GAMES:
From Navy Personnel Research and Development Center:
“A review of 67 research articles compared the instructional
effectiveness of games to conventional classroom instruction
measured by empirical research rather than teachers' judgment.
Math is the subject area with the greatest percentage [over 50%]
of results favoring games. The authors conclude that subject
matter areas where very specific content can be targeted are
more likely to show beneficial effects for gaming."
From George Booker, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia paper
presented at Future of Mathematics Education conference, Poland, July 2004:
“Games provide a unique opportunity for integrating the cognitive, affective and social aspects of learning. They can be used to introduce new ideas and lay the foundations for processes and thinking strategies that will be formalised later as well as consolidate existing thinking. When they are structured around mathematical ideas, play is dependent on mathematical understanding. In this way, the manipulation of materials, use of diagrams, detection of patterns and verbalization of actions, thoughts and interpretations while playing can assist in the construction of mathematical concepts.”
From Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol, 88, No. 4, p 715-730:
“Games involving some kind of fantasy are one of the most powerful ways to make learning enjoyable for children, research finds. … Even the small choices can increase motivation and learning. Researchers found that when children are offered choices, they have more fun and learn more from games.”
From Washington Parent Magazine:
“Among the most obvious benefits of sitting down and playing … a game with your children is the opportunity that games provide to apply and solidify the mathematical reasoning and calculating skills your children are learning in school…Board games are especially good for building mathematical concepts and skills…They are fun and engage all the senses (visual, auditory, kinesthetic and motor).”
From Cognitive Fitness, published in the Harvard Business Review:
“Play engages the prefrontal cortex, feeding our highest cognitive functions…Play improves our ability to reason and to understand the world…Play can be a powerful tool for allowing people to develop creative capacity and cognitive health.”