Playing games has a significant role in the development of children. Scientifically speaking, playing not only provides physical benefits, but it also offers many emotional, cognitive, and social advantages. The current societal changes have had a profound impact on children’s leisure activities. The time they used to spend playing outdoors has decreased, leading to increased feelings of solitude and disconnection from the natural world. In previous articles, we mentioned various types of games that were popular in the past. Now, we will briefly conclude our discussion on games while analyzing the advantages and disadvantages that traditional games provided for children compared to modern electronic distractions. We will examine the importance of different types of games for children, while also considering two crucial points:
I- The scientific approach to the benefits of traditional children’s games, and
II- A comparison with modern electronic games.
Children engage in games, they enjoy it
A group of children spending time together
I – Scientific Approach to the Benefits of Traditional Children’s Games
Many activities people engage in can bring either positive or negative outcomes to their lives. One way to understand this is by studying the scientific results these activities yield. Let’s explore two aspects of the positive effects that traditional children’s games had in the past and continue to have in people’s lives: interaction with others and physical and intellectual development. We will briefly discuss each of these aspects.
Games that encourage interaction, collective play, and team spirit
The majority of games played in the past demanded collective interaction. This means that children often needed other children to engage and enjoy these games. This could include various categories of games, such as games played with hands and feet, games that involve physical play, games with a lot of movement, games played between good friends, games with physical contact, word games, and more.
The development of these types of collective games resulted in a social life where people lived together. They allowed children to maintain a sense of unity and grow together in their communal life. It’s not that children didn’t experience conflicts with each other. On the contrary, they often found opportunities to become upset with one another. However, depending on their age group, they used a symbol to convey their displeasure or satisfaction with each other. For instance, when they crossed their index finger with another’s, it meant “I’m upset with you.” 😒 But when they crossed their middle fingers (the fingers that come after the ring finger) with each other’s, it meant “I’m good with you!” 😁
This doesn’t mean that there weren’t games considered personal, individual, or solitary. If we take a series of games like rolling a hoop, playing marbles, and making toy cars, these are games children could play on their own. However, the social development of communal life was so strong that it was easier to find multiple children chasing after a rolling hoop when it was about to fall, to catch it before it hit the ground, or for each child to have their own hoop and participate in hoop races. The same applied to other types of games we mentioned, like playing marbles. It was challenging to find a child playing marbles without a few others waiting for their turn to make a shot or to play the game alongside the shooter. This isn’t limited to these games alone.
We see this dynamic in other activities as well. In certain situations, especially for older children, during the time when young boys were sending love letters to girls, when a teenager made a lot of mistakes in a letter he sent to a young lady, especially if this boy wasn’t liked by the young lady, “Oh dear!” 🥺… all the teenage girls who were reading the letter already knew how many red marks there were in that letter. That’s why many young boys would rather have someone more skilled write a love letter for them. (We will come back to this topic when we talk about culture.) Let’s now look at the different benefits we can draw from games.
Physical and Intellectual Development
One of the things that guarantees a child’s growth is movement. So, you can’t talk about a child’s physical development without considering the physical activities they engage in. Thus, when a child is in an environment where activities involve movement similar to those of the past, it guarantees the development of that child. Children of the past used to enjoy this in various types of games. And, it wasn’t an occasional thing, but rather a way they lived. This is why the psychological development of their bodies was well-aligned with these games. Let’s look at the advantages some games offered.
For example, a child playing “lago,” a game where they would run around a specific area, a game of tag, or a relay race, would develop an athletic body 💪 that would benefit their health and emotional well-being. A child playing games like “Lèzonyon” (lesson), “Louloup louloup” (wolf, wolf), jumping rope, and other similar games, would develop good reflexes and physical balance. In general, learning, comprehension, and intellectual development become easier through practice. Many of the activities children engaged in in the past demonstrate how beneficial they were intellectually. The results are quite clear, even though the past wasn’t as developed as the present. Many of them required creativity, meaning a creative mind. Let’s take a few examples.
Pay attention to number one (1): It’s a game that requires a lot of physical skill and good judgment
Performing a cartwheel and landing it: there’s no doubt that a child who performs a cartwheel on the road would become a mechanic. And performing a cartwheel on top of a hill and running down, it would be beneficial for the child who is driving to develop the attitude of a motorbike rider and even develop the skills of a driver.
Building a small car using containers for food or Juna boxes; creating a radio and a fan from a small adult motor; making a lantern… these things facilitated the capacity for evolved creation. If we were to analyze more, we could find more advantages or benefits in these games.
These playground advantages were favorable for children to become a young team! 👍👌 Everywhere, the entire world would acknowledge and respect them, provided they had the necessary guidance. The majority of games didn’t expose these children to things beyond their age for them to do that were inappropriate. Many games put them in an environment that guaranteed scientific physical and intellectual development and favored collective relationships. Let’s now discuss the present time.
(Note: The provided text appears to be a detailed analysis of the benefits of traditional children’s games, their historical importance, and their impact on different aspects of child development. The text also touches on the potential advantages and disadvantages of modern electronic games compared to traditional games.)
