We all love our kids. Goes without saying. And, as you get older and have grandchildren, you love them too. Most of us want only the best for our children, in every aspect of their lives. Within our means, we usually try hard to get them the best.
The thing is that we all differ in our ability to provide tangible or material items. That depends on circumstance. However what doesn’t differ (or shouldn’t) is the love we show. My personal belief is that no matter what your financial situation, show your child love and you’ll have a pretty well-adjusted and happy kid. To me, games for kids should reflect this attitude.
Children don’t need heaps of things thrust on them. Watch a young child or group of young children play. With imagination – which most kids have in spades – they can play happily for hours. What does this mean then for what types of games we should get for our kids or allow them to play. I’m old-fashioned, so here’s my take:
- Outside is good. In fact, outside is the best. With the coming of the electronic age, kids now spend a whole lot more time inside playing on a computer than ever before. I’m old enough to remember playing outside all day, every day in summer. We were fit, lean and full of beans. Compare that to some of today’s youngsters. Online games for kids have their place, but nothing replaces the great outdoors. If all else fails, try a Treasure Hunt;
- Make believe is good, too. Kids can play with a ball or a doll or a play truck for hours, or make their own games from nothing. This means we should not automatically overload them with store-bought stuff. They don’t always need it. Turn off the tv or the computer, give them some paints and paper, and let them go for it;
- Parental involvement is great too. Young kids love being with their parents or grandparents. I remember our granddaughter “bossing” my wife and I around in our pool once, putting us in positions only she knew about, having a great time. Spend time with your children – it’s fun and it’s healthy;
- Let them extend their boundaries. Kids need to be encouraged, within reason, to take some risks. Life is a risky business. Games for kids that encourage some risk-taking are good. If they’re directed over everything they do, how does their own imagination get a place to work. Yes, I know that back in the day it was much easier to let kids roam around and do their own stuff, and I’m not in any way making light of today’s less friendly environments. Nevertheless, don’t spoon-feed them. They’ll develop into whole lot better people if they work out for themselves who they are through a bit of risk-taking, and the games they play will reflect this. Online games for kids probably don’t rate too highly here!.
Having said all of this, I’m no curmudgeon though. Everyone likes to own things and have different things to do and to use in every aspect of life. Kids need stuff to play with, no question. But they also need ideas on how to play without “stuff”, too. On the other pages of my site, I list some of the great “old-fashioned” games that kids can play. Probably a lot of children have never heard of some of these games, but they’re fun, they’re inventive and, oh yes, they don’t cost parents a bundle of money.
By all means get computer games and the like (especially ones that have educational value), and let your kids have tv and computer-time, but also try to balance that with time outside or, if that’s not possible, with more creative games for kids involving not much at all. As I’ve said, a ball, a paint set, a model truck, a doll, a playhouse, music – all of these things let children lose with their imaginations. Ball games for kids, cooking games for kids,memory games for kids, computer games for kids, learning games for kids, chess games for kids, treasure hunt party games for kids – all these and so much more all have their place. Like so much else, the games your kids play is mostly about balance: indoor-outdoor; educational-play;computer-soccer. Keep things balanced and there’s a good chance your child will be pretty well balanced too.
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