TRAVIS NEWSOME

First of all, who is Travis Newsome? Click here to find out.

Don't hesitate for one minute to contact us for the answers you need. If you think you have a question, contact us using the "Send A Message" form below or you may call (224) 725-3727‬. We answer our phones.

IF YOU WANT TO:

Improve your game by taking my online one-on-one "Domino Theory and Strategy Class," get more information click here. The first hour of the class will impress you.

Purchase my "Play Dominoes Like A Champion Book," click here. 

Purchase my book "Dominoes Game Night - 65 Classic Games to Entertain and Excite," click here. 

Educational and health benefits of the game of dominoes, click here.

Maybe you don't want a domino book, you could be interested in my non-domino book, "A Man Called Mama," click here. 

Purchase my "Dominoes Game Night -65 Games to Entertain and Excite," click here. 

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO OF 2:41 MINUTES, click here.

You or your child could be the next World Domino champion. There are over 25 World Championship titles that come from the Travis Newsome Domino tree and over 45 major titles total - The World Championship Domino Tournament.


 

After you have read everything, find out how to register by clicking one of the link below.

1. Two school currently enrolled in the program-
Wheaton Montessori and Montessori Academy of Glen Ellyn 

2. Sweet Reserve Cafe and Bakery Winfield, IL - Click here.

27W449 High Lake Rd, Winfield, IL 60190 (corner of High Lake Rd. and Winfield Rd.)

 
3. How Do We Get The Program or how could this program benefit our organization? 

4. The program is available EVERYWHERE in the country. Even my state?
 

NOW, let's read about the program.

Recent studies have linked board games to a variety of psychological health benefits. While the list is long, here are a few of the many benefits you can expect:

- Improved cognitive function and hand-eye coordination

- Enhanced critical thinking and problem-solving skills

- Excellent at improving math skills 

- Improved social skills

- Managing adversity

- Deductive and Logical reasoning
- Probability Analysis

- DISCIPLINE- learning the significance

In the book "Dominoes Game Night: 65 Classic Games to Entertain and Excite," Travis Newsome dedicated the entire 5th chapter to the benefits of playing the game of dominoes. To read Chapter 5, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Our program, "Dominoes: More Than a Game," - Making Good Decisions, has been designed to provide many of the benefits the game offers.  

It is a 9 week program where classes may be held once or twice weekly for one hour after school. The last week/class of the program consists of a competition.

Additional benefits of the program as defined by Perplexity.AI, click here. 

Stuff Perplexity.AI knows about the founder Travis Newsome, click here. 

Please contact us to discuss how we can make this program an integral part of your school. We promise the students will enjoy this program and everything it offers.

Travis Newsome, CEO
Jenni Wiggins, Chief Marketing Officer

To contact us, click here. 

OTHER PROGRAMS AND OUR NOT-FOR PROFIT BELOW.

Dominoes, More Than A Game- Senior Division
Corporate Dominoes - Masterful Team Building

Contact us at 816-536-1962 or [email protected]

Way More Than a Game, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established with a dual mission: to promote the educational and health benefits of tabletop games, particularly dominoes, and to provide scholarships for traditionally underrepresented students pursuing degrees in Business Administration. The organization emphasizes the cognitive, social, and physical advantages of playing dominoes.

Educational and Health Benefits of Dominoes

The organization highlights the multifaceted benefits of dominoes, particularly for elderly individuals. Playing dominoes can enhance cognitive functions such as memory, concentration, and strategic thinking, while also improving fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Additionally, it serves as a social activity that combats loneliness and isolation, fostering community engagement and intergenerational connections.

Scholarships for Underrepresented Students

Way More Than a Game, Inc. is committed to increasing business education by offering scholarships to students from underrepresented backgrounds who wish to pursue MBAs or other business-related degrees. 

Community Engagement

The organization also focuses on bringing dominoes to senior homes, where the game can serve as a therapeutic and social activity. By organizing dominoes sessions, the nonprofit aims to improve the mental and physical well-being of elderly participants while fostering a sense of community.

Through its dual focus on education and health, Way More Than a Game, Inc. seeks to make a meaningful impact on both individual lives and broader societal challenges.

When you get a few minutes, please read Chapter 5 in Dominoes Game Night: 65 Classic Games To Entertain and Excite, can be found at the bottom of this page.  

If you have questions or would like to make a donation to our 501(c)3, click here to contact us.

Thank you for your support.

