Computer Games: The Unending Debate

Photo Credits: pewresearch.org

Research has shown that playing games are essential for healthy development in early childhood stage, a crucial period of transformation.  In fact,  Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, educator and innovator said, “Play is the work of the child.”


When children are allowed to explore, they learn by their experiences. By the introduction of computer games, children develop thinking skills and abilities. It allows them to experiment through trial and error, to work out the best strategies through chances of repetition, to work out solutions to problems.


While parents have a never ending debate on this, whether to allow or not to allow their children to play computer games, educators admits that they can teach theories, but not the passion, the grit, and strategies.  There are actually plenty of educational games in the web, and most of them are available for FREE. Redirect their interest to it.


I remember when I was young, I used to play with this board game where the objective of the game is to find words formed by adjacent letters in the board. I found a similar game online, https://www.solitaire.org/daily-word-search/For those who love classic windows games, you definitely need to bookmark this site.




Just like the physical board game, words can appear in the puzzle forward, backward, up, down or diagonal. Aside from learning words, it’s a free eye exercise for your kids. Ask them to play this daily so they can beat their previous time recorded. The board and the target words changes everyday.





If you want a more exciting version, try the Letter Scramble. I personally felt some adrenalin rush when letters were filling up my screen. Whew! But it’s good training for kids.  They can improve their typing skills while exercising their minds and eyes in forming words out of the letters coming out. 





I suggest you let your kids play with these two games on a desktop or laptop. There’s always the right device for every activity you know! If they opt to play the “Match 3” variety games, better use a tablet or mobile phone. Same rule applies, set a specific time only for playing.  

By the way, this site, solitaire.org has a good collection of games in different categories. With the intent to share, I checked out some of the games available in their collection.  Easy to follow instructions are available for each game and it’s easy to understand. 

Match 3 games is a collection of fun and relaxing games where you match a minimum of 3 tiles or objects to remove it from the board or from the path. Available games here are Candy Fiesta, Candy House, Same Game, Treasure of Atlantis, Zuma Ball and Zuma Legend. I enjoyed playing Treasure of Atlantis the most, it’s quite challenging, the goal of the game is to get each part of the picture or map at the bottom of the level by removing the pieces underneath it by making matches. The game has 25 levels and each level is timed!


Treasure of Atlantis

I was also challenged playing one of the “Find the Hidden Objects” game.  I chose the Palace Hotel. Objective of the game is to find the hidden objects but some are too small to see and some are really hidden behind other objects. Keen attention to details is needed. And you will realize in this category that it is important to read all the instructions along with the tips before starting the game. For every wrong click here, you will be deducted some play time. 


Find the Hidden Objects: Palace Hotel


Parents can also play some card games while the kids are playing Word games or Match 3 games.  Mind exercise games are also available, try the Logic Puzzle games like Minesweeper, Sudoku, Chess, Crossword and many more. 


In today’s digital world, computer games, whether online, local or app-based, are here to stay. Instead of depriving your kids from the joy it brings them, learn to take advantage of it.  Make them your ally towards your kids learning process.  Just be their guide. Playing computer games might become detrimental only if the time spent on it is excessive.  


We often think that playing computer games is a waste of precious time... Think again!

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