Playing Intergenerational Games

by Catherine Eagleson

It is our hope that as we age, we grow wise with the things we learn.  We can pass on benefits of learning and puzzling to the younger generation.  It really is one of our social responsibilities.  Playing intergenerational games and puzzles with your young grandchildren, nephews and nieces is a great way to do this.  It is fun, positive, and will help them develop a love of life-long learning.  

As adult puzzlers we have already discovered the benefits of solving puzzles such as crosswords, codewords and word finds.  They are a great way to improve the vocabulary, literacy and general knowledge of the whole family.

Make learning fun for the whole family

My (maternal) grandparents loved games and puzzles.  Scrabble was probably their  favourite game.  We were taught how to play Scrabble from a young age and for me it translated into crosswords by the time I was about 10.  My grandmother always encouraged good spelling.  When I was about 7, she set me a challenge,  which was to learn to spell the words ‘government’ and ‘amazement’.  Once I had achieved this, my love of multi-syllabic words was born.  There is a word for this, ‘sesquipedalian’. It’s one of my all-time favourites, and  means given to using long words!

Plant the seed of lifelong learning

It is a wonderful thing when a grandparent can be involved in their grandchild’s educational development.  And playing games is a great to do this.  All four of my grandparents encouraged my sister, brother and I to play games and puzzles.  They were activities that helped build our thinking and logic skills, while we had fun at the same time.  It was also a great opportunity for us to spend quality time with our grandparents, who were an important part of our lives.  As the cycle of life turns, we find ourselves doing the same for the next generation of our family.