When our kids are young, like in the pre-school and kindergarten age group, they love the educational computer games we encourage them to play, but what happens when they get a little older, say 9 or 10? Do the educational games become “lame”? By now, the youngsters have probably discovered a new realm of computer games. One of violence and aggression, but also one of fantastic graphics and a reality like no other. Have you seen some of these games? Checkout this clip of Crysis 2 . Amazing, isn't it.Too bad it’s so violent. Unfortunately, that seems to come with the territory of “cool” video games. As much as we probably want to shield our children from it, chances are those 9 and 10 year old boys have discovered these and it’s now the hot topic of conversation. As parents what can we do? I guess try to limit the games they play, lucky for us most video games come with a rating, much like movies do. It’s called the ESRB Entertainment Software Ratings Board.
I thought these rating sounded like a great idea, until I read on. Apparently these rating are mostly voluntary and I’ve read some negative feedback on them. I guess if nothing else, it’s a starting point. As parents and educators, it’s still up to us to review and decide what our kids should and should not be playing. 
What we need to do, is elliminate the divide between educational games, and the 'cool' games with the awesome graphics. Why can't the educational games be cool? Maybe there are amazing educational games like this out there. I just haven't stumbled upon them yet, but I'll keep looking.
PS. I encountered some gaming sites that required me to enter my birthday, and based on my age would determine if I could get into the site or not. Yeah, no kid will be able to figure that one out
And I found it particularly amazing that the clip from Crysis 2 had 678 comments! That's a lot of interest.
ReplyDeleteThere are some pretty cool edugames, and some really nice environments. I know that something like "The Immune System Game" doesn't quite stack up next to "Grand Larceny", but I'm hoping you find some games that work for you, and I'm looking forward to hearing about them. Even something as simple as the Wii suite of games can involve kids in some great ways that combine play and learning.
The Sims games are good. I've been playing since Sims 1 and I just got the Sim3 last year. The game has a really nice design feature. This game would be amazing for Home Ec classes. There is a unit for interior design and drafting in the Home Ec Curriculum. When I was in school, I had to paint on paper what I wanted my house to look like.. it wasn't that fun or imaginative. When I played Sims 3, the house design possibilities are endless. You can choose brick road sidewalks.. or a multiple palette of wallpapers. You can even choose the furniture and how the design of a room is pleasing to the eye. Students are able to really visualize their design and what it could realistically look like.. Too bad I haven't tried it yet. But I can share with you to share with others. Cheers. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a Wii at home, and the graphics surely don't compare, but some of the games are pretty fun. I don't have any problem-solving games mind you, I'll have to look into Goo & Max & the Magic Marker.
ReplyDeleteI've been quite curious about the Sims series, I'll investigate that and blog about my findings.
Thanks everyone.