II – Comparison with Modern Electronic Games
It wouldn’t make sense for someone to think that the forms of children’s games from the past would remain almost the same around 40 years later. Since people evolve, it’s normal for the things that used to be considered entertainment to undergo changes. And there’s nothing wrong with that if these evolutions bring pleasure or positive aspects to children’s lives.
Traditional Physical Games | Modern Phone Games
Today, children find more entertainment in modern activities. Indeed, they still enjoy some of the activities children used to do in the past, but they also incorporate many of the distractions brought about by technological advancements. The influence of technology has pushed aside many of the past games, especially those that used to encourage physical activities. Let’s talk about electronic console games and online games.
Electronic Console Games
It’s important to note that several game consoles were already active in other developed countries, such as the Magnavox Odyssey, Atari, which lost its place with the arrival of Nintendo, appeared in the market from 1972 and continued their course until 1989, when underdeveloped countries started using them.
The Emergence of the Internet
The internet has provided children with numerous possibilities for online games. This has replaced many of the past entertainment forms with electronic gaming, involving the creation of software and computerized packages for games. For example, you could mention Las Vegas, Dixit, Diamant, Santorini, Kingdomino, and others. Now, they mostly play soccer, Tetris, racing, card games, and checkers on computers. But when you observe children involved in these forms of games, you can make several remarks.
Let’s look at some advantages of modern games, as well as some disadvantages they may have.
Advantages of Modern Games:
Children have varied distractions (given the multitude of electronic and online games),
It opens up international economic markets,
It encourages young people to develop high-level intellectual skills related to technology.
These are not the only advantages, of course. But they can also lead to disadvantages. Among them, we can point out:
Modern games reduce physical activity,
They can lead to addiction among young people,
And they discourage personal and social interactions.
Let’s discuss these advantages and disadvantages in more detail.
Advantages of Modern Games
1) They provide entertainment: You can’t say that when children today play on a phone, it doesn’t distract them. Since there is a wide variety of games they can choose from, they can spend an entire day playing one or multiple games. When they get tired of one, they can quickly switch to another. Not only do these distractions provide entertainment, but they also have practical benefits: they familiarize children with various types of modern software, which also prepares them for future employment.
2) They foster job creation: This is one of the positive aspects of modern games. Many professions have emerged; many engineers and technicians find good jobs. While playing online, they develop talents and technical skills. Consider, for example, online games that allow children to dress up dolls or create avatar characters. This can help them become creative in design fields. Some children develop these skills to create games, animate films, create marketing materials, logos, videos, design concepts for websites, and more.
Additional Advantages: 3) They provide access to an international market with a lot of money flowing. Millions of dollars are invested in the game industry to create software, produce devices, and more. 4) They demand concentration: Observing a child playing on a computer or a phone, you’ll notice that these activities require a significant level of focus. 5) They engage the intellect beyond 90%: Modern games rely more on the intellectual activity of the children playing them. Engaging in these activities requires a lot of mental effort.
Additional Drawbacks of Modern Games
1) They lead to a reduction in physical activity: The influence of modern life on children’s lives has led to a decrease in physical activities, as many of them find satisfaction in staying indoors and being distracted by electronic devices. They play electronic soccer more often now than real soccer, which helps to develop physical skills along with the intelligence of action, which is sometimes also developed.
2) They can lead to addiction: Yes. Children who often play on computers lose themselves, where they become addicted to these games and neglect other important aspects of their lives. This could include their studies, lessons they should be learning, and their overall health. And worst of all, this can affect their health, making them obese. They eat anything, especially junk food; whatever is available, things that are sweet, and sodas. If you encounter a young person heading in this direction, kindly encourage them to lead a balanced life with physical activity.
Mobile devices can cause addiction as well.
3) The modern distractions and pastimes on computers or other devices used on the internet, like tablets or smartphones, reduce interpersonal and social interactions. This is due to the fact that children remain isolated. There could be many other inconveniences that we haven’t discussed in this topic. For instance, children often imitate the bad behaviors of characters in electronic games: they become violent, use inappropriate language, and even lose respect for their parents. We may talk about these aspects in another article.
Encouraging Balance in Children’s Games
In summary, it wouldn’t be normal for someone to think that a child’s life would be complete without an environment that promotes their enjoyment of the games they play. Games are an essential part of a child’s development, both physically and intellectually. However, it’s equally important for children not to become addicted to video games. Specialists advise that the time children spend on video games should not be too long to avoid losing themselves. Often, this has negative effects on their school performance.
We know that these games carry interest and benefits, and they will continue to develop and become more refined. However, children need to engage in games that encourage not only intellectual development but also physical development. Especially games that promote respect for each other while fostering a social atmosphere will continue to be established.
Do you have any other advantages or disadvantages you’d like to share with us, either related to games from the past or modern distractions? Please share your thoughts in the comments. We’ll be very glad to hear from you. Not too far from now, we’ll bring up another topic for you in this section. If you found yourself in this article, don’t hesitate to react: 👍 Like, 🔔 Subscribe, and ↗️ Share. That will give us a lot of pleasure.