens Relationships

Playing board games with friends or family is an entertaining way to spend quality time.
While playing board games the players understand various aspects like cooperation, collaboration, organization and so on. This helps to strengthen the relationships.

Happiness

Board games activate the discharge of endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s “happy” chemicals.
Happy hormones improve the subconscious mind and the conscious mind functions.
Happiness makes a person feel more content, cheerful, and compassionate.

Brain Function

Board games make the area of the brain parts activated.
Planning skills and coordination skills are required to win board games.
The part of the brain that looks into cognitive skills like decision making and problem-solving gets activated.

Mental Health

During the “lockdown phase,” lots of people have undergone mental stress. Overthinking and negative thoughts disturbs the mental health of a person.
While playing board games, the mind is busy in focusing on the game.
As the negative thoughts are not in the mind, it calms the mind.
It releases stress and makes a person concentrate and refresh their mind.
As the board games help you connect with family and friends it helps keep the mind healthy and stress–free.

So, now when you are bored at home, play these 5 board games.

It surely will refresh your childhood memories.