As Summer is over, and now that school, practice, and other things that get our children back into the groove take over, another thing happens around this time of the year heading into the holidays – new releases in the video game world. And as such you will have those gamers in your family, young and old, wanting to stay up all hours of the night to play, beat and repeat those AAA blockbusters, but as we all know that as responsible adults, lol that we must create a balance from school, work and fun. That said, watch this video before you establish any anti-gaming rules during the school year:
Mental benefits of video games?
That’s right! Gaming has come a long way over the last few decades, and in addition to being a good way for your gamer to blow off steam after the school day, gaming:
- Can enhance cognitive skills
- Improves mental flexibility, attentional capacity and reaction time
- Improves problem-solving and decision-making skills
- Make a gamer more adaptable and able to switch tasks quickly and accurately
- …and so much more!
While that list could go on and on, ‘tis the season of responsibility, so here are some great things that you can do for either yourself or the gamer(s) in your gaming family to balance this gaming season fun.
Set specific times during the week for them to game
Yes, this is what most do, but do we follow through with it? By setting a specific time for your gamer or yourself to play your favorite game will help in the long run, but before doing this set some rules first. Parents/Guardians that have children that are in school make sure that the gamer finish all their homework as well chores before the console is even on, allow them a reasonable time to play the game, let’s say 2 hours for the night. If they can, great, but if they are not then they need to realize that they will still have time to play but it will cut into their 2 hours till all their obligations are finished first. This teaches priorities! Not only will teach them to be responsible with their chores and homework, but also with time. As many people these days aren’t taught to respect time, this will be a great exercise to teach them how to exactly that – and love it. This also is a great way for adults that must work a full work week to keep a good life/gaming balance in their lives.
This one goes deep! It’s scientifically proven raising your kids to do chores is the #1 thing you can do to make your child successful in life (yes, that hyperlink IS worth reading!). That said, our kids are under a lot more stress than when we were their age, and video games have become a great way to sharpen the mind and decompress… so bargain! That’s right – make a system wherein your gamers can “barter” for screen time with chores. Here’s a great example of what one parent did, and it was so successful that it went viral on social media:
Make your gaming sessions for games to a certain number of matches, or chapters in the game.
Every now and then all gamers (including me) will get caught up with either the game story and/or the multiplayer of a game, so one of the best things that you can do as a parent/guardian/gamer is set up rules for this. If time is or is not an issue but you do not want the gamer, or you are burning through the game in one day or week is to set up a rule to either play a certain amount of the game or matches. So for an example, if you are playing a single player story driven game, allow yourself to play one chapter a day. This will allow the gamer to better experience the story and game, this also works for multiplayer games as this will keep the game fresh and cause burnout. Some multiplayer games do have glitches when they are released and some gamers out there will exploit them to cheat in the game, so when you play the game too much this may cause some gamers to get frustrated and not want to play the game (or worse, cause game rage), so by limiting the multiplayer matches that you play every day will help you better enjoy the game and allow the developers address any in game issues.
Put time aside on Friday and weekends to play with friends or just have a “Me Time” session.
As with any show on our favorite streaming series, we tend to binge and go through an entire season of a show in a matter of days or even hours for some…. lol but why not gaming? For some that do not have time in their busy schedule, setting up a “me time” day for a game that we waited to play for a while now is a great way to relax and destress from the daily stresses that we have. Also believe it or not allowing your children to have a day like this also helps them stress as well. We as parents/guardians don’t remember or realize that our younger gamers too have daily stresses in their lives and having them have a “me time” day helps them catch up with their favorite game or even something else that they want to do. By allowing a day for any gamer to decompress helps them with anxiety, depression and stress, and trust me – this is a great way for all to destress and relax from a chaotic work/school week. Putting aside that special time on Fridays or weekends gives the gamer something to look forward to all week, which not only releases stress but teaches patience.
Set up a gaming group for your children to game together during the week.
This is a great way as parents/guardians to get younger gamers as well their friends to have a set time to game with each other. This is a great way for games that are either co-op or multiplayer for gamers to have people online to play with and make the game more enjoyable. Think of it as a play date but online. This also allows parents/guardians/caregivers to set up rules for their younger gamers so they play with a group of people that why they know vs. random people online. This will also teach the younger gamers to be more responsible with their chores and homework in order to have the time to play online. The best thing that you can do is talk to other parents of your younger gamers and all of you agree on a set day/time in which the gamers can get online and play. This can easily be done via text, email or other forms of communication. Remember, gaming is also a great way to enhance your gamer’s socialization skills if you’re guiding them into the right games and gaming practices!
