Social Skills for 10 Year Olds – A Guy A Gal and Some Games

King of Tokyo is definitely one of our favorite games due to its simplicity and constant action.

It also has some great potential in terms of developing social skills for 10 year old’s. Empathy is a key social skill that develops during this age and here are some ways that King of Tokyo helps develop the social skill of empathy:

Perspective Consideration: Since each player controls a character/monster, there is the opportunity to explore distinct abilities and reactions. The variety of different character play helps children better understand how we are all different in many ways. We all have different weaknesses, strengths, abilities, etc. And learning while playing makes the environment fun! The benefit from this is empathy development through understanding various perspectives of others.
Collaboration: King of Tokyo is a competitive game by design, however, there are opportunities of collaboration where players can choose to work together to team up against a common enemy (in gameplay with more than 2 players). This can be to defeat the other player or to defend against that other player in an agreed upon alliance. This can really benefit children by helping them understand that others have needs as well, and that there can be mutual benefit from alliances.
Good Sportsmanship: Since the object of the board game King of Tokyo is to have a single winner, it is considered a competitive game. Some players will lose while one player will win. Experiencing both can help define how a 10 year old learns to respond to that fact. One idea to help support this kind of thinking is to understand that it is a game and fun should be had by all regardless of who wins, and to learn to be happy for others when they win, and support them. And to expect that same kind of response from others is a good focus that helps to overall build a sense of fair play and good sportsmanship.
Emotional Intelligence Development: Due to its fast paced nature of decision making and risk analysis, King of Tokyo can create an emotional experience for children. This creates the opportunity for recognition and self-regulation of their own emotions while observing the emotional response of others playing the game.

For these reasons, King of Tokyo is a great way to explore the social skill of empathy not only for 10 year old’s, but players of all ages!

King of Tokyo is a fun, fast paced game that we enjoy having our on shelf and it also a great game for social skills development for 10 year olds.

And these same social skills can also be developed in players of all ages!

Here are some social skills that this game helps to develop:

Taking turns: Players will learn how to take turns when playing the game, which is an important social skill.
Patience: Each time it is another player’s turn, this teaches other players to wait for their next turn.
Communication: In this game, communication occurs throughout the various stages from working out a strategy with another player to defeat a common enemy or some good ol’ fun loving (and not mean) trash-talking, such as, “Alienoid is going to totally smash Gigazaur!”
Sportsmanship: Notice the game is called KING of Tokyo, not “KINGS”, meaning there will only be ONE winner. This mechanic teaches players how to win and lose, gracefully, and remember, there can always be a rematch!
Strategic thinking: Personal strategy as well as “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” strategy development can unfold and helps players with problem solving and a bit of negotiation.
Empathy: By playing the game and putting themselves in the shoes of the monsters they are playing, children can develop empathy for others.
Decision-making: All of the strategy in the world won’t help until a decision is made, such as attack, or defend. This game is full of opportune moments in which to develop this valuable skill, and quickly.
Negotiation: When playing with more than 2 players, negotiation skills come in handy to decide if a temporary truce and alliance might be made to take out the current monster within Tokyo City.
Adaptability: With each battle comes the need to develop the skill to adapt to the situation that just occurred and what situations might be about to occur as well. For example, one monster might cause another monster to want to leave Tokyo City, and this can force a previously made strategy to be re-examined before the next round.
Socialization: It would be an odd game if King of Tokyo was played in silence, and why would anyone do that when there are lots of opportunities to socialize, make monster sounds, declare victories, and more! This game leaves plenty of opportunity for good socialization skills to develop.

King of Tokyo is a great board game for 10 year olds and all ages above 8 according to the box and our experience : )