Mario Party 8

5) Pokemon Pearl and Diamond – I know what you may be thinking. Pokemon is a mindless pastime of children these days, and has no educational value. You would say that because you have not watched your own children play with this game. You may see it these kids spending tons of money trying to “catch them all,” but what you don’t realize is the amount of social education that these kids are gaining from this game. Pokemon, at it’s core, is a game of sharing, trading, and growing. A player is tasked with putting time and effort into the game in order to improve his or her collection. However, the player cannot become “the best” alone. He or she must seek out others to trade and share (and sometime battle) their Pokemons and power-ups to fully realize their potential. Through this game your kid’s just learned how to: Work as a team, share, build a social network, and work hard and cooperatively to attain a goal. Still think this is just a pointless pastime?

4) Wii Sports (Comes with the Wii Console) – Ever wished your kids would stop sitting on the couch all day watching cartoons and would get our with their friends and do something active? While it is no substitute for having your kids play little league, Wii sports gets kids active in something that they enjoy doing already. It is easy to take a game like this and compare it to the value or organized sports, and it is a tactic often used to invalidate the value of such a game. The game isn’t a replacement for outdoor activity, but a replacement for watching TV or playing a less mobile type of video game. Place the game in the correct context and it’s easy to see how valuable it could be.

3) Mario Party 8 – Video games tend to summon up the impression of lonely gamers in their parents basement spending hours trying to gain the next level. Many see letting their kid’s play video games as sending them down the path of social failure. Instead of removing the games, consider trying to change the way that he or she plays. Invite a few friends over and put in a game like Mario Party. Party game like this can be very fun, and quite active for kids. The minigames, many of which require quite a bit of cooperation and coordination, will keep them busy for hours. This isn’t your standards “sit in fount of the tv and play” game either. These games require kids to get out of their seats and preform quick motions that can build up quite an exercise. Again, if presented in the correct way this game can be a enriching experience for a child, and is not just a “brain rotting video game.”

2) Brain Age 1 or 2 – This one is for a bit older kids (it was designed for adults), but can be very useful for those just starting high school. High school is the age of standardized tests. Once a child enters that time in their lives they are asked the fill in the dots once every 25 seconds. Having to train for these tests can often be a very painful experience. However, Brain Age and it’s sequel are designed to help the brain think better and faster. It trains those same skills that kids need when taking important standardized tests. It’s no replacement for a good SAT training program, but over time it could really improve those test scores.

1) World of Warcraft – I know, “but World of Warcraft players are all overweight 30 year olds who still live with their grandmothers and eat Cheetos and drink Mountain Dew all day long.” Stereotyping aside, this is another game for the older kids. High school is about the time when kids begin to build their social skills. We all have memories of either being or beating up on the “nerdy, “geeky, “lame,” kids that didn’t really fit in. Often this is because those kids didn’t have the social skills to “fit in” with the greater crowd. Well, if this fits your child then you may want to consider them getting involved in an MMO community (monitored of course). When done correctly, kid’s can learn organizational and social skills that they could never have learned just being tossed into the jungle that is freshmen year. Now, this will require quite a bit more work from you, the parent, than any other game on this list. These games must be monitored both for the people they are coming in contact with (people from all walks of life play this game; most friendly, some not). Parents should set up the proper time limits using the tools provided by the game to ensure that all studies are done and the game doesn’t take away from any other aspect of the kid’s life. If properly done, World of Warcraft (or any other popular MMO) has the potential to teach your kids the skills to not only do well in high school, but excel throughout their lives.
Kris