When looking for fun games for children with Leukemia, Ticket to Ride: Europe can be quite entertaining. Children undergoing leukemia treatment face unique challenges that can disrupt their everyday routines and limit their opportunities for social interaction and play. Choosing ways to entertain them and distract them when at home can be difficult. Getting out to the shops to buy any kind of entertainment is often awkward. I used to have to wait until the shops were almost closing at night to go down to buy our food. I was a single mum and had to take my daughter with me because she was too young to leave at home. This was usually only in times when I knew she was particularly vulnerable to germs. Board games like Ticket to Ride: Europe can serve as invaluable tools to support children with leukemia during their treatment journey as well as being educational and could be used to support a homeschooling lifestyle if you have chosen to do that.
How Does Playing Board Games Like Ticket to Ride: Europe Help Children With Leukemia?
One thing that anyone with a child with Leukemia needs, is things to distract their kids from this terrible illness and the treatment involved in trying to bring about remission. But they also need to feel some semblance of normality in their everyday lives when not actually in the hospital setting or having treatment, sometimes during treatment there is room for distraction and social interaction.
Distraction and Entertainment:
Board games provide a welcome distraction from the stress and discomfort associated with leukemia treatment. Ticket to Ride: Europe offers engaging gameplay that can transport children to a world of adventure and excitement, helping them temporarily escape the realities of their medical condition and focus on something enjoyable.
Social Connection:
Board games allow for connection with family members, caregivers, and even fellow patients (if the game doesn’t have too big a game board or play area). For a child with Leukemia the opportunity for meaningful social interactions helps in combating any feelings of loneliness and isolation. Because Ticket to Ride: Europe is a cooperative play style of game with friendly competition it provides laughter, bonding, and shared experiences.
Cognitive Stimulation:
Chemotherapy and other leukemia treatments can impact cognitive functioning and academic performance. Board games like Ticket to Ride: Europe stimulate cognitive skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and spatial reasoning, helping children maintain mental agility and sharpness during their treatment journey. Anything to help keep the brain working well is a bonus. The strategic elements challenge players to plan routes, make decisions, and adapt to changing circumstances, promoting resilience.
Therapeutic Benefits:
Board games such as Ticket to Ride: Europe can act as therapeutic tools to promote emotional expression, stress relief, and relaxation. Playing Ticket to Ride: Europe allows children to be involved in structured activities that promote positive emotions and self-esteem. The sense of accomplishment gained from mastering the game and achieving strategic goals can give a much needed boost to children’s confidence and gives them something they can have a choice in, such as the decision making and strategy that they don’t get during their treatment. This helps bring about resilience and determination with the challenges of Leukemia treatment.
Family Bonding, Isolation and Support:
Leukemia treatment has a huge strain on families. It disrupts routines and changes the dynamics of the family. Ticket to Ride: Europe affords families the ability to come together, strengthen relationships, and create cherished memories amidst the adversity. It helps with communication skills among the family members. The shared experiences and helps families give support, find comfort, joy, laughter, support and strength in each other’s company. During treatment, children with leukemia often feel isolated because they generally are. They are often missing school or away in hospital as a result of their treatment and the side effects and therefore board games are a means to combat this isolation.
Schooling Option to Keep on Top of Educational Needs
While I’ve written other articles on this game with respect to it’s educational value for people who homeschool and a review style article outlining the game in general to give you more information about it, each article is different and worth reading for different aspects. One suggestion I would like to put forth is that while your child is sick and undergoing treatment, which could last for 3 years, they are very likely to miss a lot of school. If you get the chance, look into homeschooling to enable you to keep your child’s mind and brain actively learning instead of just focusing on the negative side of having Leukemia and the treatment. When my daughter had Leukemia, there was not a lot available to help parents be more active in their child’s educational needs and I did not realise it was even an option. However, nowadays, there is the internet and access is readily available, something simple as getting them started on Reading Eggs which also includes Mathseeds, is an excellent way to maintain learning and is able to be accessed using a mobile phone or tablet. It doesn’t require a lot of focus and feels more like a game or activity instead of learning.
In Summary
When considering adding to your range of fun games for children with Leukemia – Ticket To Ride: Europe to Ride is an excellent choice which acts as more than just a board game. It provides opportunities for entertainment, distraction, socialization, cognitive stimulation, therapeutic engagement, and use as an educational tool to continue your child’s schooling even when they can’t attend, the game has a lot to offer children with Leukemia and their families. As children embark on their journey towards healing and recovery I would recommend this game. We consider it a favourite of our many board games and invite you to give it a try.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions or would like to add to this, leave a comment below or contact me via my dedicated Facebook page.
Warm Wishes
Ange
