Best Board Games for Reinforcing ABA Concepts

Board games are great ways for the entire family to have fun together. Whether it’s a rainy or cold day outside, or everyone just feels like cozying up, you can never go wrong with a board game to bring the family together.

Today, there are many great board games that are made for children of all ages. Some of these are classics you might remember from when you were a child, while some are new, exciting and education-focused.

Board games aren’t just a source of entertainment. They can also serve as effective learning tools for children of all ages and abilities.

In fact, studies have revealed that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can learn an immense amount from board games. They have even been proven to help them develop skills that they might find challenging to master otherwise.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the best board games for reinforcing the concepts of applied behavior analysis, or ABA therapy.

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Candyland

Most people are familiar with Candyland, as it ranks among the most popular board games of all time. The reason why it’s been so successful over the years is that it offers a nice combination of straightforward gameplay and fun at the same time.

Players take turns drawing from a card in a deck. These cards have colors on them, signifying what space they should move their character to. For instance, if they draw red, they are supposed to move their character to the next red square on the path.

As they make their way toward the top, there are roadblocks in the way, as they could get sent to the start or lose a turn.

Candyland is great at reinforcing ABA therapy concepts because it follows a prompt-like system. Children must pick up a card, recognize the color they see and then move their player to the corresponding color on the board.

This is similar in many ways to how children with autism are taught basic communication skills. Therapists may show them a card with a picture of a glass of water, for example, and then have the child get a glass of water.

The mechanics of Candyland help to reinforce that concept.

Memory Game

There are many different versions of the Memory Game, but all work in similar ways.

You’ll have a certain number of cards, each of which has a picture on it, and there are two cards for each picture. The cards are shuffled and then laid out face down on a table.

The player starts by turning over one card to reveal the picture, and then another card looking for a match. If they don’t get a match, they must turn both cards face down and try the same sequence again. When they make a match, they remove those two cards from the table.

The Memory Game helps to reinforce ABA therapy concepts in a number of ways.

First, it works on a child’s patience and focus. They must wait their turn as someone else goes, and also pay attention to what pictures are being turned over and where those cards are located.

It also works on their memory skills in this way, since they need to recall information quickly to make a correct choice. ABA therapy follows a lot of these same approaches to help children remember and recall information that they can apply in a practical way to help them throughout their day.

Battleship

Battleship is another favorite board game for many people, and it can be great at reinforcing ABA therapy concepts. It is a slightly more advanced game than Candyland or the Memory Game, though, so make sure you are introducing it to children who are ready for it.

The goal of Battleship is to sink the other player’s ships before they do the same to yours. You can’t see where your opponent’s ships are located on the grid, but must figure it out by a process of elimination.

You call out grid coordinates as a guess to where your opponent’s ship might be. They then call out either “hit” or “miss,” depending if you guessed correctly or incorrectly.

To help you along, you mark on your side of the board the results of each of your guesses so you can make logical decisions about your next guess.

Battleship can teach children with autism a number of things. Like the games above, it teaches patience and focus, while reinforcing memory recall. It also introduces children to the concept of coordinates and grids, which can be beneficial in other aspects of life such as navigating directions or even just spatial awareness.

The game also helps to reinforce ABA therapy concepts such as planning, following instructions and getting into a routine. All of these skills are essential for children to build.

Blue Gems ABA Uses Play-Based Therapy to Teach Children with Autism Skills

Board games are a lot of fun, but they can be extremely educational, too. There are many great board games that can help reinforce concepts that children with ASD learn during ABA therapy, and the ones above are just a few examples.

At Blue Gems ABA, we follow a play-based approach to teaching children with autism new skills through ABA therapy. All of our treatment plans are created with each individual child in mind, targeting the skills and/or behaviors that they struggle with in a specific way to help them grow.

To learn more, please contact us today.