Educational institutions need to invest in children’s games, as they are great learning tools. They can motivate children and even teenagers, getting them involved in the game and absorbing different types of knowledge, such as mathematical, linguistic, and cultural knowledge.
Moreover, as this is a much more fun way of learning, students usually enjoy the experience and may even change the relationship they have with school. And this innovation can also make these young people start to enjoy going to school and gaining knowledge.
1. The importance of games for student development
Educational games are essential both in young people’s school development and in their cognitive and affective development. It is therefore important that they are used as learning tools from early to adolescent years. Children generally love to play and are naturally imaginative. Children’s games explore these characteristics so that they become familiar with various elements, such as words, numbers, and concepts.
Games are also fundamental in children’s education because they help develop cognitive skills such as memory, attention, perception, and motor skills, as well as stimulating their creativity and curiosity.
In addition, they are also very relevant at any school age because most of them need to be played in groups. In this way, students learn to work as a team, as well as absorbing the content covered. Another advantage of using games in education is that they make learning fun. This way, students will enjoy the experience more and understand that learning can be a pleasurable activity. This strategy can motivate teenagers who may be disenchanted with school or a particular subject.
One more fundamental benefit that games bring to the classroom is the increased concentration and focus of students in general, children and adolescents. Nowadays, with so many forms of entertainment and distraction, it is a challenge to keep a student focused on a 45-minute theoretical lesson. However, with gaming, it is easier to make students maintain concentration and focus, because they must achieve objectives. This is very positive, because with high concentration young people can better assimilate the content taught.
Learning to stay focused is an excellent trait that can be harnessed in various aspects of life: when studying, doing chores, and even preparing for the job market.
2. Gaming in education
Gamification is closely related to the use of children’s games in education, but these two concepts are not the same. It refers to the use of video game strategies and design in the classroom, but in another context. This technique is so efficient that it is being used even in corporate education. That is why investing in gamification is as important as using other games in the classroom. After all, this technique also attracts students and helps in concentration, productivity, and socialization skills of the individual.
There are several ways to put gamification into practice in a classroom. One simple way to do this, for example, is to award medals and bonuses to students who accomplish the tasks or challenges proposed during the lesson. This is most effective with children, but it also tends to work with teenagers.
Other interesting ways to use gamification are tournaments between students, with educational video games and even differentiated homework. In this way, young people will learn about competition, teamwork and the importance of their decisions while assimilating content from different subjects.
3. Types of Children’s Games
Nowadays, different models of children’s games are used in education, as they can be used in various areas and for different purposes. So, we will now show you some game formats and how they can be given to students of different age groups.
- Literacy Games
Literacy games are great for children who are learning to read and write in English, or even in a foreign language. For students who are around 6 years old, the most suitable games are: word formation and syllable separation with moveable letters, memory games like our Simon Memorize and assimilation games.
An example of an assimilation game is asking children to link pictures of animals to their names in the target language of study, for example English. In this way, they make the association between the word and the image. It is also recommended that teachers ask pupils to pronounce the words out loud to practise their speaking skills.
- Logic & Maths Games
The first numbers can be introduced or known through number sequence games. The teacher can give several pictures with animals and make different challenges, where students must add and divide values, thus initiating some mathematical operations.
For children averaging 10 years old, games in which they must relate the four types of mathematical operations and practice multiplication tables are interesting. One way to do this is to create a game with several challenges, where with each correct answer, students advance towards the finish line.
- Video Games
Computer games are excellent because they are more appealing to students. Simulation ones allow the student to deeply observe a situation or element, so they are recommended for all ages. Through a game like our Puzzle4Kids, children can learn, for example, how to assimilate pieces to connect with each other in the correct way or the name of a certain fruit or animal. On the other hand, for students who are in late primary schools or high school, games about electrical circuits are more insteresting, for example.
See how games are essential for young people to have a quality education? Whether your children is in pre-school or elementary, don’t hesitate on trying one of our Kidmons game.
