Nintendo Educational Games Should Work to Teach Cooperation to Children, Rather Than Competition

One thing I see again and again in Nintendo educational games is that, with few exceptions, they are solitary affairs. And, when they include a multi-player mode, it's inevitably of the competitive nature. Beat my score, top my level, etc. It's understandable; video games and games in general usually involve a certain level of competition. Even in orange-slice soccer leagues who don't keep score, there's the personal level of getting a ball past an opponent, kicking or handling skill comparisons running in the kids' minds. I get it, we're a competitive culture.

But we're talking about friends and siblings, here - why can't we design our Nintendo learning games to teach cooperation, rather than competition?

This is going to require a bit of a sea-change in the industry, I'm guessing. We're so used to setting the highest score and putting our initials up for all to see. Most of the video games out today, whether Nintendo educational game or 360 shooter, are competitive first, solo-campaign next, and co-op mode possibly as an afterthought. For those of us with two children, wouldn't it be nice to see a game that teaches teamwork? Sharing? Couldn't our educational games include modes that require players to work together to solve a puzzle, rather than see who can finish it the fastest?

We have a few examples in the Nintendo educational game world, but look at the mature video game titles! There is a definite trend in these games - most of which are violent, unfortunately - to offer the ability to invite a friend or sibling to take on the game's challenges together. It's great! Some actually require teamwork between two players in order to get the best gear or score the highest possible mark; in other words, they don't require that you play with a friend to succeed in-game, but they offer plenty of incentive to do so.

More carrot, less stick.

It's unfortunate that, for the most part, the library of Nintendo educational games is pretty scant when you're searching for a game to help teach your young ones teamwork. It appears to be an oversight, rather than a calculated move on the developers' parts.

There's also a level of "flying solo" in our educational system. Tests are taken alone, no book, no hints, no help, and especially no looking over your fellow student's shoulder. That's fine - I understand - we want to find out what each student knows, hopefully with the goal of shoring up any weak spots in a child's education. But the school-type setting is exactly what we ought to be avoiding in Nintendo educational games. We shouldn't want to remind our gamers of school, of stress, of tests and exams and pop quizzes. Our goal, ultimately, should be to make learning fun.

I believe this effort would be helped by including cooperative modes in our Nintendo educational games. It probably won't be easy, coming up with exercises and lessons that require cooperation. But it has to be possible, whether through a more rigid gameplay mechanic (think driver/navigator, researcher/writer, or hands/feet) or unique mini-games (drawing two halves of a picture from memory, alternating teacher and student roles, or simple collaborative playing to solve in-game puzzles).

I'm happy to watch my kid learn as he plays. I'd be even happier if he found encouragement and excitement in tackling a problem together with a friend. Nintendo's been the leader in console innovation; let's see them make some powerful strides in cooperation and collaboration for their next spate of Nintendo educational games.

William is a parent and a New York straphanger. His kid is already on the way to becoming a gamer who sometimes needs a little "gentle encouragement" to play his Nintendo educational games, even the ones the little guy picked out, himself. William misses the days of Sonic and Mario when they'd only go from left-to-right, rather than 360 degrees.

Kids Educational Games: The Basic Facts

Kids' games are meant for 2-fold purposes. These are meant for entertainment as well as for fun and learn method. These games are available both in online and offline method. Whereas online games are played with relevant websites, with CDs and toys are common ingredients for playing educational games. Before knowing different positive impacts of playing kids game, it is better to know different levels of educational games for kids.

Educational games for kids are available with different game levels; these games are available for toddlers, pre-school kids, and school going kids, etc. Although all these games are meant for fun and learn method of teaching, the level of comprehensiveness varies for one to another. The objectives of all games are almost same; it is the support and extension of learning process via improved motor skill and different cognitive processes like eye-to-hand-coordination process etc.

There are different types of games like memory game, geography puzzles, vocabulary games; alphabet and musical games are mainly meant for toddlers and pre-school kids for the basic learning as well as for their entertainment. Regular and methodical playing of these games helps improving memory power of kids as well as it helps in improves some additional qualities which is helpful in grasping the learning curriculum with better scale of efficiency.

Adults may frown at the kids' habit of playing games but playing games can have multiple benefits. Some of these benefits are discussed here.

