Life Lessons Taught By Hungry Hungry Hippos and Other Childhood Games

They seem like simple fun, but playing classic board games teaches us valuable lessons about life. What can we learn from games like Clue, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and Twister?

We all know that Candy Land taught us how to count and that Monopoly taught us about money, but have you ever thought deeper about these games and what life lessons they teach us even as adults? Yeah, me neither.

My cousin Allyson Gilbert however thinks like that. We're actually first cousins once removed, but that gets confusing. She'll tell you I'm her uncle and that's even more confusing and insulting to her real uncles, my first cousins not removed. Are you following all this? Yeah, me neither.

So back to the games.

Ally wrote an article for the The Odyssey Online titled Lessons Learned From Childhood Games where she goes beyond the basic skills learned from the games we grew up with, to find lessons that almost sound like what you'd find in a fortune cookie. They actually make a lot of sense.

Take for instance, Hungry, Hungry Hippos. What could we possibly take away from this game besides a mouth full of marbles?

... it teaches us that if we really want something then sometimes you just have to go for it. Take the leap and fight hard to get where you want to be. In the end you just need a bit of determination to get ahead.

I never thought of it that way, but I see it.

How about Operation?

Out of all the virtues, patience is by far one of the most important and Operation was the game that required the most of it. Whether you have to try once, or try ten times, don’t give up! Eventually you’re going to meet your end goal.

Ally's a smart kid. She's going to graduate from college, change the world and hopefully not forget me in my old age when she's cured cancer and eliminated our dependence on foreign oil.

Read more of Ally's life lessons from Candy Land, Monopoly, Twister and Clue at The Odyssey Online and follow her on Twitter for more from her in the future. She doesn't like the Super Bowl and has a weird sense of humor that will amuse you. Like her 'uncle.' (The humor part. I like the Super Bowl.)