Manners Mall Board Game, Social Skills Game, Manners Game, Manners Board Game, Counseling Board Game 2024

Manners Mall Board Game, a fun approach to teaching children about good manners and much more. Created by School Psychologist/Writer Lori Granieri, Manners Mall is a high-interest, interactive activity for children ages 7 and up. Players get to shop their way through a whimsical mall, where good manners get them the goods!

Along the way, shoppers respond to questions and prompts from cards titled Fitting Room, Courtesy Court, BOGO, Mall Rats, and Bargain Bin. Cards allow players to choose the most “fitting” answers to questions, to explain whether good or bad manners were used in different scenarios, to use mannerly words or phrases in sentences, and to give mannerly advice. Players also get to spin the Shopping Spree Spinner, which allows them to earn Valuable Merchandise from the Product Pavilion and place them on their Shopping Bags. The first player to make it through the mall with his or her Shopping Bag filled with Valuable Merchandise wins.

Manners Mall not only helps children understand why manners are important, but it also allows them to explore some of the deeper reasons and underlying values behind good manners. It explores six principles behind good manners: respect, consideration, kindness, friendliness, helpfulness, and gratitude.

“While it's important to teach children to use good manners, like ‘please' and ‘thank you,' in the appropriate situations, it's just as important to teach them why to use good manners,” Granieri says. “If they understand the purpose and meaning of good manners, they're more likely to use them. They'll learn that we say and do mannerly things to express our gratitude and appreciation toward someone for something, to show respect, to be friendly and inclusive of others, and to be kind and decent.”

Because the game is set in a mall – a familiar, fun, and favored location where people gather and lots of activities take place – children will be interested, intrigued and entertained while they learn. They'll want to play the game again and again.

Manners Mall can be played by 2 to 6 players, and is a great addition to any home or classroom. The game would also be a valuable tool for school counselors, school psychologists, therapists, and other professionals who work with children. Some of the benefits of playing Manners Mall are increased and improved social skills, communication, cooperation, reading and critical thinking skills, decision making and problem-solving.

Childswork/Childsplay, Creators of Effective Therapy Tools (www.childswork.com), is owned and operated by The Guidance Group, which provides tools for counselors, teachers, schools and parents. It specializes in hands-on materials for drug and violence prevention, character education, life skills, school success, play therapy materials, and mental health tools.

Lori Granieri is a School Psychologist and writer with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Master of Arts degree in School Psychology. Lori came up with idea for Manners Mall when facilitating social skills counseling groups with elementary school children. During counseling sessions, Lori discovered that playing educational board games was an effective, fun and favorite social skills learning activity for most children. She also saw a need for more instruction in manners and courtesy. A shopping mall setting seemed to be a natural fit for learning about and practicing manners, and one with 2024 which children are familiar. She then began developing Manners Mall.

See more enriching learning resources at enrichmentsource.

Contact Lori at info [!at] loriwriting.com