Learning without learning

Many kids don’t like mathematics, because they believe they are not good at it. But you watch them do math while maximizing their pocket money or adding points playing a game, and you will be surprised at how very good they are at math. As babies grow, they learn language by primarily listening to others speak the language. It’s far more difficult to learn a language when it is taught. It is obvious that learning something without actually learning it is the best way to learn it. Might sound confusing, but learning via play is the best way to learn.

Kids Playing Monopoly Chicago by Colleen Kelly

Teachers who can get their kids all excited about what they are learning, have accomplished half of teaching. In his article Don’t Teach Math, Coach It, Jordan Ellenberg talks about getting his kids to do math without resenting it. Math is all around us, in everyday life. All we have to do as adults is to get the kids to do math without knowing that they are doing it. The author talks of sitzfleisch, the ability to focus on a complicated skill for the length of time it takes to master it. Gaming is all about that. Wanting to master a game, can get kids to focus and learn enough to win.

Apart from our everyday life where we trip over math in shopping, cooking (proportion), craft making, sport etc. there is a whole world where kids pick up math with ease – play. The old board games of chess, Monopoly, Snakes and ladders etc. use math. The newer world of gaming uses Math in Rush Hour, Dragon Box and a whole bunch of other Games in Mathematical Education.

Learning something must not be a pain for kids. Games are a great way to get kids to learn without learning

Best Online and Mobile Games That Feature Penguins

With the recently released Penguins of Madagascar  catching everybody’s fancies, it’s time to list down the top penguin games of the year that’s gone by. Here’s my list of top 4 penguin games that are widely loved by gamers across the world.

Penguins on Parade by David Stanley

Air Penguin

Jump, fly and dodge through Antarctica in this fun penguin game. Air Penguins will have to journey through the ice-land and save their families from the melting ice caps. ‘Tilt’ (that’s how you have to move your phone) your way out of the hazards of global warming and make the little animals fly by flapping their tiny wings. Critics have agreed that “Air Penguin's hotter than Tiny Wings and top Angry Birds”! The adorable graphics, frills-free gameplay, and an engaging scoring system ensure players go back for more.

Flying Penguins 

This penguin game has proved its mettle on the iOS platform and now finds a place in the Android platform too. Penguins will have to fly swiftly and flap rapidly to escape the evil polar bears that are out to prey on them. Based on physics principles, the game has 3 addicting worlds and 24 racing levels that will improve your finger deftness and problem solving skills. The game is suitable for both girls and boys as everybody adores the black and white animals from the Poles.

Crazy Penguins

Who can resist chubby and naughty polar bears and cute and wobbly penguins? The game’s user base would have multiplied in millions had it been free! This penguin game is heavily inspired by Angry Birds where grumpy polar bears unleash attacks on harmless penguins that disturb nobody. Therefore the penguins have embarked on a mission to restore their peace with a deadly weapon – not a heavy-duty nuclear weapon but the penguins themselves! Keep away invading Polar Bears by throwing brave, little penguins at them with your faithful catapult, a la Angry Birds, and bring down the enemies. The better start you get with the catapult, the better chances you have of bringing all of them down together. With pleasant graphics and sounds, win epic battles and unlock cool penguin power-ups including Ninja, Penguin on Fire, The Twins and more!

Dibble Dash

Join Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private in their adventure in this ‘cute and cuddly’ penguin game.  The secret agents use speed, agility, and lightning reflexes in finding the Cheesy Dibbles that are crucial to take them forward in the game. The mobile game has interesting twists and turns and seems like a boundless quest that will never end. Using swift and reflexive finger movements, players will have to move through a Temple Run-ish path and collect packets of Dibble Dash, cross hurdles, solve math puzzles and quizzes, and avoid being contaminated by the ‘mutant venom’. As Kowalski might say - brains are an important part of this operation.

The free penguin game is a good platform for the kids to practice their math skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The game offers free power ups to escape sticky situations where the Penguins have been affected by the mutant-creating goo. Daily players are rewarded classified Daily Missions. Outrun Paul the Octopus and his Henchmen to reach the climax of the game. The penguin game has special educational Expansion Packs which help players to access more ‘top secret’ files and mission and achieve higher security clearance.

Let us know if you have more exciting penguin games that you like. We would love to hear from you!

Neopets – Your go-to Place for Virtual Pet Games

Every Christmas, my kids would ask Santa for a puppy or, failing that, a kitty. Or a feathered pal at the very least. Only an exceptionally hard-hearted Santa would fail to be moved by their pleas for a pet but a small apartment isn’t exactly the best place to house a menagerie.