Travis Newsome
CEO
Jenni Wiggins
Chief Marketing Officer

Team building offers numerous benefits that can significantly enhance organizational performance and employee satisfaction. Here are some key advantages:

Enhancing Productivity and Collaboration

Team building activities encourage employees to work toward common goals, which can lead to increased productivity and efficiency. By fostering collaboration, teams can eliminate duplicated efforts and improve workflow.

Boosting Morale and Motivation

Activities that involve games and fun tasks can uplift employee morale, creating a positive work environment. This not only makes employees feel appreciated but also motivates them to perform better.

Improving Communication and Creativity

Team building helps improve communication among team members, making it easier to share ideas and solve problems creatively. Stepping away from the usual work setting can provide fresh perspectives and innovative solutions.

Building Confidence and Trust

Succeeding in team-building activities can boost employees' confidence, encouraging them to share more ideas and trust their colleagues' abilities. This trust fosters a more independent and cohesive team.

Supporting Remote Teams

For companies with remote employees, team building can help create a sense of community and connection, which is crucial for maintaining a positive work environment across different locations.

Strengthening Organizational Culture

Regular team-building events reinforce company values, such as mutual respect and collaboration, contributing to a stronger and more unified organizational culture.

Promoting Work-Life Balance

Incorporating flexible and enjoyable activities into team-building programs can help employees achieve a better work-life balance, which is essential for long-term job satisfaction and retention.

Encouraging Equal Opportunities

Team building can also align with a company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, ensuring that all employees feel valued and have equal opportunities to contribute.

By incorporating these elements into your corporate team-building program, you can create a more engaged, motivated, and productive workforce. If you’re considering adding dominoes to your activities, ensure you establish clear policies to maintain professionalism and focus on the program’s objectives.

Playing dominoes offers numerous benefits for seniors, encompassing physical, cognitive, and social advantages:

Cognitive Benefits
Dominoes enhances mental agility by requiring players to strategize, plan ahead, and use memory, concentration, and problem-solving skills. This mental engagement helps slow cognitive decline and is particularly beneficial for individuals with dementia or age-related memory loss.

Physical Benefits
The game improves hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and dexterity, which are essential for seniors, especially those with conditions like arthritis. Handling the tiles also promotes hand strength and precision.

Social Benefits
Dominoes fosters social interaction, reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness. It provides opportunities for seniors to connect with friends, family, or peers, encouraging conversation and friendly competition.

Emotional and Psychological Benefits
The game creates a sense of purpose and enjoyment, evoking positive memories and providing a safe, engaging environment. It also helps reduce stress and improve mood through its relaxing and mentally stimulating nature.

Versatility and Accessibility
Dominoes can be adapted for various skill levels and physical abilities, including large-print or visually impaired versions, making it accessible to a wide range of seniors.

Overall, dominoes is a fun, inclusive activity that supports seniors' overall well-being while keeping their minds and bodies active.

CHAPTER 5- The Benefits of Playing Dominoes

“It’s good to get together with friends and family and engage in face-to-face interaction. I enjoy spending quality time while enjoying board games.” — Pat Stephenson, Youth Services Assistant, Bensalem Branch

Dominoes is a great form of entertainment, but it’s so much more than just a game. There are tremendous benefits to playing board games. You may not think of Dominoes as a board game because most sets don’t come with a plastic board, but we refer to the area where the Dominoes are laid out as a ‘board’. Board games are generally defined as tabletop games with pieces that are moved around, and which follow specific rules so that one player or team can win. Dice and Dominoes are considered some of the oldest board games.

Board games have been in existence for thousands of years, but they had a major resurgence starting in 2020, when COVID-19 created a global pandemic that brought the world to a screeching halt. Countries across the world went into lockdown and governments required residents to stay home and avoid socializing with their friends and neighbors, which led to a massive increase in board game playing as families who were stuck at home found ways to pass the time. Board games provide entertainment, but unlike watching television or spending time on social media, these games foster authentic human connection, which helps to fight off feelings of isolation and loneliness. Even after governments around the world lifted restrictions and people began socializing normally, board games maintained their renewed popularity. That is, in part, because these games are popular at parties and events where guests can have fun while testing their skill level

against their friends, and maybe a few foes. This is especially true for Dominoes, given its competitive nature.

There are some types of board games that are played one-on-one, but I believe the most exciting and fun games are those that require teamwork. These games require you to cooperate with your partner/teammate(s) in order to be successful. Playing friendly board games can bring people closer, promote unity, and allow you to make new friends and strengthen existing relationships. I have found this to be true consistently throughout my life. I have Domino friends from childhood and some of my best friends as an adult (personally and professionally) came from participating in Domino tournaments over the last 44 years. Perhaps the most exciting time during tournament weekends (other than the competition itself) is the fellowship that occurs between competitions. These are very special times, with comradery and conversations that sometimes last until sunrise the next day. When the world is not on lock down and people are able to play live and in person, it is a wonderful chance for people to elevate their social skills.

