Playing video games can increase your child’s intelligence, at least that’s what science says. Children who spend time playing video games are more sociable among their peers and participate well in classrooms.
Kids have a tendency of spending leisure time either in front of the television or on some new tech gadget – iPhones are a necessity these days apparently. Gone are the days where heading outside for a swim or to play with friends is considered sociable. If you tell them to do homework they disgruntle and moan about wanting to spend an extra hour on the Xbox.
A study that was carried by Yale University determined the performance levels of students in math and reading. They took over 500 second graders and administered a brain training program – called ‘Activate’ – for about 20 minutes, three times a week for a period of four months. The results were higher math scores that were greater than that reported of one-on-one tutoring and greater reading scores than that of summer reading programs.
Another study by University of Glasgow showed that game-based learning interventions have a major effect on higher education. The results support the hypothesis that playing video games can improve self-reported graduate skills like increase in focus, self-control and memory recall.
Video games have always served a greater purpose than just to fill in some leisure time. At least now they do. Amid the challenging environments, endless hours fighting aliens and capturing rare Pokémon around the city, do you think children spending hours in front of the screen is a good thing? Doubt it. Science however thinks otherwise.
Australia conducted a survey across 700 schools which involved more than 12,000 teens playing video games. The results were to see the correlation between video games and intelligence. They discovered that 15 year-old teenagers who spent time playing video games scored higher intellectual marks when it came to math, reading and science than relatively students who surfed social media all day long.
Even though science proves the importance of playing video games when it comes to the child’s intellectual skills, discovering the educational game that a kid will actually like to play is not as easy as we think. According to Super-guide to Educational Games blog post, we must keep in mind that not all educational games must have an immediate learning value
A Must Play Educational Games
1. Science Lab
If a child is interested in scientific experiments, then Science Lab is the perfect game for him. It simulates science-experiments and introduces the child to chemistry and physics experiments using on-screen house-hold items.
2. Tynker
Another fun to play video game is Tynker. This game teaches the kid how to code through many programming tutorials. While playing Tynker, the child will memorize the programming lessons by solving puzzles.
3. Dropwords
The game is a mix between Scrabble and Bejeweled. Dropwords helps in improving the player’s vocabulary and spelling skills. To win the game, the player must chain the letter tiles that appears on the screen to create words.
4. Monopoly
Monopoly helps in escalating mathematical skills and cognitive skills by teaching the player the basics of saving and budgeting to allow him to deal with the non-expected expenses in the future.
The role of gamification in education for instance is important, and with good reason. It helps students understand new information using unconventional methods. It’s not rocket science. You’re taking a functional process of game mechanics to keep students engaged in the classroom. That’s how gamification work. To overcome the problems 10 to 14-year-old kids face while solving a mathematics homework, you need to determine the accumulated points required by the end of the course for these students to pass. That is one way teachers gamify and make classrooms interesting – or what is known in the gamer’s world as racking up “experience points (XP)”.
