Video Games Helping Children to Boost their Brain Activities
Many studies have proved that playing video games helps children improve their cognitive abilities. While most people who follow a traditional parenting style would not entirely approve of it, it is no secret that its growing lead in technology has been centered a lot on boosting children’s brain activities.
While online platforms have announced a separate channel for kids, like Netflix or SonyLiv we will explore some good ol’ video games that have been quite popular among them. So, let’s learn how video games help children boost their brain activity.
Benefits of Video Games for Cognitive Development in Children:
Mentioned below are some of the top benefits of video games that help improve cognitive development in children:
- First, it allows children to explore their creative side by exposing them to different concepts, stimulations, colors, and plots. Parents who give their offspring the freedom to let their creative juices flow raise brilliant and cognitively intense children.
- Children can apply what they learn from video games to their real lives. For instance, children who love playing cooking games end up being kitchen whizzes, or those who love playing action games end up learning self-defense in reality.
- Video games tend to require a lot of focus, so the brain gets very much activated and trains the child playing it to get used to indulging in it fully. That strengthens the brain and gives it much-needed exercise.
- The hand-eye coordination, which is required when playing video games, helps develop cognitive skills in children. This is helpful in real-life situations in a child’s life.
- Finally, video games enable children to handle being in a group setting. It helps them coordinate with each other and develop the fundamental people skills which assist them throughout their lives.
Top Video Games that Benefit Children’s Cognitive Abilities:
Here, we will share with you some of the best video games which help benefit children’s cognitive abilities.
1. Starcraft:
Playing games that require strategic planning allows a child to expand their brain’s supposed limits and flexibility. It helps them indulge in planning and skills, which significantly helps them when they are in unfavorable situations. This skill becomes especially helpful during adulthood to deal with things life brings you.
2. Call of Duty:
According to a study conducted at the University of Rochester, playing Call of Duty improves certain aspects of vision in people (to be specific, contrast sensitivity function, i.e., the ability to notice subtle changes in brightness). It develops due to stimulation in players when they hunt and ‘kill bad guys in the game.
3. Minecraft:
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Minecraft helps children develop spatial reasoning skills. Minecraft is generally divided into survival, adventure, and creative mode, allowing children to pick up several valuable skills and knowledge required to expand their horizons in the game and real life by learning various skills. Children playing Minecraft can build things, interact with other characters, indulge in combat, and go on multiple adventures.
4. Super Mario 64:
This game revolves around the user beginning an adventure of rescuing the Princess from the castle. As he continues his journey to reach Princess Peach, several adversities, challenges, and diverse paths come across the character. Children who play Super Mario tend to exercise their brains with this game, strategic planning, fine motor skills, and much more.
5. Witcher 3:
Like Super Mario 64, Witcher 3 also revolves around the plot of the main character’s quest to save his missing daughter. The entire journey revolves around building essential means to get through the mission by going on multiple, often dangerous, searches to ensure that the girl is found safely. As a result, children playing this game develop a sense of responsibility, decision-making, resource management, decision-making, eye-hand coordination, and quick thinking.
Final Thoughts:
Anything done in the extreme can be harmful to people in general. This is the case with playing video games because too much screen time can be destructive for children. So, indulging in video games in moderation can help children boost their brain activities and help them achieve their potential to the fullest.
