Educational video games.

netedu

Legacy Member
Are such games still being made?

I remember of games like the Lion King Activity Center where you could learn and practice the alphabet or develop a multitude of other skills. Just by looking at the cartoon graphics you understand why they appealed to kids. Here's some gameplay to show what I'm talking about -

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These days it seems to me that most games are showing violence to often instead of promoting, at least sometimes, education.
 
I am not familiar with that Lion King Activity Center game but I think there are lots of games that are considered education in various levels. Some games that I can consider educational are Bookworm and Hangaroo. These games can help us improve our vocabulary.
 
There are some video games that can be considered as educational materials. There's Number Munchers, Learnalot and Ecoquest to name a few. But still educational video games are few and far between. Developers should invest more on this genre. I think that a lot of people, more specifically parents, would buy these kinds of games for their kids.
 
There's actually a lot of games that is educational and great of kids.
Here's one:

This particular game aims to improve the brain functionality and actually train the player to use the logical and creative part of our brains.
 
Great topic! There is no stopping our kids from the constant playing of video games so we mine as well find something they can play and learn with at the same time. I found this link that has 50 educational video games that homeschoolers love:http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/50-educational-video-games-that-homeschoolers-love/, but I don't think it is necessary to categorize it for only homeschoolers. There are a lot of schools that provide computer time and these would be great to have on the desktop as an option for students to try during their downtime. This site also listed the benefit of using educational videos: http://www.zaneeducation.com/educational-video/education-and-video.php and it gives tips on how to effectively use videos in a classroom setting.
 
I think video games don't need to necessarily be designed specifically for education. For example, my nephew plays Angry Birds on my cell phone. It requires a lot of coordination to play the game. He also develops a sense of physics, familiarizing himself with gravity and elastic potential. Granted, he is only four, so he might benefit from the game in ways older children might not.

Video games who teach problem solving skills such as Unblock Me puzzles or Candy Crush, especially the former, might be beneficial as they apply to all strands. When my daughter is old enough, I will definitely allow her to play games in moderation. I feel like video games in general are a great gateway to problem solving, time management, resource management, and other skills.
 
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