There are plenty of warnings about kids spending too much time in front of their screens. At the same time, there is an amazing wealth of information available online. More importantly, there are many different apps and games available to help teach them what they need to know. Here are a few reasons why educational games can benefit your children.
It Can Motivate Them to Continue Learning
You and your child may get bored with flash cards after a few minutes, but educational games online could keep them engaged for half an hour or more. More importantly, the shifting screens and points systems often keep them coming back for more. If the game involves competition or simply playing with other kids, that can increase the amount of time they’d spend working on the lessons, too. The question is: what motivates your child? A competitive child may want to beat other kids’ scores more than set a new high score for themselves. A less competitive child may prefer to play with other children toward a goal, and there are games designed for group competition or completion of puzzles together.
It Can Fit into Your Busy Schedule
It has become common practice to give your child a tablet with an app to keep them busy while you’re standing in the grocery store line or waiting for your dinner to arrive. You can make that educational time by giving them educational games to play. Many games can reinforce language lessons and math facts for those few minutes. It is certainly easier to open up an educational game when there is free time in your schedule compared to trying to get one of the few tutoring slots available after school.
It Gives Everyone an Honest Assessment
You may be tempted to give your child excessive credit, or they may make excuses for their performance at school. But an app is going to give an honest assessment of the child’s skills. How many first-grade math facts did they know, and how many did they miss? How many spelling words or punctuation examples did they get right? It is like a test, but it isn’t going to trigger anxiety the way a written assessment would. No one can give them extra credit to make them feel better or take off points for petty reasons. You can be sure they know certain things and identify where they need to improve.
It May Fit Your Child’s Learning Style
Your child may have a visual, aural, verbal or kinesthetic learning style. When you are looking for a learning or educational game for kids, take the content as well as the delivery method into account. Will your child learn more from flash card games or online puzzles? Will they learn more by reading segments and answering questions or playing a game that lets they hear and say words?
This is separate from the fact that you need to choose a game that matches your child’s academic level. For example, you wouldn’t give a child an algebra game if they can’t add or subtract.
