Have you and your kids played any cooperative games?
These are games where the goal is not to determine one clear winner, but to solve a problem, defeat the enemy, beat the timer or face some other challenge as a group.
Cooperative games are great for teaching important social skills, of course. It’s good to practice working as a team and helping each other out. It’s also valuable to have some games in your collection that are fun and challenging but don’t emphasize flat-out competition.
One very popular source of cooperative games, which can be found in lots of different homeschooling catalogs, is the company Family Pastimes. They produce dozens of simple cooperative games for kids in a variety of themes. Our favorite games from Family Pastimes include The Secret Door and Caves and Claws.
The Secret Door is a memory-style game where the players work as a group to find all the matches before the odd-cards-out (in this case, clock faces) come up and the group runs out of time. It’s a great way to work on memory and visual skills without the pressure of making more matches than your siblings. Each match that is made is cheered by everyone, no matter who makes it.
Caves and Claws is a game about exploration. The players each turn over a card – if it is an artifact, it goes back to the tent and is added to your collection. If it’s a danger – like the Creeping Claw or the Inky Scary Darkness – it must be placed blocking a pathway, and none of the players can use that pathway until someone uses a remedy card to dispel it (such fun to dispel the Inky Scary Darkness with the Laser Lantern!). The tricky part is that the whole team only has a limited number of remedies for the entire game, so the group must choose carefully where to place dangers and when to dispel them. This game really encourages discussion and decision-making skills!
Although the Family Pastimes games and similar games for young children are fairly popular among homeschoolers, not as many people are aware that there are cooperative games available for older players – adults too!
One of our favorite cooperative games for all ages is Hoopla, which is by the Cranium company. In this game, players take turns giving clues to the cards in their hand – but the way you give clues is determined by the roll of a die. You might need to Cloodle the answer (drawing clues), use the Soundstage (acting, as in charades, and sound effects are permitted), give a Tweener (giving verbal hints about the size: “It is bigger than blank but smaller than blank.”) or be Tongue-Tied (giving verbal clues in which every word you say must begin with the same letter). It’s a great game for practicing a variety of communication skills (Tongue-Tied in particular is a great way to work on alliteration) and learning about all kinds of pop culture references, and instead of being on competing teams, you are working together to finish all the cards before the timer buzzes. That takes away any competitive edginess and makes it a game of pure joy and laughter.
Another terrific cooperative game for older players is Shadows Over Camelot by Days of Wonder. In this game, each player takes on a role of one of the knights from the Round Table, and together, they are trying to win various quests for the side of good before evil defeats them. This game is a more complex game, lasting at least an hour (often more) and one that works best with 5-6 players. My 6 year old is so interested in Camelot that he begged to learn the rules, and the great thing is that he can play this game because we’re all working as a team. He is learning a great deal about strategy, probability, decision-making, resource-management and more, all while feeling a complete part of the game along with his adult friends!
I have lots more to say about cooperation versus competition, and next time I’ll share with you my own ideas for reworking a variety of games to make them cooperative, which can take the tension away from a game and allow the kids to relax and learn more while they play. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know!
In between board games, PisecoMom squeezes in a little homeschooling for her two adorable children at Mind Games.
No related posts.
