Project Overview:

The Wilson Library serves as a creative hub where learners explore collaboration, critical thinking, and innovation.  To expand its impact, the proposal seeks funding to incorporate a Board Game Learning and Enrichment Zone- a collection of strategic and cooperative board games that support social-emotional learning, academic growth, and teamwork.  Board games foster critical skills such as problem solving, communication, perseverance, and creativity.  They provide learners with structured opportunities to practice social interaction, strategic thinking, and emotional regulation in a fun, low-stakes environment. 

These materials will be used during:

• Small group or SEL sessions

  • To help learners practice emotional control, conflict resolution, and social interaction.

• Ranger Rally enrichment rotations

  • To promote communication, team work, and creativity through structured, fun play.

• Brain breaks and mindfulness opportunities

  • To refresh focus and provide healthy social interaction during academic learning.

• Reading buddies

  • To provide one-on-one connection and provide healthy social interaction.

• Library Makerspace

  • To support open-ended learning where creativity and critical thinking thrive 

Connection to Core Values

1. Redefining Success

Board games create a space where success is not limited to test scores or grades.  Instead, success is measured by growth in communication, strategy, collaboration, and resilience. Learners experience success through teamwork, problem-solving, and creative thinking- skills that mirror real-world success. 

• Chess, Checkers and Backgammon promote critical thinking, foresight, and patience. Learners learn to analyze outcomes, anticipate others' moves, and accept wins and losses with grace. 

• Yahtzee builds numeracy, probability, and data analysis skills.  Learners take calculated risks, and understand that improvement comes through practice.  

• Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders reinforce perseverance and sportsmanship.  Learners experience ups and downs while understanding that success is part of a journey.

2. Authentic Relationships

Playing board games builds authentic connections.  Students learn to take turns, negotiate, listen, and show empathy.  Through friendly competition and cooperation, learners practice emotional awareness, patience, and respect for other's perspectives- skills that extend beyond the classroom. These interactions foster trust and belonging, strengthening our campus culture and relationships between peers and teachers. 

• Clue encourages discussion, questioning, and collaborative reasoning.  Learners must communicate clearly, listen, and respect others’ logic to solve a shared mystery.

• Scattergories, Boggle, and Scrabble build language and vocabulary through friendly competition. Learners practice listening, turn-taking, and supporting one another’s creativity. 

• Sorry, Connect Four, and Jenga promote sportsmanship, empathy, and emotional awareness.  Learners learn to win and lose graciously, cheer for peers, and handle frustration in a positive environment.

3. Great Teaching

Board games are powerful teaching tools that allow educators to embed academic concepts into hands-on, student- centered learning experiences.  Teachers can use games to reinforce strategic reasoning, probability, literacy, and decision-making while keeping engagement high.  By integrating board games, educators can differentiate instruction, support executive function skills, and create joyful learning moments that make academic concepts stick.

• Scrabble, Boggle, and Scattergories reinforce spelling vocabulary, and linguistic flexibility- ideal for EBs or literacy enrichment.  Teachers can use them to support cross curricular learning. 

• Yahtzee, Battleship, and Chess support logical reasoning, math fluency, probability, and strategic thinking.  Teachers can connect gameplay to data sets, coordinates, or problem solving lessons. 

• Clue teaches deductive reasoning and hypothesis testing- core scientific thinning skills. 

4. Collective Engagement

Board games promote a sense of community and collaboration.  Whether during Ranger Rally enrichment, library makerspace, Community Reading Buddies, or Family Game Night, they invite all learners to participate, share ideas, and celebrate collective success.  These games bring together diverse learners in a fun, safe space where collaboration, turn-taking, and community matter more than competition. 

• Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Sorry are accessible and inclusive for all ages and skill levels allowing every learner to participate meaningfully.

• Jenga and Connect Four encourage team work and communication, especially in small groups or Ranger Rally enrichment activities.

• Battleship, Chess, and Checkers foster mutual respect and shared focus

Academic and Social Benefits

Research shows that gameplay- 

• Improves critical thinking, logical reasoning, and reading comprehension

• Enhances focus, planning, and problem solving skills

• Builds communication and teamwork skills

• Supports emotional regulation and conflict resolution

• Encourages creativity and innovation

Students who engage in structured play develop stronger collaboration skills, empathy, and confidence (Alotaibi). 

Request for Materials:

To compliment both the educational and aesthetic goals of the Library, this proposal requests funding for the following WS Game Company “Vintage Bookshelf Collection” of classic board games:  

• Scrabble 

• Clue

• Boggle

• Yahtzee

• Connect Four

• Scattergories

• Chess

• Sorry

• Candy Land

• Chutes and Ladders

• Battleship

• Checkers and Backgammon

• Jenga

• Trouble

• Guess Who

These timeless editions are designed to resemble classic hardcover novels.  Their book-style packaging allows them to be displayed on shelves like novels, enhancing the atmosphere of learning, creativity, and curiosity.  

Expected Outcomes:

• Increased student engagement and collaboration

• Strengthened problem solving, literacy, and logic skills

• Grown in communication and emotional regulation

• A more welcoming and creative library environment

• Stronger sense of community and belonging across the campus

Conclusion:

By adding the WS Game Company’s Vintage Bookshelf Collection to our Library Makerspace, we are blending learning and design- creating a space that is as beautiful as it is educational! These board games promote collaboration, academic growth, and emotional wellness while supporting our four core values: Redefining Success, Authentic Relationships, Great Teaching, and Collective Engagement. 

Through play, our learners will learn that success is about curiosity, community, and connection- and that the Library is the heart of it all! 

Minimum Amount to Get Started:

$193.00

WS Game Company Battleship, Connect Four, Checkers and Backgammon, and Sorry! Vintage Board Game Bookshelf Collection

Works Cited:

1. Alotaibi MS. Game-based learning in early childhood education: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 2;15:1307881. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1307881. PMID: 38629045; PMCID: PMC11018941.