“You play those video games all day long, don’t you ever get bored?” – Does this sound familiar? If you have young children then it is likely you say this all day long. But, have you ever thought about watching your children whilst they play their video games? There are a huge number of online games for boys and girls available today and you can learn a lot by watching your children enjoy these. So, next time you get a little bit of spare time you should take the opportunity to watch your kids play video games, and you may find that you learn the following crucial lessons about your kids.
Lesson 1: Hard work
Most video games revolve around the concept of ‘levelling up’. This simply means that once your child completes one level they will then move onto a more difficult level and so on and so forth. Therefore, they come to a point in the game whereby they find it tough and they do not level up straight away. Your child then has to use determination and hard work in order to succeed and move onto the next level. You see the commitment your child can put in. Perhaps this is something that they could then use in other aspects of their life?
Lesson 2: Who is your child?
You also note the way that they use their mind in order to try different means and methods of defeating the challenges faced in the level. You get to learn about how your child’s brain works and also about how they react to failure too. After all, we all have different approaches to puzzles and problems. The insight into your child’s personality is huge and you can use this in order to form a greater bond too. By simply taking note of the type of games your kid enjoys playing, from Japan anime games to classic cartoon games, you get a glimpse into their character. It is like fitting together all of the pieces of a puzzle.
Lesson 3: Reading level
You can actually learn a lot about the level of your child’s reading ability by watching them play online games. You will be shocked to see the amount of reading that is involved in video games. In fact, there are lots of games that contain a build-up story before each level. Furthermore, your child will also need to read in order to figure out the instructions of the game. This means you can rest safe in the knowledge that their reading skills are being enhanced and you can also learn about where they are at present too. You can pick up on other important skills too by observing your child. For example, how are their eye to hand coordination skills?
Lesson 4: Map reading
There are lots of games that require your children to read maps. This is because lots of kids’ games are revolved around adventure. Therefore, you can learn about whether your child is competent in map reading or not. If you are yet to teach them about this then you will also be able to discover how quickly they can pick things up via their own means.
Lesson 5: Emotions
You can learn a lot about how emotional your child is and how they deal with their emotions. Video games revolve around this because there are highs and lows. You will see the level of jubilation felt when completing a level and alternatively how frustrated they feel when they do not complete a level. This allows you to determine how your child channels their emotions. This is very important for developmental purposes. If your child gets frustrated and angry easily, this is something you can work on with them.
Next time your child is playing a video game, you should definitely watch them. You will be surprised by just how much you can learn about your little one by observing the types of video games they play and their attitude when doing so. Plus, while video games may have a bit of a bad reputation, you will see that there are a number of benefits associated with them - so long as they are enjoyed in moderation.
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