I have lost count of all the electronic games that Tyler has. There’s the V-tech- both console and travel models, a plug and play Pac Man and a plug and play Star Wars, just to name a few. I admit, they are great amusements for him while I try to work or sneak some me time in my busy schedule. And I especially love the V-tech because the “games” are educational learning experiences in disguise.
I rarely play them myself with the exception of Pac Man but on Wednesday of last week, Tyler insisted that I sit down and play games with him. I tried to explain that I didn’t really understand how to play most of them. He told me not to worry because he would teach me how to play them. Ah yes, the student becomes the teacher.
After spending about two hours playing six different Star Wars games, I learned a valuable lesson- It’s not whether you win or lose or even if you know how to play the game. What matters most to your kids is that you take time out of your day to sit down and spend quality time with them. Tyler loved teaching me how to play each game although I never really got the hang of them and my hand eye coordination sucks. However, I found that if I press a few buttons at random every other second, eventually I would hit something and score a few points here and there. Once I even scored a total of 450 points! In the end we had so much fun that it didn’t matter that I never got the hang of the object of the games.
Since Wednesday, I have made it a point to sit down and share in Tyler’s electronic game playing. Not two hours mind you, but even 15 or 20 minutes can make such a big difference to your kids. And when you finish learning their games, take them outside and have them play games from your youth like hopscotch, jacks and four square!
See also:
Teaching Your Kids to Lose Gracefully
The Idiot’s Guide To Family Games