Gaming is an amazing pastime and it is a great way for you to stay entertained. However, a vast majority of the people who consume games are kids.
If you are a parent you want your kids to learn as much as possible. This is why you should always be on the lookout for the things that provide educational value whenever you can.
This is the key to using gaming as an educational tool as it can help you in finding the top business ideas for kid entrepreneurs. Take a look at these tips to help you get started.
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Critical Thinking Meets Problem-Solving
The most important thing you want your child to grab a hold of when playing games is a combination of critical thinking and problem-solving. There are several games like Connections Game out there that will do both.
As a rule, any game that you want to use for this purpose should push children to plan, solve problems, and strategize.
This means that any game that has your kids scratching their heads, (even though you may watch in amusement at their frustration), is a good one. This forces them to think and come up with ideas outside of the box.
This is one of the key skills that will make them entrepreneurs, and inventors and take them to academic heights. Whether you and your older kids are playing blackjack or a game of Dora the Explorer you can teach problem-solving skills.
Enhance Language Skills
If you’re looking to blow up your child’s language skills then games that are story-driven are the keys to success. You want to make sure that the game has a lot of character interaction and that the storytelling is very engaging.
It will expand the vocabulary of your children. It’s a good idea to choose games that are based on regular books or even comic book series. This way your child will develop a curiosity and may even end up reading these books.
Storytelling games are so interactive that they push your child to improve their comprehension skills. It can also teach life lessons such as how decisions bring about certain consequences.
Simulate the Real World
There are some games that can simulate practical skills such as cooking. This can help to teach your child basic cooking techniques right there in the video game. Of course, this is not the only skill your child can grab, there are many more.
The hands-on approach of the simulation games can make your child feel free to run away with their imagination and explore. There’s a lot of trial and error involved and this only helps to bring their understanding and problem-solving skills to the mountaintops.
Develop Social and Emotional Intelligence
Video games and online games can help to develop your child’s social and emotional intelligence. Since they have to interact with other players sometimes online, it can have a huge impact on them, although it may seem as if it shouldn’t because it’s not real-time face-to-face interaction.
By learning how to cooperate and compromise when they are playing games with others that they may not even know in real life, they are developing social and emotional intelligence.
Find Games that Bring STEM to Life
The next step in the entire process is to make sure that introducing your children to video games can bring STEM concepts to life. When your child uses games to interact with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics you are putting them well ahead of the game in school.
They will be open to new and advanced technology and this can be exciting. It also gets them to dig deep into the archives and recesses of their minds and connect what they are learning in school to what they are seeing on screen.
Be a Moderator
There’s a lot of knowledge and insight that your child can get from playing the games. However, there needs to be some kind of healthy balance struck.
Screen time should be limited and the children should not be spending all their time monopolized by this. Remember that as a parent you play a key role in making sure that there are clear boundaries.
Make sure that your child is being responsible with their gaming.
Ensure they have a routine where they do educational gaming, recreational gaming, their hobbies, and outdoor activities as well. When the weather is great there’s no need for them to be cooped up inside on a game, let them go out and enjoy the fresh air.
Now you know all the benefits and also how to set healthy boundaries. It’s time to dive into learning and make it fun for your child and yourself.
Categories: Gaming Talk Stuff
