YOU ARE NOT BUSY. YOU ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN.
Posts tagged children
The Beauty of Halo
112 months ago
Head on over to Just a Bald Man… to read his excellent post “THE BEAUTY OF HALO”
For those parents who believe that video games have no redeeming educational value, I simply ask you to sit down and watch your child for a while – not just once for a few minutes, but over a period of time. If we take the time to really pay attention – to put down our iPhones, step away from the TV, lay aside our book – and really watch them, we can see some amazing things. Some of those things are obvious. The can learn about history, art, music, adventure, and a wide array of other things that virtually all parent views as “beneficial learning.”
Gaming for Children with Special Needs: What to Play?
61 year ago
Chances are, if you made it to 8bitlibrary.com, then you’re well aware of the benefits of gaming, including the development and reinforcement of various cognitive, literacy, and social skills. So the question is, what are you going to do in 2011 to enhance gaming services in your community? Our suggestion is expanding these programs to a new audience, and there is none better than children with special needs.
For complete information on the how and why of gaming for children with special needs, see the article from the December 2010 issue of School Library Journal, “Rated E for Everyone”. Then come back and check out this list of game recommendations and get a program started for this frequently under-served audience!
Card & Board Games
- ThinkFun Zingo is a fun, fast-moving matching game similar to Bingo in which players try to match up their picture card with tiles that are revealed by pulling on a Zinger. The first player to fill his or her picture card wins. This game is great because it accommodates 2 to 8 players, keeps kids engaged, teaches image and vocabulary recognition, reading, matching, memory, concentration, and encourages social skills such as taking turns, following rules, and sharing.
- I Spy Memory Game is a memory game, for 1-6 players, with riddles just like the I Spy book series, which can be played three different ways to accommodate younger and older players. This game helps young players to develop memory, reading, thinking and language skills, as well as important social skills such as taking turns, following rules, and sharing. Kids that enjoy reading I Spy books and playing I Spy computer games will enjoy this board game, which has simple rules, is easy to set up, and can be completed fairly quickly.
- Jenga is a stacking game consisting of wooden blocks that are big and easy to grab. This interactive, engaging, and tactile game teaches kids the importance of strategy and concentration, while improving dexterity and coordination. Jenga is great because the rules are simple, a game can be set up and completed fairly quickly, and requires only 1 or more to play.
- Pictionary Card Game is a fun, fast-moving card game that is played in teams as small as two, which combines the fun of Pictionary and Charades. Players race to act out the clues using only the simple images on the cards by combining them, building scenes with them or using them as props. This interactive game is great because no drawing is required, is easy to play, and improves concentration, while fostering imagination, creativity, thinking skills, teamwork and cooperation.
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Sequence for Kids is a fun, fast-moving sequence game, similar to Bingo in some ways that preps kids for strategic thinking as they anticipate their opponents’ next move. This game is great because it only requires 2 to 4 players, fosters social skills such as taking turns, following rules, and sharing, and builds matching, pattern recognition, counting, and literacy skills.
Video Games
- Wii Active Life Outdoor Challenge is a fitness game that will get kids up and moving, si
milar to Nintendo’s Wii Fit, in which players are actively engaged in a variety of 16 fun, energetic, fast-paced mini-games such as river rafting, mine-cart adventure, log jumping, see-saw, jump rope, water trampoline, and many more. Using a specially-designed eight pad Active Life mat, this game will help kids will improve their overall fitness level, sense of balance and coordination, eye-hand coordination, literacy skills (reading on-screen directions), as well as foster teamwork, cooperation, and social skills such as taking turns and sharing. (ESRB Rating: E for Everyone) -
Wii Boom Blox Bash Party is the exciting sequel to Wii Boom Blox that challenges the players’ reflexes, dexterity, and problem-solving skills. Like the original Boom Blox, players use the Wii Remote to direct objects and forces toward structures made of blocks in order to knock them over. The Jenga-like gameplay requires players to pull out blocks, with the goal of toppling over as many blocks as possible, without bringing down the entire structure, and like Jenga, kids will learn strategy skills, improve dexterity, and observe physics in action. Wii Boom Blox Bash Party is great for all ages, is easy to play, and features quick games that foster teamwork, cooperation, and collaboration. (ESRB Rating: E for Everyone)
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Wii Just Dance 2 is the energizing sequel to Just Dance, featuring 45 songs that can be used in four different dance modes to help kids improve their overall coordination and physical fitness levels, build teamwork and social skills such as sharing and taking turns, and work on memory, pattern recognition and following instructions. Basically, players hold a Wiimote in their right hand, and copy dance moves presented by an animated dancer presented on the screen. Just Dance 2 is suitable for tweens and teens, but if you have a younger audience, you may also want the very recently released Just Dance Kids (ESRB Rating: E for Everyone), which will contain more age-appropriate songs and lyrics targeted toward a younger age group, which also helps kids work on similar skills as noted for Just Dance 2. (ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+)
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Wii Party is an interactive and engaging kid-friendly party game featuring 13 different party game modes and 70+ mini-games, which provide kids with lots of variety that includes cooperative and competitive gameplay that turns over quickly to keep the game moving. This game helps kids improve their eye-hand coordination, builds literacy skills (like Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, players can read on-screen instructions for help), and social skills (taking turns and sharing with other players). (ESRB Rating: E for Everyone)
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Wii Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party is the third Wii game in UBI Soft’s popular Rayman Raving Rabbids series, and features 60+ fun, quick minigames. The “rabbids” are bunny-like creatures who communicate by screaming and occasionally hitting each other with any object that comes into their hands. The rabbids have taken over the TV stations, broadcasting a series of nonsense shows in an effort to drive Rayman crazy. Players will discover new and innovative ways to play with eight types of gameplay, which will help them improve their sense of precision, dexterity, balance, and coordination, and reading written instructions to complete the mini-games will help kids improve their literacy skills. This game also fosters teamwork, cooperation, and social skills as kids practice taking turns and sharing. (ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+)Game reviews by Peggy Wong, Children’s Services Librarian, Piscataway Public Librarypwong AT lmxac DOT org
Why Does the Media Still Think Video Games are Bad for Kids?
