“Brain Games” are activities that encourage healthy brain development while the child is playing a game. There are a lot of simple activities that are brain games like “Connect the Dots”, and there are also formalized board games, which is what I’m going to focus on here.

Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder typically have a weak grasp and implementation of cause and effect. It’s like they are so stuck in their own past hurt that they have trouble anticipating what will happen if they lean against the middle of a stack of books. Oh, oops. The books fell over. (Ya, they aren’t always faking that. Sometimes they truly didn’t or couldn’t think it through.) Logically, if you lean your weight against something lighter, you’re going to push it over, right?

Would you like your child’s logical thinking to improve? Give them time with a brain game that builds those skills.

Learning actually does happen best when the child is having fun!

One of my favorite logic puzzles is Safari Rush Hour!

Pros

Builds spatial reasoning, logic, cause and effect and problem-solving skills.
This is one activity that is actually more satisfying as a board game than on a screen. The brain gets more learning and more satisfaction from physically shifting the pieces around and feeling when the pieces don’t shift.
Stores neatly in a pouch that lists the number of game pieces so kids can double-check they have everything when they cleanup
I prefer the safari version because the colors are less stimulating / more calming and the piece you’re trying to get out of the traffic jam is totally distinct – a vehicle while everything else is an animal. That’s easier to keep straight than having to distinguish the target vehicle by color in the regular version.
Easy enough for young children to try and enjoy while also challenging enough for adults!
Puzzles gradually get harder so kids get a sense of achievement as they graduate up. (Do NOT let them skip around!)

Cons

19 game pieces to keep track of
Kids have to learn to carefully set the board up correctly, but this is part of the learning.
Tip: Put the grid in the bag first followed by cards and pieces. The benefit of this is that it helps kids practice order.

Now you may be asking...

“Why would I want to give my child this nice toy when they spend most of their time destroying things?”

This is a reasonable question. I give the children time with Safari Rush Hour when:

The child is relatively calm.
The child is playing under adult supervision.
The child is having quiet time in their empty room where they can’t hide pieces.

And then I have the child put the pieces away in front of me. Together we go through the list: 2 elephants, 2 lionesses...Also, instead of giving your child the whole stack of 40 cards especially when working unsupervised in their room, you can give them the next 3-5 and trade those out once they’ve mastered them.

So, why would you want to give your disobedient child a great game?

Do you want your child to develop sound logic to help them make good behavior choices?
Do you want a few moments of peace and quiet created by the fact that your child is actually doing something good?
Do you want to do tangible, observable things that demonstrate to other adults in your child’s life that you are making an effort to help your child learn and grow?
Do you want your child to develop healthy self-esteem based on real strengths and abilities to do good?
Do you want your child to believe that you are good, nice and on his side?

If you’ve said yes to those 5 questions, then it’s in your best interest to give your child time with brain games.

Brain games are educational and healing.

Since education and healing don’t have to be earned, neither does brain game time.

Give brain game time for free!