But things changed when they discovered Neopets – a website devoted to virtual pet games - and the joys of caring for a host of furry friends online. My kids’ digital pets require feeding, grooming, playtime, walks and all the things that real animals need in order to thrive. But they don’t poop in the kitchen or chew the carpet ragged, nor do they require expensive vaccinations and we can take a vacation without worrying about finding a pet sitter. If that sounds like bliss, perhaps you’d like to check out this awesome virtual pet games site for your little gamers.

Courtesy - http://www.neopets.com/

About Neopets

Neopets has been around since 1997 and is one of the most popular virtual pet sites on the internet. It has everything a pet lover could ask for – cool games, pet stores, a fun Neopets community where you can hang out with other pet lovers and an entire virtual world where you can indulge your love for cute and cuddly creatures.

Neopets is a virtual world where all kinds of strange-looking creatures (a.k.a. Neopets) are up for adoption. Neopets resemble unicorns, dogs, cats, snakes and other familiar and not-so-familiar creatures. Registered users can foster up to 3 different pets, care for them, play games and build a home for them, fight with other pets, run a shop, solve puzzles, play the stock market, join a guild, get a job and do loads of other fun things.

There are absolutely no expectations about what you should do on Neopets and that’s what’s so appealing about the website. My five year old loves to decorate her cat’s pretty home while my entrepreneurial ten year old would rather spend time running a pet store and making Neopoints. Occasionally, both love to shop for clothes, books and furniture when they’ve racked up enough NPs. Neopets looks like it was designed for kids but you’ll find people of all ages, from college students to grandparents playing on it.

Neopets has a variety of games and most of them are suitable for kids of all ages. Some of the virtual pet games, however, have betting, gambling, lottery and virtual stock trading, so you might want to monitor your child’s screen time. Another thing you should be aware of is that the Neopets community attracts hackers and scammers so make sure your child is careful when talking to strangers.

Other than that, Neopets is really a wonderful place if you love pets but can’t have one for any reason. 

Travel and Kids

SIA A380-800 Interior Panorama by Mads Bodker

A lot of families hesitate to travel internationally with kids. They are afraid kids will find the food unpalatable, they might fall ill or that it might be plain unsafe. Any one of these reasons would make the trip unpleasant for the adults. 

The pros for traveling with kids far outweigh the cons. Kids can learn:

• to appreciate other cultures and people
• to be tolerant of occasional discomfort, which makes them more adaptive
• they learn to handle long journeys where one cannot do whatever one wants to do
• they learn to adapt to new food and ways
• they learn to communicate sometimes while not knowing a language very well
• many a time kids help adults in looking up maps and information, which helps them learn map reading and sourcing information via timetable, boards or asking at counters
• when a plan falls through, they learn to adapt and move on
• while looking at museums or other such sights, they learn about history at the place it was made
• on seeing ancient buildings kids can comprehend how man has grown over time
• the flora of other countries helps kids understand how food on our table is from someplace very far away

Interestingly it is getting quite common for families to go on multigenerational trips. Three generations travel together and do a bit of everything that members of the group like. It is also a great time to bond with family. 

Kids always have a unique view and opinion about places adults travel to. They love some and hate others. At the end of the day the travel shapes them into who they are. 

English Games for Kids

Language is acquired in many ways by younger children – by paying attention to what is being said, by responding, by being exposed to language. But once kids get to school they have to get into the details. For these rules to be absorbed, a sustained effort is required and this means many rounds of practice and drills.

For this reason, English lessons often include activities and worksheets. English games, which give kids adequate practice but in a fun virtual environment, have also gained favor among educators. But can language be learnt via English games? The answer is both yes and no.

“OLPC” by Lizette Greco is licensed under CC BY 2.0

·         Grammar – Often viewed as a dull subject involving many rules, grammar is one area where online games can work magic. They not only provide simple explanations but offer practice as well. They are designed to be entertaining, which makes kids more receptive to learning and practicing the language.

·         Vocabulary – “A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker…If you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.” These words by Henry Hazlitt emphasize the importance of vocabulary. Kids are like sponge and they absorb new words easily. English games to improve vocab and spelling can include puzzles, online board games and more.

“Colors Typing Game” by Peter Pumkin is licensed under CC BY 2.0

·         Reading & Comprehension – With interactive apps in the market, kids can enjoy reading with their help. A larger vocabulary also helps them in these reading activities.

·         Writing – Not all online games help kids write but we do have apps that get kids to practice handwriting and tracing letters.  There are apps that help with the writing process, story structure and building sentences. Online tools like writing prompts and blogs can be used to get kids to practice writing.

“student_ipad_school – 093” by Brad Flickinger is licensed under CC BY 2.0

·         Listening & Speaking – These are two skills that need to be built through active participation and online English games can only take you so far. Activities and offline games are the best way for kids to learn to listen and talk well.

You can make the most of the English games available to teach the basics of language like grammar, vocabulary and reading. A sound foundation in this will help kids write, talk and speak better!

