Building Social Skills With Games in Kindergarten

Classic tabletop games like Uno, Jenga, and Connect Four might look like simple fun, but at Gilles-Sweet Elementary in Fairview Park, Ohio, kindergarten teacher Keri Laughlin uses them as powerful learning tools that help students practice valuable social skills like communication, collaboration, and problem-solving—all while playing.

Laughlin creates stations around the room with a variety of popular and familiar board, card, and tabletop games. Before play begins, Laughlin gathers her class in a circle to explain the rules and answer questions. Students then have the opportunity to choose which game they want to play. As they play, Laughlin moves from group to group, observing how students interact—listening to conversations, noticing who takes turns, and seeing how they navigate challenges together. “When they’re playing, they’re using their imagination,” Laughlin says. “They’re using skills they’re going to need for the rest of their life to be successful.”

After a set amount of time, students have the opportunity to rotate to a new game. Laughlin intentionally selects games that help her students develop a number of skills at once—not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well. She watches how they handle tricky moments, from disagreements over rules to frustration after a loss, and celebrates when students support one another. “Today, not one student asked me to solve a problem for them,” she notes. “They actually worked together and were able to solve problems on their own.”

Through these moments during choice game time, Laughlin gains insight into her students’ developing social skills: how they communicate, regulate emotions, take turns, and show empathy. The same skills—listening, cooperating, and self-regulating—carry over to academic tasks and everyday interactions.

In Laughlin’s classroom, what looks like play is actually a carefully guided learning experience. Classic games give kindergarten students a safe space to build confidence and independence, and practice working in teams. Through laughter, strategy, and collaboration, students learn to connect, cooperate, and thrive—both in school and beyond.If you’d like to add math into the equation, check out Nell McAnelly’s article for Edutopia, “Using Board Games to Teach Math to Young Children.”