The Leapster video game system is designed for kids aged 4 and up. The Mobigo—another handheld computer game system—is aimed at kids as young as 3 years.
I can understand why parents are interested in exposing their kids to such technology. The games are supposed to be educational, and several aspects of the video game format–the engaging graphics, the “fun” factor, the continuous feedback–might help kids learn. It also seems reasonable to think that the gaming experience prepares kids for using computers.
The down side? Some child development experts worry that video games divert young children from developing skills in the real world. And there is evidence that excessive video game use can lead to attention problems, poor school achievement, and–when games are violent–antisocial behavior.
Still, the sorts of preschool video games I’ve seen—on Leapster, for instance—aren’t violent . Nor do they seem to feature the “fast edits” and flashy graphics that are suspected of causing attention problems.
My biggest concerns about educational preschool games are these:
1. Some kids seem to be prone to a rather obsessive overuse of video games. How can a parent predict if her child is one of those types? Giving a preschooler a game system seems like opening a can of worms.
2. Many games intended for preschoolers seem designed for people who can read and who are good at manipulating fancy game controls. To navigate the game, kids have to learn to read lots of commands and menu selections. And if the game controls are tricky enough, a little kid may never even get to play the game.
3. Most games aren’t nearly as flexible as human tutors. When a child offers a correct, but unexpected, answer to a question, the game may not recognize that answer as valid. This could be confusing—especially if he’s playing alone and you don’t notice the problem.
An example of this comes from some educational software used in a public school several years back. Educational psychologists Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama wrote about a geometry game in which kids were asked to pick out fish of various shapes. In one session, a child was asked to find a fish that looked like a square. She chose such a fish—one which was rotated so that its corners pointed straight down. The game told the child her answer was wrong. “That’s not a square—that’s a diamond!”
I’m not sure what to do about concern #1. But the other concerns seem to boil down to this: We’ve got to investigate each game ourselves before we let kids play on their own.
Image by Belinda Hankins Miller