Gaming for a greater good

RECYCLE by Enokson

The world is an inter-linked one. We cannot continue living in an unsustainable way. The ill-effects are already evident. We are polluting the very water and air we need to survive. When populations were small, spread out, human being could destroy and move on. Nature had the time to rejuvenate. Now things are different. We need to live more cooperatively.

People don't come on board with just presentations or explanations. New York City was planning to cancel its recycling program in 2001. Then two friends, one a law student and another who was pursuing his MBA, got together and drafted and built Recyclebank, which today partners multiple communities across the country.

The Problem

Landfills are costing cities 25 billion dollars as they handle 675 million tonnes of waste. What is recycled is a very small percentage. This gap has to be reduced and Recyclebank believes the use of technology can help. Most people in the country live more wastefully in the last few years, believing that greed is good. This has led to behavioral patterns which show increased consumption, leading to increased wastefulness.  

Using Game Mechanics

Elements of Gamification like rewards and points are embedded into the Recyclebank program. Homes and institutions are rewarded for the recycling they do, thereby saving the city money they need for maintaining landfills. They have also moved on to encouraging other savings in electricity and water. As an example, members can earn by unplugging appliances, choosing greener products and even having shorter showers.

By using education, recognition and financial incentives, built on game mechanics, Recyclebank does serious social entrepreneurship. 

4 Types of Educational Games which Kids Have to Play

Games are a fun way of introducing kids to new concepts and practicing already known concepts. With the revolution in educational technology around the world, it’s desired that we should adopt innovative teaching methods to make classroom learning as interesting as possible. Also, children learn the best when they are taught with mediums other than books in the classroom, like activities, games, projects, presentations, infographics, charts, etc. Presuming that these tools are incorporated in lesson plans, which subjects should be given the most preference while adopting these new methods? The four basic subjects or topics that must lead the avant-garde method of teaching are unarguably math, reading, critical thinking and conversational skills. They encompass most of the other topics and skills like writing, problem solving, communication, and science.

Studying by Scott Akerman

Reading games

Reading can only be fun when one can read! Otherwise, letters on a paper are as useless as a blackboard without a chalk. It’s a good idea to introduce kids to reading with small and simple reading games and activities.

·         Start reading early to your child. Supplement your reading with animated hand and face gestures.

·         Wait patiently for your child to participate, smiling and nodding at her at regular intervals.

·         Allow your child to interrupt. That will encourage her to participate and eventually grow a desire to read.  In other words, help them with their concerns.

·         Read frequently. If you’re reading a frequently-read piece of literature to your child, she will join you in no time and start narrating it with you.

·         Read simple and lucid literature that sounds melodious or is rhythmic.

Math activities

Math is the foundation of many an important subject: physics, chemistry, geography, biology, etc. Besides, it’s a subject that comes into use in our daily lives right from waking up in the morning (checking the time) to going to sleep (setting an alarm). Here are a few math activities that can be practiced with the kids to sharpen their counting skills!

·         Read a recipe and have your child measure the amounts for the ingredients. Use different measures such as teaspoons, cups, and pints.

·         Plan a meal and prepare the shopping list together.

·         If you’re getting vegetables from the store, have your child count and sort them out.

·         Have your child measure her height with the help of a paper that’s already been scaled and marked.     

·         Count pennies with your child. Hide a certain number of them from the stack. Ask your child to guess how many you’ve hidden.

Remember, games like Chinese checkers, Mancala, Yahtzee, and Dominoes also go a long way in improving math skills.

Critical thinking activities and tips

We are confronted daily with opportunities to solve problems and exercise our own judgment to explore the world around us. Not always do these challenges involve physical challenges. The skill to solve these problems and accept the challenges head on is critical thinking. Here’s how you can help children develop their critical thinking skills.

·         Provide opportunities to play.

·         Help children to solve their problems independently.

·         Don’t offer to solve children’s problems.

·         Help children develop hypotheses.

·         Urge children to be accurate.

·         Encourage them to be relevant, logical, and fair 

     

Games and activities to develop conversational skills

It’s important for children to develop great conversational skills as half of the battle is won if an interview goes well! Here are a few activities that will help children better their conversational and public speaking skills.

·         Address the child while you talk to her. That will later help her build self-confidence while speaking.

·         Keep it brief and simple every time you instruct the child. Help the child to comprehend the instruction and respond.

·         Ask the child to repeat the instruction back to you. That’s a great way of striking a conversation.

·         Begin any directive with “I want”. In case they refuse your directive, they can reply saying “I don’t want to…”

·         Give choices to your child while you instruct her to do something and have her choose from the choices and convey it to you in complete sentences.

·         Try rhyming your instructions, like “Do not gawk, please talk”.