Today it is known that the vast majority of children want game consoles. They have represented a technological boom in the entertainment world for a few years now. How many boys and girls don’t want to have a console? Well, the answer is almost all.
Every time the new consoles are coming out more often, making their price more affordable every day. Every day, more and more games are publicized by all the media and generate a feeling of need in children. More and more parents are considering buying video game consoles for their children, and good reason.
Many parents are concerned because they believe that a console is only a distraction for their children that they only serve to divert them from other more important matters. But what happens when this is not so? Well, truly, video game consoles have many benefits in cognitive and social development in infants.
It is normal to ask yourself, what are the benefits or reasons for buying them? It may seem like a waste of time or money, but it isn’t. There are many little-known benefits of video game consoles.
- Fine motor skills
Although it may not seem like it, video game consoles have a wide variety of cognitive benefits in children’s development. The agility required to move and properly utilize the joysticks required to execute each game’s various movements is beneficial in development. The ability to coordinate movements with the fingers in the small space where the buttons are located sharpens motor dexterity.
The level of concentration and muscle memorization used in video games makes the brain work constantly. The necessary connection that neurons must make for the management and execution of orders exercises the mind and memory, improves the speed of responding to unforeseen events, and helps solve solutions more quickly.
So video game consoles are more than a waste of time. They represent a new and dynamic way of contributing to development. Making boys and girls exercise their psychomotor skills and abilities while playing and being entertained. Isn’t it amazing that boys and girls develop while having fun, thus avoiding traditional tasks’ typical frustrations?
- Autonomy
Boys and girls learn to control and begin the decision-making process. They begin to make choices and learn about their tastes, gradually separating themselves from the search for external validation, moving closer to self-determination. Even in a virtual environment, being in control, deciding what to do, which avatar to choose, which part of the game, and when to play, helps them become aware of themselves. With autonomy and decision-making power, they become independent, ceasing to consult their parents all the time about what to do and when to do it, taking that into their own hands.
This set of attitudes is beneficial for the growth of boys and girls and their parents, teachers, and close people, since they begin to feel less dependent and begin to be more likely to follow their instincts and tastes.
There is also the use of video game consoles to learn to decide when and when not to play, understanding video games as a space for leisure and entertainment that helps with relaxation. The use as an instrument for rest and knowing how to manage between them and the didactic use in the training process.
- Visual and auditory stimulation
Human brain development occurs concerning stimuli. The more stimuli there are, the better certain areas of the brain develop. Video games represent an inexhaustible source of visual and auditory stimuli that make boys and girls more receptive to capturing and interpreting information from the outside world. These stimuli may be more beneficial in one or other areas, depending on the type of game, but there is no doubt that they all improve and improve the senses’ capacities.
The constant reception of stimulating factors fosters creativity, imagination, attention to detail and visual memory, and fundamental study and life aspects. It allows them to learn to distinguish better visually and auditory. It refines the sense of hearing due to the association of specific actions with specific sounds or images.
Even in many cases, with the stimuli received, such as video game consoles, it serves as a door to learning other languages, due to video games’ availability. It represents a dynamic way of learning other languages due to the graphic association, making meanings easier.
- Self-realization
The use of best gaming system for 7 year old generates a healthy sense of competitiveness and search for achievements. As you progress through the game, the better you feel. The fulfillment of objectives, even in a virtual world, improves self-esteem, the feeling of well-being, personal worth, and confidence in abilities.
Otherwise, when they lose, it allows them to learn to manage the feeling of frustration, guiding them to seek improvement to continue reaching their goal.
Taking the role of protagonists or leaders, mainly in different video games, allows boys and girls to develop conflict management, decision-making, and a healthy sense of competence. The ability to guide and direct others and establish effective strategies in addition to the general feeling of trust, control, and responsibility in general.
Currently, the communities created by console users are vast, which encourages integration and communication, causing children to begin to have a sense of belonging and community. Improves interaction with other people, and the ability to work as a team, share, strategic division of work, and coordinate with other people since several people are working for common objectives.
- Responsibility
When boys and girls have something they like, and it generates personal satisfaction, for example, in this case, a video game console, they begin to see the value of taking care of objects. They acquire habits related to their care belongings and a sense of self-responsibility. They are motivated to keep their console in good condition, keep it safe, away from potential dangers.
They begin to see cause and effect relationships, like when the console is unloaded, they have to load it, it is a way of exemplifying it, and they begin to understand the chain reactions. The habits of responsibility can be extrapolated to other things beyond the console, which is beneficial for parents.
In addition to the console’s responsibility, the environment in the world of video games helps them learn to feel empathy, solidarity, and understanding with other people since values that are positive and strongly related to others’ responsibility are promoted by people with whom they relate.