Value of games in education

The value of games and sports is recognised by all educationists. Books develop our mind. Games develop our body. There is a sound mind in a sound body. Everybody wants to remain free from diseases. Everybody desires physical fitness. Games make our body strong. They expand our lungs and improve the blood circulation. They fill the body with strength. Games provide freshness to the mind after the day’s work. Games I are a good pastime also. Games and sports teach us the spirit of sportsmanship, honesty, punctuality and regularity of habits. They also teach us team spirit, leadership and obedience. Games teach us the importance of cooperative efforts and make us disciplined. They teach us how to command and how to obey.

Education aims at full development of the human personality. The human personality has several sides and it is the purpose of education to develop all these sides so that the individuals may attain his full stature. Man has a body, a mind and a spirit. Accordingly education aims at the physical development, intellectual development and the spiritual and more development of man. It is a very narrow view of education to think that educations merely gives knowledge to a human being and thus fits him for the purpose of earning his livelihood but educations does much more than this.

The Value of Games in Education cannot ignore the physical side of man. Man has been blessed with a beautiful body. Poets, painters and sculptors have gone into raptures over the human body and have tried to depict it in their arts in many ways. Games are a means of keeping the body healthy and fit. Physical fitness and freedom from all kinds of ailments are the desire and ambition of very human being. Indeed, good health is the first condition of happiness in life. Those who play games greatly maintain good health. Games are an excellent means of bodily exercise.

Apart from building the body, games are an excellent recreation or pastime. Education teaches man the need and value of recreational activities. Education does not approve of the scholar who keeps pouring over books all time. Recreations are necessary. And games are among the most interesting recreations in the world. The essence of a recreation is that it should refresh the body and maintain and provide a means of escape from one’s professional or scholarly pursuits. When one paying golf or billiards or badminton or table tennis, one becomes forgetful of everything else and gets absorbed in the games. Thus games are very useful as a diversion for the mind. They are a diversion not only for the players, but also for the spectators, because of the greet interest they create.

mind. They even provide a kind of training for the mind. Most games today are a matter of high skill and right judgment. Hockey, football, cricket and other games are not just a matter of physical exertion and exercise. The player must acquire the art of playing a game. Every game, therefore, contributes to the development of the mind and the judgment of a player. The Value of Games in Education offer that Good players show a lot of mental alertness and ingenuity in the course of their play.

Fair play is noble moral quality when practiced in political dealings. The quality is best inculcated in human beings through games. The habit of fair play makes a man love honesty, integrity and justice which are great moral qualities. Games also teach the lesson of accepting a defeat on the playfield with a smiling face. A defeated player shakes hands with his victorious opponent and eve offers him congratulations. Defeat does not dishearten or depress a true sportsman. On the contrary, it provides an incentive for a greater effort. This lesson also is bound to prove useful to a man in the wider sphere of life. Life has its misfortunes, woes, failures. But a man with tough character is not daunted by these. Games make a man tough and thus enable him to withstand the sling and arrows of fortune. Games teach retain other lesson as well. They teach team-spirit or the spirit of mutual cooperation. They teach the value of unity or united effort. They teach the necessity of always obeying the orders of the captain or the leader. All these are valuable lessons which prepare man to live correctly and nobly. Education aims at building up character and character includes all the qualities mentioned above. Thus the value of games in forming and molding character is very great. Education aims too at developing qualities of leadership in human beings. The qualities of leadership are developed most effectively and fruitfully thought games.