Jenga, a social skill wonderland

Jenga is a fabulous game. I have no idea what the original intent of the creators of Jenga was, but I find it one of the best tools to teach and practice problem solving, social skills, anxiety management, and risk taking. Who knew a few rectangular blocks could do so much? I'm guessing not the creators of Jenga or it wouldn't be so reasonably priced!

For years I  have used Jenga in my work with children in schools. To an outsider, and maybe even to the kids I worked with, it looks like we were just playing a game. But this is highly focused and targeted teaching. And it is lots of fun to boot!

For those of you who may have never played Jenga before here's a quick description. A bunch of rectangular blocks are piled on top of each other in groups of three, alternating directions with each layer. Players take turns pulling out one block at a time, placing the removed block on the top of the stack. The object is to keep the stack from falling for as long as possible. Inevitably, it falls with a large crash to the delight of some and dismay of others.

Depending on the needs of the child(ren) I focus on taking turns by waiting patiently, being honest, practicing anxiety reduction strategies as the stack began to wobble, or problem solving about what would be the best block to pull. All sorts of things come up when you're playing, such as is everyone playing fair, how do you handle it when the stack falls (we always cheer), how do you encourage each other, etc.? Great fodder for going deeper into social skills and empathy.

So the next time you don't know what to do to teach your kids how to interact, pull out your game of Jenga and let the learning begin!