In Willow Walk Kindergarten, we have started introducing some simple board games for the children to enjoy. After introducing the rules to Tic Tac Toe, the educators demonstrated how to play it while the children watched and then throughout the day pairs of children took it in turns to play.

Having rules in games teaches children social norms such as turn taking and being polite. According to Fromberg and Bergen (2012) playing games with rules fosters children’s intellectual, sociomoral, and personality development. In turn, this helps to develop an interpersonal understanding as children learn to negotiate conflicts with other children when playing competitive games, this is a core part of our development philosophy.

In scenarios like Tic Tac Toe, children have to think very carefully about where to put their symbol. This fosters strategic thinking and enhances their observational skills. They have to think of logical places to place their symbol and this also develops analytical thinking.

Just as importantly children learn to manage and regulate their emotions and behaviour and play fairly whether the outcome is that they
win or lose.

EYLF Outcome 2 Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
EYLF Outcome 4  Children are confident and involved learners