How Playground Games Can Help Children Develop Cognitively

For kids at school, there are learning opportunities everywhere, and playgrounds are no exception. Playground games like hopscotch aren’t just fun, they allow children to develop a number of cognitive skills, such as pattern recognition, memory and concentration. In this article, the Northern Marking team is going to take a closer look at some popular playground games and see how they contribute to cognitive development in children.

Playground markings for snakes & ladders

Hopscotch

Hopscotch is a timeless playground game. Your parents played it, you played it and your children probably will too. It involves hopping through a series of numbered squares arranged in a specific pattern. Here’s how it can benefit cognitive development:

Number recognition: Hopscotch requires children to recognise and jump to the right number in the sequence. This reinforces basic counting skills which will help when it comes to learning maths.
Memory and concentration: Remembering the sequence of numbers and focusing on the right movements improves memory and concentration, which are both key for academic success and everyday tasks.
Problem-solving: Navigating the hopscotch grid, especially when different rules are introduced, encourages children to actually think ahead and develop a strategy.

Snakes and Ladders

Snakes and Ladders is a popular board game that can be easily and effectively translated to playground surfaces by the team here at Northern Marking. Here are some of the benefits it offers for children:

Counting and basic arithmetic skills: Moving pieces according to the roll of a dice helps children learn to count and introduces them to elements of basic arithmetic like addition.
Understanding probability: Rolling dice and learning the probability of the outcome gently introduces children to the idea of chance and consequences.
Patience and turn-taking: Aside from the analytical stuff, playing Snakes and Ladders involves waiting for turns and following rules, which helps children develop patience and the ability to work within a given structure.

Draughts

Draughts is a strategic board game that can be enjoyed on large, marked playground surfaces by children. There’s a simplicity to draughts that makes it easy for children to pick up, but it also helps them build up a number of cognitive skills:

Planning: Draughts require players to plan their moves in advance and anticipate what their opponent is going to do. This encourages children to learn to think ahead and plan.
Pattern recognition: Identifying potential moves and sequences on the board helps develop pattern recognition, which is vital for reading and problem-solving.
Focus: Maintaining focus throughout the game to predict and counter the opponent’s moves is essential in draughts, so longer playing sessions will help children improve the length of time they can focus for.

Clocks

Playground clocks are excellent tools for teaching children how to tell time and understand the concept of hours and minutes. Let’s take a look at some of the specific skills children can pick up by interacting with playground clocks:

Time-telling: Large, marked clocks help children learn to read both analogue and digital clocks, which is a fundamental skill that will help them day to day.
Understanding cycles: Learning about the movement of clock hands and the cycle of time helps children to understand other cycles in life, such as the seasons and the internal cycles of our bodies.
Memory: Regular practice with playground clocks helps improve memory and recall, as children remember the positions of numbers and the times that correspond to them.

Northern Marking is based in Manchester, but provides services to clients in the following areas; Huddersfield, Blackburn, Rochdale, Preston and beyond. Northern Marking is a leading road marking company, providing the following services; line marking, school & playground markings, warehouse markings, electric car parking space marking, line removal, white lining and car park markings.

Northern Marking is one of the UK’s leading playground marking contractors. If you would like to learn more about how we could make your school playground more engaging for your young students, we’d love to chat!