Some of the most easily identifiable benefits of Dominoes are the personal and interpersonal benefits. These are benefits that impact the way we view ourselves, how we show up in the world, and how we interact with others. Whether through sports or games, putting people together and asking them to work toward one common goal has always been a way to create productive social interactions. This is especially beneficial for people with social anxiety as it can help them to come out of their shell and overcome their social fears in a healthy manner. Game play offers reclusive and introverted people a positive reason to leave home and to engage with others. Board games are especially helpful for shy children and timid adults. Playing offers a non-threatening, guided space for social interaction, while also helping to encourage a stronger sense of individuality

that results in a feeling of being included. Over time, players become more comfortable interacting with new people and gain confidence in themselves as they increase their skill in the game. They become more self-assured in their abilities. Being able to master a sport or a game offers a tremendous boost to people’s emotional state of mind. Having a sense of pride in accomplishments and achievements also helps anxious people feel more comfortable in social settings. This self-reliance inevitably turns into improved self

esteem. Fun fact: When teaching elementary students Dominoes, one of the first questions I ask them is, “What is the name of the smartest elementary school you know?” About 10% of the students will name their school. When that same question is asked at the end of the day, everyone’s answer has changed to, “We are!”

Playing games has been shown to help people, especially children, with autism. People with autism typically have a difficult time communicating and expressing themselves, so social interactions can be challenging, but Dominoes relies on the principles of mathematics, which is the universal language of the world. It doesn’t matter what language you speak or if you can speak at all. No words are needed to play a game of Dominoes. Unlike many other board games, Dominoes teaches players how to do math quickly, and in their head. Any parents who have children that are struggling to learn addition should really start having their kids play Dominoes regularly.

The Council of International Schools (CIS) has even found that board games can help students learn new languages. The games allow them to interact with other players, thus practicing their verbal skills while also expanding their vocabulary to learn words used in the game. This is also extremely beneficial for people with autism who have a hard time expressing themselves verbally. Playing Dominoes requires language-

learners to stay focused for longer periods of time so they can pay attention to the explanations and developments of the game.

Playing games is extremely beneficial for children with autism because it is a vital part of childhood development. Games teach children how to work well with others, how to be part of a team, how to communicate effectively, how to rely on other people, how to distribute responsibility, how to lose gracefully, and how to win graciously. Believe it or not, playing games actually helps children to develop fine motor skills. Playing strategic games like Dominoes teaches children how to sit still and focus, enhancing their concentration skills. The game teaches children how to interact with others more positively, and it emphasizes the importance of setting goals, following rules, and being patient. Winning a game of Dominoes takes strategy and patience. The best players wait for the perfect play, rather than impulsively downing their Dominoes without thought. Children with behavioral issues will definitely benefit because in order to play Dominoes, they must learn to take direction, sit with emotions like frustration, endure adversity, and accept defeat, all of which results in a greater sense of self-discipline. It is for all these reasons that my presence is always welcomed at elementary schools when I go to teach the kids how to play Dominoes.

Other than the obvious social benefits, playing Dominoes is also a great way to improve your health. While you may think you are just having fun and playing a game, you are actually exercising. Exercising your brain, that is. Believe it or not, your brain is quite aware, active, and appreciative of your involvement in Dominoes because playing a game of Dominoes increases your brain activity. Researchers have done countless studies on the benefits of playing board games. We can break down these researched benefits into two categories: Biological Benefits and Personal Benefits. The biological

benefits are those that directly impact our minds and bodies on a physical level, whereas the personal and interpersonal benefits are secondary benefits that impact us either socially or as individuals.

One of the biggest possible biological benefits of playing a game like Dominoes is its impact on your mind. Many studies have proven the link between playing games and a reduced risk of cognitive decline. One study from the University of Edinburgh found that individuals who regularly play non-digital games are more likely to stay mentally sharp later in life. In the study, researchers used statistical models to analyze the relationship between a person's level of game playing and their thinking skills. The team took into account the results of an intelligence test that the participants had taken when they were 11 years old and other lifestyle factors, such as education, socio-economic status, and activity level. People who increased game playing in later years were found to have experienced less decline in thinking skills, particularly in memory function and thinking speed.

