Use of games in mentoring programs
Thu, 08/27/2009 - 10:41
This topic started as a series of emails over on our Department of Education grantee listserv, but I thought I'd move it over here for some wider discussion. The question is: what role do games (things like chess, board games, educational games, computer games, etc.) play in mentoring relationships, and how are programs integrating games with other mentoring activities?
There is a lot of good research (from folks like John Harris and Mike Nakkula) on the important role of fun and sharing in mentoring relationships, so it seems "game time" has a real basis in the theoretical models of how mentoring works best.
So tell us, how are games being used in your program? Recommendations of specific games that seem to be a hit are also encouraged.
We use games for all sorts of reasons
In the beginning many matches will use games to help take the pressure off of having to have a conversation. They may use conversation games or just play games that allow them to relax so they can open up and share.
For students who are struggling in school games are used as a way to help them with a subject area without working on the subject. For ELA students may play scrabble with their mentor or other word games. MAD libs are not a game but they are a favorite for many of our mentoring matches
Students struggling in math mith play Yahtzee and so on
I have some students who just have a hard time staying still its good for them to just have something in their hands to play with while they talk we have stress balls, silly putty and more to just help them stay focused.