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Software and Video Games
for Gifted Children

I have more than a few words to say about computer and video games.  I'm one of those people who aren't opposed to allowing kids to play plenty of games.  Not only do I not oppose it; I downright advocate it!  This does not mean, however, that game play should be unsupervised for younger children or that it should be unlimited or that it should interfere with homework, chores or other responsibilities.  As much as many of us like the idea of our kids reading good books, we wouldn't allow the younger ones to read anything they like, to do nothing but read, or to read so much that they neglect chores and homework.  The same should be true of computer and video gaming.  

Perhaps my view on gaming can be best expressed by the poem that my son wrote when he was 14:


Video games
       that take me places away from harsh reality,
       that allow me to be the kind of person I want to be,
       that test my abilities,
       that raise my awareness level,
       that teach me strategy,
       that improve my hand-eye coordination,
       that teach me math skills,
       that teach me history,
       that teach me a foreign language,
       that are mostly made of RPG's, FPS's, and RTS's,
made me who I am today.

Here are some great computer games:


Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts
(for Playstation 2)

Last Updated November 23, 2008
© Gifts for Learning, 2003-2004

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Parenting Tip:
1) Don't follow age recommendations too strictly when buying software for a gifted child.  Quite often a gifted child is better off with a game recommended for older children they'll quickly get bored with games that don't challenge them. 
2) Monitor your child's game playing the way you monitor tv.  If you don't want your child watching violent tv shows, then don't allow your child to play violent video games!

Visit the computer programming page in the book section at Gifts for Learning for links to simple -- and FREE -- programming software.

More great videogames:

The Sims
Civilization
Music Ace

Fritz and Chesster
Learn to Play Chess with Fritz and Chesster

My son's been playing computer games since he was about 2 years old, and has always just loved them.  We used to play them together, giving us some time together and something more to share.  The games we played often gave us a chance to explore the world and talk about science or anything else that we found in the games we played.  But here's the best part -- computer games helped my son learn the importance of practice.  It helped him learn to get over the frustration he felt when he couldn't do something perfectly the first time he tried it.  He loved the games so much that he couldn't help but come back to them and try some difficult task over and over until he mastered it.

Search for videogames at Amazon.com



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