If they’re bored, get out the board

IF AT a loose end these school holidays, or on a rainy day, why not introduce the kids to a board game or two? They may have already played some of these on their devices, but it is a different dynamic when everyone is co-operating (or bickering) around the board about whose turn it is, or where that final piece went.

Chess

This game is played by millions of people worldwide and is thought to have originated in India sometime before the seventh century. It is one of the oldest games in the world.

Highly strategic, the game is also great for developing concentration and thinking tactically.

Players must move their pieces around the board with the aim of capturing the other player’s king piece.

Chinese checkers

A game using pegs that can be played by two or more players. The board is traditionally a star shape with a hexagon in the middle.

Players move pegs from one side of the board to the other.

According to Google, Chinese checkers did not originate in Asia and is not based on checkers.

Instead it takes inspiration from another game, Halma, and was first invented in Germany in 1892. It was called Stern-Halma (translated to Star-Halma).

Backgammon

A game in which players move pieces across a board by rolling dice. A game that uses a combination of strategy and luck.

It is another one of the oldest games in the world, and may have originated in the Middle East (formerly Mesopotamia).