On computer games for small children, with an emphasis on education rather than mere entertainment
-
Since I was 2 years old (that is, some 20 years ago), my father took great pains to ensure I had the best computer games for my education: spelling games (I only remember one of them, which was an animated hangman, but there were many others), puzzle games (think Chip's Challenge), science "games" (well, Orbits was not actually a game, but it was fun nevertheless), etc. Now I am going to be a father, and I am worried because I cannot find any modern game in the spirit of those I played when I was a child. Whenever I search for games, I can only find shooting, car racing, virtual pet feeding/raising, and other "mundane" games, which are not bad by themselves, but will not be as helpful for my soon-to-come child's education as those I played were for mine, I fear. Should I continue looking for interesting educative games (and "games" as well), or should I give up and start writing my own?
Eduardo León
-
Since I was 2 years old (that is, some 20 years ago), my father took great pains to ensure I had the best computer games for my education: spelling games (I only remember one of them, which was an animated hangman, but there were many others), puzzle games (think Chip's Challenge), science "games" (well, Orbits was not actually a game, but it was fun nevertheless), etc. Now I am going to be a father, and I am worried because I cannot find any modern game in the spirit of those I played when I was a child. Whenever I search for games, I can only find shooting, car racing, virtual pet feeding/raising, and other "mundane" games, which are not bad by themselves, but will not be as helpful for my soon-to-come child's education as those I played were for mine, I fear. Should I continue looking for interesting educative games (and "games" as well), or should I give up and start writing my own?
Eduardo León
Though I have no kids of my own, I've helped to raise a number of them. One product line I highly recommend is Leapfrog[^]. They have games for all ages, and all are wonderfully educational while being quite entertaining. They're affordable, and most are available at Walmart year round.
Will Rogers never met me.
-
Since I was 2 years old (that is, some 20 years ago), my father took great pains to ensure I had the best computer games for my education: spelling games (I only remember one of them, which was an animated hangman, but there were many others), puzzle games (think Chip's Challenge), science "games" (well, Orbits was not actually a game, but it was fun nevertheless), etc. Now I am going to be a father, and I am worried because I cannot find any modern game in the spirit of those I played when I was a child. Whenever I search for games, I can only find shooting, car racing, virtual pet feeding/raising, and other "mundane" games, which are not bad by themselves, but will not be as helpful for my soon-to-come child's education as those I played were for mine, I fear. Should I continue looking for interesting educative games (and "games" as well), or should I give up and start writing my own?
Eduardo León
I'd skip it altogether. This is probably going to be pretty unpopular here, but there have been a few studies that have shown giving kids computers when they are too young can get in the way of development. I taught myself basic and wrote games when I was 9-10 years old (4th grade), and don't think my children will be harmed with limited computer access before then. In the mean time, I'm making sure my son has access to everything he needs to learn to handle and manipulate things in the real world before he is introduced to too many abstract things like computer games.
-
I'd skip it altogether. This is probably going to be pretty unpopular here, but there have been a few studies that have shown giving kids computers when they are too young can get in the way of development. I taught myself basic and wrote games when I was 9-10 years old (4th grade), and don't think my children will be harmed with limited computer access before then. In the mean time, I'm making sure my son has access to everything he needs to learn to handle and manipulate things in the real world before he is introduced to too many abstract things like computer games.
Erector set! :thumbsup:
-
Erector set! :thumbsup:
My Mum bought me all kinds of toys I could build things with...aside from that I had 3 stuffed animals and a handful of tiny toy cars...
-
Since I was 2 years old (that is, some 20 years ago), my father took great pains to ensure I had the best computer games for my education: spelling games (I only remember one of them, which was an animated hangman, but there were many others), puzzle games (think Chip's Challenge), science "games" (well, Orbits was not actually a game, but it was fun nevertheless), etc. Now I am going to be a father, and I am worried because I cannot find any modern game in the spirit of those I played when I was a child. Whenever I search for games, I can only find shooting, car racing, virtual pet feeding/raising, and other "mundane" games, which are not bad by themselves, but will not be as helpful for my soon-to-come child's education as those I played were for mine, I fear. Should I continue looking for interesting educative games (and "games" as well), or should I give up and start writing my own?
Eduardo León
-
Erector set! :thumbsup:
Yeah, my son is 4 right now and getting bored with lego's so I think it is time to jump up in complexity. :-D
-
I'd skip it altogether. This is probably going to be pretty unpopular here, but there have been a few studies that have shown giving kids computers when they are too young can get in the way of development. I taught myself basic and wrote games when I was 9-10 years old (4th grade), and don't think my children will be harmed with limited computer access before then. In the mean time, I'm making sure my son has access to everything he needs to learn to handle and manipulate things in the real world before he is introduced to too many abstract things like computer games.
There aren't enough points to award that one. 5 is all I could give. Amen, bro! Marc
-
I'd skip it altogether. This is probably going to be pretty unpopular here, but there have been a few studies that have shown giving kids computers when they are too young can get in the way of development. I taught myself basic and wrote games when I was 9-10 years old (4th grade), and don't think my children will be harmed with limited computer access before then. In the mean time, I'm making sure my son has access to everything he needs to learn to handle and manipulate things in the real world before he is introduced to too many abstract things like computer games.
Actually, I completely agree with you. Our kids won't get a computer until they are in their teens. They don't have TV in their rooms - if they want to watch TV, it has to be downstairs in the main room where their viewing can be monitored. They are encouraged to go outside and play games - they have plenty of hobbies as well.
I have CDO, it's OCD with the letters in the right order; just as they ruddy well should be
Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads
-
Since I was 2 years old (that is, some 20 years ago), my father took great pains to ensure I had the best computer games for my education: spelling games (I only remember one of them, which was an animated hangman, but there were many others), puzzle games (think Chip's Challenge), science "games" (well, Orbits was not actually a game, but it was fun nevertheless), etc. Now I am going to be a father, and I am worried because I cannot find any modern game in the spirit of those I played when I was a child. Whenever I search for games, I can only find shooting, car racing, virtual pet feeding/raising, and other "mundane" games, which are not bad by themselves, but will not be as helpful for my soon-to-come child's education as those I played were for mine, I fear. Should I continue looking for interesting educative games (and "games" as well), or should I give up and start writing my own?
Eduardo León
Aren't kids supposed to have fun? Societies where children's education and advancement are given a higher priority than children having fun and learning the way evolution built them to learn are societies with high rates of juvenile suicide.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
-
Aren't kids supposed to have fun? Societies where children's education and advancement are given a higher priority than children having fun and learning the way evolution built them to learn are societies with high rates of juvenile suicide.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
I never said having fun was not a priority. I just want to use fun as a means for educating my child. That's the way I learnt, and that's why things like syntactic analysis of sentences, algebra and the like was much, much less painful than they are for most people. Of course, I am not going to push my child into learning those things, but I will make them available to him at an earlier age than it is available to most.
Eduardo León
