Game Use in Children’s
Lives and in the Classroom
Created by: Linae Graupmann
Location of Video Game Use
& Who the Players Are
•Video game consoles more likely to be in lower income households
(Wartella, O’Keefe, & Scantlin, 2000).
•Multiple computers are likely to be in middle class homes.
(Holloway & Valentine, 2003).
•Boys spend more time playing video games than girls.
•Black (25 minutes) and Hispanic (24 minutes) children spend more
time on video games than white children (17 minutes) .
(Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, & Brodie, 1999).
•Children start playing computer games as young as nine-months old.
(Rideout, Vanderwater, & Wartella, 2003).
Children’s Interest in Games
2001 Survey [ESA] for game players
•Fun [87%]
•Challenging [72%]
•Social experience [42%]
•Low cost entertainment [36%]
(Kirriemuir, & McFarlane, 2004)
•Human/game interaction and reaction
•Children are allowed to experiment
Social Interactions
Surrounding Games
•The location of the gaming equipment affects the social dynamics
around the game playing
•“According to their parents, among children who play video
games in a typical day. 64% spend most of their time playing with
someone else, and half (49%) have a parent in the room with
them most or all of the time they are playing” (Rideout,
Vanderwater, & Wartella, 2003).
•Children use video games as a hobby where friends
can get together to play and discuss games.
Educational Value of Games
•Games motivate students to engage in activities for longer
periods of time.
•Children move from receivers of information to
experiencing content.
•Children may develop spatial representation, iconic skills,
and visual attention.
•Children may become more comfortable using computers.
•Raises some children’s self-esteem
•Activity is fun
Use of Games to Teach
•Civilization III to teach history
(Squire, in press)
•The Island of Dr. Brain to teach chemistry and math
(Ito,1997)
•SimCity 2000 to teach urban planning
(Ito,1997)
The Use of Amazon Trail
3rd grade
Partner activity
Goal: Students will learn about
the Amazon Rainforest and the
Amazon River.
Activity: Students will play the game with their partner.
•Students will then write a journal entry about their travels.
•Students will also be responsible for researching specific
information on at least two of their findings everyday.
How children start the game
1) Children pick a guide:
Guides are of various
genders and races.
2) Children select a
supplies package.
3) Children get into
a boat and navigate
the river.
Children learn to read a map and
use a compass to navigate
Once on the river children learn
about rain forest animals, fish,
and plant life
In the cities children learn about
history and science and practice
problem solving
Learn
History
Practice
problem
solving
Henry Ford’s
rubber
plantation
Trade
Cortez
Learn Science
botany
Bibliography
Holloway, S.L., & Valentine, G. (2003). Life around the screen: The place of the ICT in the family’ home,
Cyberkids: Children in the information age (pp. 99-126). London: Routledge Falmer.
Ito, M. (1997). Kids and simulation games: Subject formation through human-machine interaction. Paper
presented at the Annual meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S).
Kirriemuir, J., & McFarlane, A. (2004). Literature review in games and learning. Nesta Futurelab Series:
report 8. Retrieved January 26th, 2005, from http://www.nestafuturelab.org/research/lit_reviews.htm
Rideout, V., Vanderwater, E., Wartella, E., (2003). Zero to six: electronic media in the lives of infants toddlers
and preschoolers. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Roberts, D., Foehr, U., Rideout, V., Brodie, M. (1999). Executive Summary: Kids and media at the new
millennium (p. 42 –56). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Menlo Park, California.
Sanger, J., Willson, J., Davies, B., & Whittaker, R. (1997). Keeping IT in the family: Computer games and
families, Young children, videos and computer games: Issues for teachers and parents (pp. 63-96). London:
Falmer Press.
Squire, K.D. (in press). Civilization III as a world history sandbox. To appear in Civilization and its discontents.
Virtual history. Real fantasies. Milan, Italy. Ludilogica Press.
Valentine, G., Holloway, S.L., & Bingham, N. (2000). Transforming cybespace: Children’s interventions in the
new public sphere. In S.L. Holloway & G. Valentine (eds.), Children’s geographies: Playing, living, learning
(pp. 156-173). London and New York: Routledge.
Wartella, E., O’Keefe, B., & Scantlin, R. M. (2000). Growing up with interactive media: What we know and
what we don’t about the impact of new media on children – Executive Summary (pp. 1-16).