Board games can be used to help children practice counting and other mat operations. By being forced to use math in concrete situations, children can begin to understand and make use of mathematical operations. "Payday" is a classic board game that takes players through one month of budget planning. Players must budget their salary through a host of everyday expenses. Whoever has the most money at the end of the month wins. "Monopoly" is a perennial favorite that also requires counting and adding skills.
A truly excellent logic-based board game will force players to think through a series of operations and decide on the most likely outcome. Play "Mastermind" with your kids for a logic game that demands intense thought and reasoning. One player makes a secret pattern using four colored pegs, while the other player must break the code, receiving small amounts of information after each guess. "Battleship" is another board game that teaches logic, where players must use reason to find their opponent's battleships on a hidden grid.
Cognitive skills are necessary for the development of language. Find board games that help children develop their spelling and language-use skills. "Scrabble" is a well-known board game with versions appropriate for children. Players collect points by taking turns arranging letter tiles on a board to spell words. Another educational board game is "Boggle," in which players find hidden words among a grid of letter blocks randomly arranged.
Cognitive skills are also about being able to express concepts coherently. A board game such as "Pictionary" can help children develop these faculties. The game is like charades but involves drawing. One player must illustrate a phrase, object or person using a pen and paper, while the other team members make guesses. If the team members are unable to decipher the drawing correctly, the opposing team has a chance to guess and win the round.