Education teachers or other professionals involved with kids are always searching for high quality video games that will attract the interest of students. The task becomes even more difficult if you are trying to cater to kids of different levels. Also if you are shopping for the longer term, you will have to be on the look out for something that will hold their interest even next year or the year after that.
Some Practical Things to Look for
1.Is it a multi player game or for single players?
2.Are the game characters glorifying negative qualities?
3.Can the difficulty level be changed for kids of different age groups?
4.Can kids start playing at the next level next time when they have already finished previous levels?
5.If the kids advance through the game, do they have enough incentives?
6.Can you adjust the brightness?
7.Can you turn the music off?
The games should be inviting for the players so that they don’t need to be motivated to play the games. The sound and graphics should be attractive without being overly dominating. As a parent, you will find online games will also greatly serve you as an educational resource. Here education doesn’t mean simply forcing bookish knowledge down the throat of your kids. You should look for their overall development so that they can learn critical life skills that will help them in future.
Don’t Catch Them Young
Kids should not be exposed to online games when they are very young. They should be at least 7 to 8 years old before you allow them to start playing games. Exception to the rule still exists since there are many kids who have good computer skills even at an earlier age. Violent video games affect the children negatively in real life; therefore you should monitor which types of games the children are playing on their computers. At the first level simple word games or even puzzles would suffice.
Life Skills Improvement
Kids should not be pressurized to play a game of your choice. Find out what is the natural interest of a child. Some kids may prefer word games whereas others may be fond of jigsaw puzzles. Every game teaches some important life skills to the kids. For example, if they are playing strategy games, they would learn how to make strategies and think with clarity when they grow up. If the child is playing an online game and the website supports communication among different players, the game will increase the social skills of the child.