Why play games?

Something that I feel is very important is the incorporation of meaningful games in the classroom setting.  Many youth, boys in particular, are kinesthetic (sp?) learners.  It also helps the group to refocus by using a different teaching technique, and, when used well, can deeply reinforce a concept the mentor is trying to teach.

I came across this article that suggests some reasons for and elements of games that teach:
Games to Teach By

Here is an excerpt:

" According to Ruben (1999), in the 1970s and early 80s some educators embraced

games and simulations as “an attractive and novel alterna

tive to traditional classroom lectures and other one-way

information-dispensing methods” (p. 3). Part of the reason

for this, the author suggests, is that experience-based

(experiential) models have a greater potential to “address

many of the limitations of the traditional paradigm.”

Specifically, they “accommodated more complex and diverse

approaches to the learning processes and outcomes; allowed

for interactivity; promoted collaboration and peer learning;

allowed for addressing cognitive as well as affective learning

issues; and, perhaps most important, fostered active learning”"

Cooperation, leadership, bonding, resourcefulness, flexibility...the list of benefits of using games in a classroom goes on and on!