There is a direct correlation between playing strategic games on a regular basis and seniors who remain sharp and lucid well into their golden years. Dr. Drew Altschul, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: "These latest findings add to evidence that being more engaged in activities during the life course might be associated with better thinking skills in later life. For those in their 70s or beyond, another message seems to be that playing non-digital games may be a positive behavior in terms of reducing cognitive decline." The old saying “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” seems to hold true. But fear not, because if you do use it, you don’t have to lose it!

Another study—a French population-based cohort study headed by Dr. Jean François Dartigues—found board game playing could also lower the risk of dementia. The research found that not only did game play reduce cognitive decline and depression in elderly board game players, but the onset of dementia was likely to be mediated as well. Not only does regularly playing Dominoes reduce your risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s, and cognitive decline, but it can actually help strengthen your brain. The Council of International Schools (CIS) states that board gaming can help build areas of the brain, like the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, that are responsible for complex functions because strategic gaming forces the brain to learn new skills. Essentially, exercising the brain in this way can help improve brain health overall. Games like Dominoes focus more on skill and decision-making, rather than relying on luck, which constantly forces your mind to examine problems from all angles. This can help improve cognitive functions such as memory, information retention, taking turns, problem-solving, negotiating, and complex situations.

This is also extremely helpful for cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy and suffer from chemotherapy induced cognitive impairment, a common phenomenon also known as “chemo brain’ or “chemo fog.” It is defined as a decline of cognitive functioning, processing, and mental ability. Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy treatment often have a difficult time with memory retrieval and concentration and may claim to feel as though there is a fog or a cloud on their brain. One of the best ways for people experiencing this to counteract their symptoms is to continually challenge their brains to stay sharp and active through daily exercises that require focused-attention and strategic thinking like puzzles and games. The same applies to people taking certain medications. Modern medicine has come a long way and so many

ailments are easily managed with medications, but some medications can reduce cognitive function, especially certain mood-stabilizers, antipsychotics, anti-anxiety medications, and seizure medications. Board games that require in-depth decision making and critical thinking serve as a great form of mental stimulation and can help combat this sort of cognitive decline.

One of the most common “side effects” of playing Dominoes is feeling happy. Biologically, this happens because your body actually releases endorphins, your natural “feel-good” chemicals. According to the Buck County Free Library in Doylestown, PA, these “happy hormones” have the power to improve conscious and unconscious brain functions and leave you feeling more cheerful, compassionate, and content. Another happy “side effect” of playing Dominoes is laughter. Just try to get through a friendly game without cracking a smile, I dare you. It’s easier said than done, trust me! Regularly having fun and laughing helps decrease stress. According to an online survey by RealNetworks, Inc., 53% of people play board games for stress relief. The calming nature of sitting down and tuning out the world in order to focus on only one thing—which is not a computer, phone, or television screen—is proven to be a stress reliever. Whenever the world falls apart outside, you can always stay cozy inside and tune the problems of the day out as you engage in a lively game of Dominoes.

Along with reducing stress, laughing, and increasing “happy hormones,” board games can be effective at maintaining blood pressure. High blood pressure is associated with a higher risk of artery damage, heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Blood pressure can be significantly impacted by stress and tension, so finding organic ways to maintain blood pressure through gaming can actually save lives! And

when the “happy hormones” are activated and the body releases endorphins, it prompts our muscles to relax, which helps blood circulate more easily.

Board games force us to engage in activities that don’t involve a smartphone, tablet, or computer screen. Although you can play Dominoes online (more on that in Chapter 9), I prefer to play in-person. I think Brian Magerko, a digital media professor at Georgia Tech, says it best, “There is something about the co-location of physical items, sitting across from each other at a table, sharing pizza, that playing with digital board games online simply does not replace.”

As you become more and more immersed in the game, you may want to reference these benefits when trying to make your spouse, significant other, friends, or boss understand why you need to spend so much time playing Dominoes. Soon you may find your boss passing your cubicle only to turn around and ask you, “Are you playing that game again?” Thankfully, I wrote out the perfect answer for you. “Boss, the games I play are wonderful exercises for my brain. You see, playing stimulates the areas of my brain that are responsible for the complex thought and memory formation required to do this job, and it helps me build essential cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and decision making. When my team of coworkers and I spend 60-90 minutes each day playing these games, our productivity and efficiency in the remaining work hours are doubled if not tripled. And not to mention our ability to work together as a team is fine-tuned by our gaming fellowship.”

At that point, I highly recommend suggesting your boss come and play a game with you—once they’re hooked on the game too, it will be way easier to play Dominoes at work. Can’t argue with science, especially when the benefits are plentiful. So, play on, champion!