Games for Teaching Boys Life Skills

Sort Laundry

• Boys need to know how to wash clothes, but they first need to know how to sort laundry. Have two boys compete against each other. Pile the dirty laundry into two stacks. On the floor a few feet away, place one piece of dark laundry to the left, one piece of white laundry in the middle and one piece of light laundry to the right. See which boy can separate his pile first. Be sure to indicate the correct stack if one of the boys asks for your help.

Follow Directions and Cooking

• Teach boys how to prepare food by creating two teams. Give each team all the ingredients they will need to cook a meal and detailed instructions on how to cook it. One team can make chili-mac while the other makes tuna salad. Enlist the boys' parents to help in the kitchen for safety and as judges to verify the kids follow the directions as written. Rate the boys on their ability to follow instructions, kitchen safety, cleanliness, and the taste of their dish. The team with the highest score wins.

Understand Value

• A shopping game can teach boys the value of work and the fact that nothing in life is free. Start a small store in your home where boys may buy "extras" like bubblegum, decks of cards, toy cars, candy and movie tickets. List chores for each item that must be completed in order to purchase it. For example, to buy a box of candy, a boy must take out the garbage three times without being told. Or to buy movie tickets, a boy must clean his room, wash dishes for two weeks and complete his homework without being told for one week.

Cooperation

• Show the value of cooperation with a game similar to Pictionary. Put a word on an index card and give it to one boy. Put the other boy in front of a piece of paper on an easel. Place a marker in his hand. The child with the index card will give instructions to the boy with the marker telling him how to draw whatever the card says. For example, if the card says "P," he will tell the drawer to make a straight line, then add a half circle to the top of the line on the right side.

Deductive Reasoning

• Involve boys in a scavenger hunt. Write and hide a series of clues throughout your home. Each clue should lead to another clue until they find the treasure at the end. Write clues like "sweet dreams happen here," or "I love to float on top of hot cocoa." The boys will need to use deductive reasoning to figure out the clues.