Playing games helps kids for grasping the learning process with better ability and recapitulation power. The visual effect of educational games helps in improving memory power, reflex power, and analyzing ability etc. While these cognitive skills get improved, it helps in learning the academic lessons with better scale on understanding and inquisitiveness.

Once upon a time games and education were considered as two opposite aspects of learning method. Modern educational process indulges the use of educational games as a supportive process of academic learning as it extends the tendency to explore, create, and balance different factors for accumulation of total result. The learn-and-fun method injects fun filled learning process and thus kids enjoy their learning process and produces faster result in learning a theme.

One of the most immediate benefits of playing educational games is relating the kids into quality involvement. Educational games are type of brain tonic which works for the over all development of brain and its functional abilities. The proper use of educational games can explain complicated things in a lucid way and it helps in making better level of understanding about the academic lessons for a kid regardless his/her age group.

Puzzle games for the kids are wonderful brain exercise. Playing quality educational kids game help participating kids in improving their over all learning ability and thus provides great impetus for producing better result in their classroom study process.

Educational Computer Games - An Effective Learning Tool

It is vital that parents be very creative in finding means to aid the child's learning process. While a person is still young, he is very attentive in many things and is able to take in a lot of knowledge. This is the right stage that parents be very persuasive in imparting knowledge to their child.

Although a child can easily store a lot of knowledge in their mind, teaching them is not as easy as it seems. It is hard to catch a child's attention because of the presence of many interesting things around and they can easily get bored when doing the same routine for a long time. There should be creative ways to hold the child's attention when learning.

Playing while learning is a great technique to keep the child's attention. Computer games have been used to give kids fun in playing and at the same time be an effective learning tool. There are many studies that show desirable effects to a child when playing computer games. Outstanding academic improvement has been seen in a child who is playing computer games.

A lot of computer games that are designed for kids can be bought and can even be played free on the internet. But because of the wide range of themes and topics that anyone can access on the internet it is essential that parents be very attentive to their child when using the computer. They might be able to download or access inappropriate software for their age which can possibly cause adverse influence to them. Parents must also be very careful in choosing games. A type of game which demonstrates violence must be avoided.

Fun games that can enhance a child's learning aptitude are the ideal game. There are a variety of learning games that teach various essential topics such as in maths, science and history. Most fun and educational games are designed to catch the child's attention and to provide knowledge.

Many parents are hesitant to give their child access to computer games because of the thought that a child can be addicted to them and can cause harmful effects. However, with the right choice of game and with proper guidance, using computer games can be a significant tool to aid in the child's learning process.

Franks likes to write articles about Xbox backup creator programs and about burning Xbox 360 games to protect your games.

Online Educational Learning Games for Kids - Fun Way of Tutoring for Parents and Children

Online games are no longer limited to racing cars and computers are no longer used only for emailing and chatting. Online educational games for kids are becoming a popular way to teach kids about alphabets, number and words and other information.

Advantages of Online Educational Learning Games

Online educational learning games is an effective way with endless options for teaching kids of all age groups, children are also able to operate it without much assistance. Parents find it easier to teach kids through these programs, who become familiar with operating the computer.

Kids have fun learning phonetics, spellings and even a new language. Children are not willing to learn math tables or difficult words at school. They find it fun to sit in front of a Computer and learn languages and solve mathematical problems. In this age of computers, computers are becoming an important part of the child's daily curriculum with parents opting to teach these kids new things each day with the help of online educational games.

Computer games are also known to improve the motor skills in children. In addition, the level of these games can be adjusted according to the level and learning ability of the kids. The makers of these games keep the kid's interest in mind while designing them so that their interest is maintained. Another advantage of these games is that you can find free online games and do not have to invest in these expensive products.

There is unlimited knowledge available on the net, waiting to be tapped. There are so many interesting games available on the internet that the children are sure to find new games where they are through playing with the older ones.

Other activities that are available on the internet include online coloring games. This is also a constructive way that children can use to pass their leisure time and according to experts reflects the emotions of these children.

Another advantage is that the kids can lay in the comfort of their home and do have to be tutored elsewhere. Also, kids who are fond of playing on the computer can spend their time learning educational material instead on video games that teach violence.

Parents have to keep an eye on their kids and make sure that they do not spend time on the computer playing games that could be harmful for them. It is essential to direct the kids to educational sites that have beneficial games and are known to help the progress of these children.

Vijay K Shetty, Get more information on: Online Educational Games