A dart board in the family home is hugely rewarding. Our children are becoming a generation that play sports by sliding their finger around on their tablet or phone. Christmas is on the way. It’s a chance for parents to avoid buying expensive tablets and phones for their kids, and instead invest in games equipment. As a twelve year old, I would have traded a smart phone for a snooker table or a darts board any day.

One major benefit is that by playing darts, children are constantly improving their mental maths abilities. An hour of darts also means an hour of mental arithmetic. But even better, it’s fun, and as every teacher will tell you, it’s better for children to learn while having fun. Your child’s mental maths will become quicker and more instinctive. After regular practice, your child will start to hit more trebles and doubles and they can learn to play legs of darts, subtracting scores from 501. This requires a greater level of maths, as they will have to learn to subtract quickly and work out which target they need to leave a double. Whatever standard they are at, from basic addition all the way to GCSE level mental arithmetic, your child will feel the benefits of playing on the dartboard. It benefited me personally. I wasn’t particularly good at maths in school, but the odd game of darts here and there certainly helped me to keep up in class. Now, by playing regularly, my mental maths ability is surprisingly helpful in everyday life. It’s not just me who has seen the benefits, the Government tried to encourage children to play darts to help their maths back in 2009.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/darts/4164513/Play-darts-to-help-improve-your-maths-skills.html

Darts also aids concentration. As well as the constantly working on the maths, you have to focus intensely on each and every dart. As with everything, practice makes perfect, and a great way to improve concentration is by practicing regularly.

Another, possibly greater benefit of having a darts board in the family home, is that it’s a game that the whole family can play. With the popularity of games consoles, smartphones and tablets contributing to the demise of the traditional board game, it seems regular family bonding in the home is becoming increasingly difficult. A dartboard is a great way to bring the family together. Not just for young children but also for teenagers. Of course there are other options for family bonding but darts is so easy to play and remarkably cheap. You could buy a pool table or a table tennis table, but how much will it be and where are you going put it? A dartboard and two sets of darts can be bought for as little as £15 and can be played in a limited space.

The most important reason for buying your kids a dartboard this Christmas is that darts is fun. And who knows, with practice and some natural talent. your kid could be the future World Champion.

Image via http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/17750