I thought I was doing a pretty good job teaching my children manners and social etiquette, but I was underestimating them. Now at ages 4 and 6, they are ready for more than just “cover your mouth when you cough” and “chew with your mouth closed”.

Although I correct them when they act out of turn, I haven’t been as proactive in teaching them emotional intelligence. Teaching children to be aware of their feelings and others is a skill set that isn’t actively taught in schools, but yields huge rewards.

The biggest obstacle in teaching our children manners is that we need to work on them ourselves and don’t always know how to approach these issues in a fun way.

That’s where EQtainment comes in. EQtainment is a brand new company that helps kids practice emotional intelligence through fun and affordable games, storybooks, and videos. Think of EQ as all the important skills outside of their IQ or academic education, such as self control, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Studies have shown that having a high emotional quotient boosts career success, relationship satisfaction, leadership skills, health, humor, and happiness.

In our family, manners and character are more important than academics so I was excited to try EQtainments new board game: Q’s Race to the Top. We had an awesome time learning and thinking about things that really make a difference in our lives.

The game comes with a storybook that introduces children to all the characters of the game. The illustrations were vivid, exciting and my children automatically connected with the genius monkey named “Q”.

Although Q is really smart and invents all sorts of contraptions, he forgets to think of others and how they feel.

After reading the book and getting to know all about Q, we started to set up the game. As I got the pieces out the kids immediately started grabbing for the pieces they wanted. This was a perfect opportunity to talk about the book and relate it to the situation. So I asked everyone to put the pieces back and think about how they could be even smarter than Q and think about others before themselves.

The light bulb went off for my daughter Audrey and she asked Emma what color piece she wanted. Luckily Emma wanted a different piece than Audrey, but I asked Audrey what she would do if Emma wanted the same color as her.

She said she might try to ask if she could use it this game and then Emma could use it next time. Again I pressed on, “What if she said no?” That really got her mind working and she didn’t know. So I helped her out and said that she could give it to her and then take a turn next time with that piece or they could roll the dice and see who got the bigger number for the first pick.

This is what the board game is all about; getting children to think about how to get along with others in different situations; how to communicate their feelings in a healthy way. Finally an exciting manners and social etiquette board game; It is a parents dream game!

Another fun element is the physical challenges. While children practice gross motor skills, these challenges also teach children to be brave and persevere.

There was one challenge that had to do with coordination. Audrey wasn’t able to do it right away and started to get frustrated. We took the time to practice and I helped her do the move. Eventually she got the hang of it and was very satisfied that she stuck it out with a good attitude.

As children race to get to the top of Q’s tree house, they will choose from three different cards. One pile contains physical challenges, another has to do with manners, and another asks questions about emotions.

Here are some of the questions that came up in the game:

“Have you ever told on someone? When is it okay to tell on someone and when is it not okay?”

“Q’s sister Mila says Q is not a good listener. What can he do with his eyes, face and body to be a better listener when Mila is talking?”

“Q gets mad when someone takes his toy without asking. What should Q say to the person? Why is it important to speak kindly to the person that took your toy?”

What I love about these questions are that every child can relate to them. Maybe one of the questions applies to something that happened that day! They started some great conversations with my children and gave me insight on what I need to work with them more.

I am so impressed with this game and hope to make it a weekly or monthly tradition. I might even incorporate some of the questions into our meal time as table topics.

If you’d like to find out more about how you can teach your children values through this exciting board game, visit EQtainment’s Kickstarter Campaign or watch the video below.

The post Manners Game: Teaching Social Skills the Easy Way first appeared on True Aim.