Many parents are concerned about how much time their children play video games. And they should be. In some extreme cases, video game playing has led to children being lethargic, overweight, and irresponsible adults.
A great way to allow children to play video games is with thinkSMART: Kids on Nintendo DS, which is geared to children eight years and older. Unlike My Virtual Tutor: Reading, which is geared to younger children, thinkSMART: Kids challenges 4th and 5th graders with programs designed for:
- Language
- Memory
- Mathematics
- Spatial Awareness
- Comprehension
- Logic
This game is unlike most Nintendo DS games in that the screens are actually held vertically like two pages of a book as opposed to horizontally, allowing Mario to defeat the nefarious Bowser with ease.
Language and Math Skills on thinkSMART
The initial periods of this game are easy enough that children should be able to grasp them. The math involves two-digit numbers that can be added together in the head. Language starts off by placing words in the proper order to form a sentence.
Along with these easy exercises comes memory games.
Memory Challenges on thinkSMART
In the easy stages, memory may appear lame to some of the older kids as there will be four animal faces and their sounds will go off in random sequences for them to remember and mimic.
From there, the medium stage is more challenging, requiring kids to recall sequences of 4-5 letters and numbers. Each stage requires children to develop their own system for remembering. For example, a child named Deqwan L. Smith might find it easy to remember the sequence DL643 because the first two letters are his initials, making them of little consequence, leaving only three numbers to recall.
Spatial Awareness and Puzzles
Knowing how things work involves a mechanically adept mind. thinkSMART taps into this with puzzles and tangrams.
For those not familiar, a tangram is a puzzle without specific borders. Children will be given the spaces provided along with a mixed up group of shapes.
These games will be both fun and challenging, and will play more like a game than school work. All the while, children are tapping into their problem-solving abilities by seeing things as they could be rather than how they are.
Comprehension and Concentration
When children are tested on their comprehension, they'll initially start with a shell game. Much like a street corner game of "keep your eye on the card" (or whatever it's called) children have to maintain focus to follow the shell hiding the pearl.
As this skill is mastered, children can do the "number and letter burst" where there will be a set of 5 to 10 numbers or letters that will have to be picked out in forward or reverse order. This exercise is very progressive because while it is review for the numbers and letters, it is also new in that the exercise is intellectually stimulating.
Logic Will Bring Kids a Step Ahead With thinkSMART
Like the other exercises, the logic game beings simply. Times are shown on a clock similar to:
- 1:00
- 2:00
- 3:00
- ?
The child sets the clock on his screen to 4:00 if he understands the problem.
Following this, the logic sequences become more abstract, opening the mind to new ways of seeing things with the "ice cream" game.
The "ice cream" game offers a sequence of combinations of ice cream flavors on a cone or in a bowl. The child will then have to determine the next set in the sequence. If it sounds difficult it's because it is. This is where the game becomes challenging even to some adults, but the fact that it can be hard is what is so encouraging.
While some educational games are on the child's level, thinkSMART is there and beyond. Between the interactive nature of the game and all of its challenges, this program is a steal, and can be purchased for $30.
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