This is totally anecdotal. but here's my reasoning. I was sitting with friends at some local gathering and offered the young (impeccably mannered) son of one of my friends my iPhone to while the time away by playing some games. He replied (those manners) that he would have to check with his Mom, since he's not usually allowed to play these sorts of games. This got me to thinking about some of them. What is it that some of these games are indirectly teaching us and our kids? So here's my list of (completely unscientific) games that I would happily have my putative kid play.
1) Angry Birds
Yes, I can hear you all groan. It's a time-waster, a brain-sucker and might be the worst new movie of 2012. It's also one of the best ways to get young minds behind the idea of physics and engineering. Because to get three stars in any level you have to understand the most economical way to destroy the pigs constructs, and you have to learn to adapt to new capabilities of the new birds and new environments.
2) Scrabble
Do I have to state why this one is a good one? I've found myself mining skills I haven't used in years in coming up with 6 letter words that let me beat "Norm" by 100 points. Anything that gets your kid to start thinking about vocabulary as something that's a competitive sport is a good thing.
3) L. L. Bean Moose
A memory game that might be better for us adults than the kids, but sharpens memory skills for all that play it, You can do 12, 20, or 36 tiles where you have to match up variously clad moose with their twin on the board. It sharpens visual acuity and promotes memory.
1) Angry Birds
Yes, I can hear you all groan. It's a time-waster, a brain-sucker and might be the worst new movie of 2012. It's also one of the best ways to get young minds behind the idea of physics and engineering. Because to get three stars in any level you have to understand the most economical way to destroy the pigs constructs, and you have to learn to adapt to new capabilities of the new birds and new environments.
2) Scrabble
Do I have to state why this one is a good one? I've found myself mining skills I haven't used in years in coming up with 6 letter words that let me beat "Norm" by 100 points. Anything that gets your kid to start thinking about vocabulary as something that's a competitive sport is a good thing.
3) L. L. Bean Moose
A memory game that might be better for us adults than the kids, but sharpens memory skills for all that play it, You can do 12, 20, or 36 tiles where you have to match up variously clad moose with their twin on the board. It sharpens visual acuity and promotes memory.
Okay, there they are. Three games you can feel good having on your kids phone. Ones that you can also use (as I do) as an excuse for keeping our adult minds young. Of course when you see me sitting at the Beverly Hills Markets patio drinking a diet coke and staring into my phone I'm engrossed in the latest article on Salon.com or re-reading "A La Recherche du Temps Perdu"
I'm not playing Scrabble, oh, no...
