This Could Be A Cool Fieldtrip

I wish they would give more notice for these events, so I could plan appropriately. My son would absolutely love to go to this Video Game Tournament Otronicon @ Orlando Science Center He loves his video games, and they actually can be useful in learning, if you apply them correctly.



The Otronicon Video Game Tournament, is being held in Orlando, FL from January 16-20, 2009. It is open for school trips, and group trips on the 21st-23rd. Pricing is reasonable at 17 dollars, for adults, and 12 dollars for children under the age of 12. If you happen to be an OSC member, you will get in for free. This tournament will be held, at the Orlando Science Center.

Some of the activities that will be taking place, include: video game tournaments with Rock Band, Wii Fitness, Guitar Hero just to name a few. There will also be a wedding performed. That is right, a Halo Wedding will be performed of two people who met through gaming. Pretty neat, huh? For full details on all the events you can go to http://www.otronicon.org/

If you are a Playstation, Wii, or other video game player, this would be a cool Tournament to attend. Be sure to save the date, and make plans now to attend. If you do get to go, please come back, and share your experience with all of us.

Learning Via Video Games?

We all know kids love to play games. Board games, outside games, card games, all kinds of games teach them various learning skills.

What about online games. Do you let your kids play games online? For me the answer is yes. There are so many great websites, that offer strictly educational games. Some of our favorites, are Funbrain and Funschool, plus Nick jr, and Noggin. There are many others, alot of which can be found in my archives, if you are interested.

So what about video games, do your kids play those? This was a tough one for me, but lets face it video games are fun. We played them when I was a kid, of course it was Atari then, lol. I wish playstation made educational games, then I would probably like it more. I have to say though, that since I have allowed my son to play a playstation 2, his dexterity, and hand eye coordination has improved. Some of the smaller kids games, like dora, and blues clues, are more educational than the older kids varieties. We also have a Leapster L-Max, which is a portable gaming system, that has only educational games. During the school year, my son plays only educational games on this, and playstation only on free time or weekends. My 4 yr old, has learned to play it, and is now doing preschool and kindergarten work. It is an absolutely wonderful system, in my opinion, and well worth the money we spent on it. It was a definate investment piece, and investment in education. You can play any leapster game on it, it doesnt have to be just L-Max, so that makes it very versatile too.

So in conclusion, yes I am a big advocate for playing games. Educational, age related, and that serve a purpose. Of course you have to monitor what your kids play, being sure they are age specific, and dont contain any subjects you may deem inappropriate, such as sex, drugs, violence.