Child-friendly Gaming for the Youngest

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The kind of playing has changed, even among the youngest children. Games are no longer played only in analogue form, but also increasingly in the digital space. Which is not a bad thing per se. Digital games have many positive effects on children. For example, gaming can improve the ability to think strategically, spatial orientation and memory. Eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills can also be promoted. For younger children, the fun of gaming is often combined with various learning contents.

However, parents often find it difficult to correctly assess digital games and their suitability for children. And with the abundance of offers, it is easy to lose sight of the big picture.

Your task as a MediaParent consultant is to give parents the appropriate support to orient themselves in the gaming world.

At the end of the module, you will have become better acquainted with the gaming world of the youngest and will be able to give parents valuable tips and advice on how to deal with digital games in the family.

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Fascination World of Games

The fascination of digital games for children lies above all in the fact that they can slip into other roles and experience exciting adventures. They can prove their playful skills, compete with others and dive into fantastic worlds.

Getting to Know the World of Games - the Different Genres

In order to better assess which games are suitable for children, what they promote and require, it is first useful to know the different types of games. On the link "Video Game Genres: Everything You Need to Know" you will find a good overview of the best-known genres.

Mastering Challenges, Identifying Risks

For younger children, digital games mean one thing above all: fun! They can also learn something and train their cognitive and motor skills. Especially for younger children, fixed rules in the family help to avoid disputes and not to neglect compensatory activities. What can this look like? And what tips and advice can you, as a future MediaParent consultant, give parents?

A highly recommendable website - not only with regard to gaming - is mediasmarts.ca. Here parents can find everything that is important about media education. How gaming can be made child-friendly and fun, what rules can be set up within the family and what can be used to guide the age suitability of a game is presented very clearly on the page "Video Games" is very clearly presented. A page that you can gladly recommend to parents.

Can digital gaming become addictive?

At a parents' evening about games, the question of whether gaming is addictive is bound to come up at some point. Here you can first reassure the parents, especially of younger children.

The probability of developing a so-called "Gaming Disorder" is very low. You can find out which factors speak for an addiction in the video " WHO: Gaming disorder: questions and answers (Q&A)". As long as children pursue their hobbies, meet friends and go to bed at a reasonable time, there is no reason to worry.

Game recommendations

The range of games is incredibly large. However, many games are not suitable for younger children because they contain advertising, for example, or can lead to excessive demands.

A very entertaining, creative, educational and ad-free gaming experience for younger children is offered by the MausApp, the Elefanten-App and the Sandmann-App - provided by the public broadcaster. Information on age-appropriate use and links to the apps can be found on the right-hand side under the link "Apps for pre-school and primary school children".

Provide Balance

Digital games can be an excellent complement to other leisure activities for children. However, there should always be a balance or alternatives to digital games, such as outdoor activities or analogue game nights.

Exercise

Describe in your own words why younger children need guidance in choosing games and playing games themselves.
Which of the types of games listed on the page " Video Game Genres: Everything You Need to Know " would you recommend to parents specifically for younger children and why?
Search the page “A Guide to the Different Types of Video Game Platforms” for the different systems and platforms that can be used for gaming. Which ones are already suitable and recommended for younger children?
What do you see as the biggest challenges and risks? Write down the most important points.
What practical tips and concrete help can you give parents to take home? Can you think of any others? Use text and bulleted/numeric lists.

What you learn in this course

You will be able to describe what role digital (online) games play for children between 2 and 6 years of age.
You will be able to explain which learning possibilities and opportunities digital games offer for this age group.
You will be able to name game genres and distinguish them from a selection as well as name different platforms for digital (online) games.
You will be able to identify risks and challenges of digital games for this age group (e.g. advertising, data protection, problematic content, excessive gambling) and develop ways to reduce and avoid them.
You will be able to name features for the assessment of digital (online) games (e.g. age limits, advertising content).
You will be able to to independently examine unknown contents for their suitability for this age group and to classify them according to characteristics and to classify them into genres.
You will be able to explain why children between 2 and 6 need guidance in selecting and assessing content.
You will be able to clarify how this child-oriented guidance can take place and give examples of what it can look like.

Get ready: Tips for MediaParent consultants

As a future MediaParent consultant, you are now immersed in the fantastic gaming world of our youngest children and can give parents helpful advice to take home.

The topic of gaming is particularly suitable for actively involving parents at your parents' evening and presenting the topic in a fun way. Just pick up the parents in their past and let them become a child again themselves.

For example, before the parents' evening begins, you can lay out a few tablets with age-appropriate game apps and let the parents "gamble" a round. This way, they can experience the fascination of digital games for themselves. Afterwards, take a look back at their childhood together with the parents. Many of them already played digital games themselves. Ask the parents: "Who played digital games?" "Who still plays today?" "What did you find so fascinating about them? "What do you look out for yourself in games"? etc.

Playing together and exchanging experiences for the first time connects parents and possibly reduces their initial worries.