11 year ago
Why Does the Media Still Think Video Games are Bad for Kids?Experts say video games can help children develop complex critical thinking skills, experiment at their own pace, and learn from their own mistakes. So why does the media still focus only on the negatives of video gaming?
To read more of this article, click here: Why Does the Media Still Think Video Games are Bad for Kids?
JP’s edit: Coinciding with today’s #libgaming chat is the twitter meme hashtag going around: #gamingis Let’s try to merge these convos!!
I wrote this post a few weeks ago which sort of touches on this same subject
Thanks to Bobbi Newman for pointing this article out.
The Importance of Play
11 year ago
My son Finn exploring "The Legendary Starfy" on the Nintendo DS.
From such an early age, we’re taught the importance of play. In their publication titled The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds, the American Academy of Pediatrics stresses the importance of play for young children.
Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.
I couldn’t agree with them more. In watching my son Finn grow over the past year and a half, I have seen how his playing with toys, dirt, sticks, pots, pans, and more have helped him develop his personality and skills. Through playing with pots, pans, and spatulas, the kid now has the motor skills to do very specific and focused tasks. I remember back to when he was 6 months old and how he was nothing more than a little blob that crawled around a bit and screamed for his mom’s breastmilk and think, “holy shit, play is really like his third parent.” It’s taught him so much.
However, I don’t fully agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics. They go on to talk about the decrease of free play in our society and how the “routine” of childhood has changed. One of their key factors as to why free play in childhood has changed has to do with, yup, video games:
The decrease in free play can also be explained by children being passively entertained through television or computer/video games. In sharp contrast to the health benefits of active, creative play and the known developmental benefits of an appropriate level of organized activities, there is ample evidence that this passive entertainment is not protective and, in fact, has some harmful effects.
Really? Call me a hippie, but I think video games are just a new form of free play and it’s about time we quit labeling them as something negative in regards to childhood. As someone who grew up on video games and turned out alright, I’m walking proof that video games are not as detrimental as we like to think they are.
Video games expanded my mind as a child. I would spend part of my days exploring the vast world of Hyrule as Link, scaling Death Mountain, collecting fairies, and exploring dungeons. The other part of my day was playing in the woods, discovering nature, and dreaming that this was my own Hyrule. It was a great childhood and I often look forward to the days where my son and I can enjoy life and explore both the real and virtual world together in the same way that I did.
Recently, my son Finn and I began experimenting with the Nintendo DS game The Legendary Starfy. A simple 2-D side scrolling game that features a star named Starfy as the main character, I got absorbed into this title not only because the simplicity and fun of the game but I also identified it as a good title to use to introduce the world of video games to Finn. He took to it quickly, at first because Starfy is as cute as hell and really, who can resist him? After Finn got the hang of the controls (and by hang, I mean he figured out that the buttons made Starfy do cool things like walk and spin), that’s where the fun began. I saw Finn moving Starfy left and right and use the buttons to make Starfy spin and interact with the bubbles around him. There was a giggle and a smile. Finn was not only enjoying the title, but he was picking up a new skill: “Hey, if I do this, it makes this star do cool things! What else can I do?” His focused changed and grew the longer he played the game. He explored the other elements of the game. He interacted with other characters on the screen. He pushed more buttons. One of the best moments came when he realized that the start button pauses the game and changes the screen to a giant, hopping Starfy. He looked at me and smiled. It’s as if he has found the holy grail of video games. And he did it all by himself. With this in mind, I ask you to recall the quote that I used to open up this post: “play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.” Heck yes it is. I saw my son grow and learn before my eyes all because of a giant star named Starfy on the Nintendo DS.
The key is balance. The American Academy of Pediatrics report talks a lot about balance, but at no point does it mention that a balance between virtual play and free play being an essential element towards having a healthy child. Instead, it gives video games the brand that they’ve been long marked with: mind numbing technology that will turn your child into a blob who can’t identify with society. Balance between different types of play (not just video games and free play) contributes to a healthy child, one who will develop the necessary cognitive, physical, social, and emotional they need to face the 21st century world.
In closing, I’d like to ask this: As librarians, we’re dealing with the public day in and day out. One of the great opportunities we have is the chance to educate our communities. How can we move forward towards a world where all forms of play are seen on a balanced level? It goes back to
the idea of Gamer’s Advisory that I had a few days ago. What types of programs and initiatives can we come up with to show the world the importance of many different types of play?—-
- You can find the publication The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds here.
- Read more about The Legendary Starfy here
- Thanks to The Unquiet Librarian and the Libraries and Transliteracy blog for helping me think outside the box about education and learning.