Kids and Video Games

I have always been a fan of playing video games. From Pong to the Atari 2600 to Dr J vs Larry Bird on an old Vic 20 I have played them all. The games today are lot more complex than the games of yesterday. This means improved graphics and game play so I am not complaining. Sports games (especially football) have really been my favorites. My son who is 6 has taken to playing the games now. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly he is able to pick them up and play them. There is no fear of messing them up it is just get on and go. I sat and watched him play over the break a few times. As a sat here I asked him a few times about what he was doing and why. I noticed he would run a play to the right and the next play he would flip it to go to the left. When I asked why he would switch it he told me “because there was more room to the other side now.” Whenever he uses a running play he always went to the wide side of the field. I have to be honest that I had forgotten how to switch the play so when he wanted play against me I was asking “how do you do this or how do you do that”. It had been a while since I played the games but didn’t think I would forget all the little tricks. He has picked up the how to play the games and now I am trying to teach him some of the strategies of the game. He still doesn’t like to punt and would “go for it” on every fourth down if I didn’t give him a hard time about it. I do think he is learning about things as he plays both about strategy but also about general problem solving. Still don’t think he is ready for Grand Theft Auto though…