It has finally happened…what I said wouldn’t happen…what I
was adamantly opposed to entering my house…yes…we bought a gaming system. My house is now outfitted with a brand
new Wii U system, complete with controllers for all four of us, the personal
game pad, nunchuks, and 3 new games. The Works.
For those who know me, and those who have followed my blog,
you know that I am not a gamer and have really battled with how to approach
gaming with my kids so that it is a healthy part of their lives. I have always been very concerned about
IT taking over our home. I have visualized my husband and
children sitting in the basement with the blinds closed, eyes glassy from being
fixated on the screen for hours, their social skills completely eroded with the
lack of talking or contact, their muscles becoming atrophied from lack of
exercise, all the while their brains turning into a pile of mush.
So how then, did this happen? What changed my mind?
Part of it has been the passion that my 5-year old has for technology
and gaming and his daily negotiating for a Wii. The other factor has been what I have learned from my course
of Digital Game Based Learning.
While working on the major assignments, my kids sat with me and played
Where’s My Water and Minecraft (on the iPad) and showed me how they
worked. While my 4-year old
figured out how to angle the water so that it flowed into the pipes for Swampy,
and my 5-year old built a virtual castle, I was awed at the degree of problem-solving
and critical thinking that was taking place; all while they were having so much
fun. I played with them and we
talked and cuddled and had fun working through the games. As my husband and kids saw my disdain
for gaming beginning to wane, they capitalized on the opportunity and I
caved.
Three days with our Wii and my house has not turned into a
dark cave. My children have
continued to play on their walkie-talkies while camping in the basement, super
heroes have prowled the house looking for bad guys, we’ve played at the park,
and our evening has still ended with a good book. Sure, they’ve asked to play Wii (many times) but we’re trying to balance the time with other
kinds of play, and so far, they seem ok with that. When they have been playing, we’ve been doing it as a
family. My youngest jumps up and
down and cheers for everyone, while my oldest son encourages me and shows me
how to play. We have laughed,
high-fived, cuddled and had fun, quality time together.
