I spent the entire summer between seventh and eighth grade trying to beat Super Mario Bros. My best friends and I worked together to teach each other the ways to beat every level, from the first castle to the last, from Princess Daisy to Princess Peach, from Bowser Junior to the villain Bowser himself.

When alone, I played Tetris, Dr. Mario — all those puzzle games that challenged my brain to move quickly and fit various shaped blocks into the right formation. That “whoosh” sound that signified a “Tetris” washed over me like a warm ocean wave: a signal of both success and accomplishment, turning my little corner of preteen chaos into order and achievement.

Tetris can be very satisfying.

That’s probably why I was never scared of my kids eventually playing video games. After all, I enjoyed gaming as just another activity among many. It’s hard to separate the parental stigma of screen time and video games with very real lessons my kids learn from their games. I’ve witnessed real-life social, developmental, and educational skills that children learn while playing video games like Minecraft, Roblox, Civilization, and more. Lest you think I’m just trying to soothe my own screentime soul, I also asked teachers and influencers to weigh in on this topic.

Social skills

Taking turns, playing fair, and teamwork: these are constant reminders for anyone playing video games. We don’t use the word sharing as often as we encourage kids to “take turns” and that is exactly what they must do in gameplay. Oftentimes it’s forced on them, but that rhythm of letting go after you make mistakes and lose a turn follows into a child’s daily life.

Persistence

How hard is it to win some of these games? It wasn’t until I tried to play my old standbys twenty years later that I remembered just how hard some parts are. We use their game time to explore how hard it is to stay persistent and try your best, understanding that your best only gets better the more you practice.

Mr. Devreaux Poole, Primary Learning and Teaching Coordinator at Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing), also believes that games “offer a safe environment [for children]to explore and challenge themselves. They’re able to build self-confidence as they are able to ‘reset’ when making mistakes,” and in addition, “Delayed gratification is taught (acquired) as the ‘main reward/goal/prize,’ usually only achieved after completing several levels.”

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Poole also adds that “Many video games require critical thinking and problem-solving skills and also stimulate creativity.” I couldn’t agree more! There’s no counting the number of times when my or another child will explain a secret to beating this level or suggest a different way to tackle an obstacle in a game, and they’re right! Sure, sometimes they learn from watching gamer playthroughs, where you literally watch someone online play through a certain level or part of a game, but more often than not I see them apply the knowledge they saw to a different problem and are able to move ahead in the game on their own merits.

Video games can introduce kids to a career in coding.

Community

Blogger and influencer Sally Tian works in the software industry and sees huge social benefits from gaming through her roommate’s experience, among others. ”He came from a small city in China before getting into a top tier university, and the online gaming community provided a good window and perspective to the outside world that he wasn’t able to find in his town. That’s why I think games are a good way to not only learn factual knowledge about the world but also help kids develop stronger social bonds and create a sense of community.”

Money and Math

Another aspect of Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Party, and many more games is that you must earn a certain number of points, coins, etc before you can purchase items in-game that give you more powers or costumes, whatever the case may be.

I couldn’t get my kids to watch a Zoom math class, yet also couldn’t keep them away from an online course called “Mario Math,” which used characters and concepts from the Super Mario world to help them understand ways of approaching math and problem-solving that make their in-classroom learning better today.

English

Minecraft activity books and Minecraft encyclopedias as well as fictionalized stories of the world are how I kept their attention on English concepts through quarantine, and still do today.

Let kids read what they love and they’ll never stop!

Digital Citizenship

Poole also believes that playing video games can aid in “developing of transferable Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills.” By starting them down the road of playing games within communities and privately, kids are introduced to concepts like keeping your passwords safe, public servers versus private ones, usernames, and how one’s identity online must match behavior offline for people to continue wanting to play with you.

Pranking

Because we watched a lot of Minecraft gamers’ playthroughs, my oldest was introduced to the idea of pranking early in his gaming career. Through Minecraft, he learned quickly that some people don’t want to be pranked, especially when that means your supposed partner in the game hacks down a house you’ve spent hours building inside the game because that’s what he’s seen his favorite gamers do to their friends. We had a pretty serious talk after that incident, explaining the subtleties of pranking and how both parties need to be “in” on it if it is to be a fun prank. I’ve since watched him handle his gaming maturely and remove that pranking concept from offline playtime.

Society

Tian is not a big gamer herself, but has “observed that some of the smartest, most creative people had learned about the world through video games.” One game she does play is Civilization, where a player, through making a series of choices, aims to grow his or her country from a rural nomadic tribe to a futuristic society. “The game is incredibly complex and has taught me so much about how society, technology, economics, and even philosophy can be shaped,” says Tian.

Many teenagers teach themselves how to use technology to be part of their favorite gaming worlds.

Self Expression Through Video Production

It is inevitable that starting a game will lead to watching tutorials and playthroughs of that game. Poole sees gaming playthroughs as an extension of a world we adults might already understand: “Gaming is seen as a sport these days, therefore, watching a playthrough is similar to watching a recorded sporting event such as football, basketball, rugby, tennis etc.” I tend to lean on the website Common Sense Media to learn which gamers are family-friendly and which are more mature, but even more inevitable than watching these is that a child will then want to create their own playthroughs and have their own video channel. We used this curiosity to teach our kids the basics of operating a video camera, and how to apply the presentation skills they learn in show-and-tell towards being an on-camera host. I know older kids who taught themselves camerawork through online tutorials, then researched video and audio editing to create better gaming videos.

Kids can still learn a lot of these skills with LEGO bricks and board games; however, it’s good to see the nuances in how video games help with a child’s development so we can lean into their interests instead of always fighting it.

KEEP READING: Weaning Kids Off Screen Time Post-COVID

Photos: Canva, Cindy Marie Jenkins, Pexels, Unsplash

This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 November issue

Nowadays it’s impossible to live in a city like Beijing and not depend on technology for your daily needs. Whether it’s for transportation, news, or just entertainment, we’re always plugged in! Dad Daniel Vuillermin is originally from Australia and works as a lecturer at the School of Health Humanities at Peking University. In his free time, he coordinates Spittoon Beijing and plays music for Boss Cuts, Back Seat Bingo, and The Ravages. Mom Cui Ling is a senior account director in the advertising industry. The couple welcomed their son Yuni three years ago, who was born in Beijing and attends Peking University Health Science Center Kindergarten.

Daniel

As an only child, my siblings were video games so I’ve owned a console from almost every generation. If I had to choose one console it would have to be the Nintendo Switch, if only for “Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” It’s much more child-friendly than the PlayStation 4. I also can’t live without Spotify. Listening to music and podcasts is the best way to survive subway journeys.

Yuni

During our two-week quarantine, Yuni started playing his Dad’s Nintendo Switch and it turns out he is really good at classic games like “Yoshi’s Island” and “Super Mario Bros.” As a treat –– or if we want him to be quiet –– we let him use iPad apps such as Little Penguin Garden (小企鹅乐园 xiǎo qì’é lèyuán), which has a huge selection of Chinese and international cartoons. But his favorite app is YouTube Kids as it has a lot of monster truck videos.

Ling

Before COVID-19, I would spend a lot of time gazing at C-Trip dreaming about all of the places I could go to. But until we can travel again, the iMuseum app is a great resource for keeping up to date with the latest cultural events in Beijing, China, and abroad. For families I recommend VUE. This app is great at taking really cool short films. It is simple to use and has stunning visual effects so that we can all become influencers.

KEEP READING: New Arrivals: Say Hello to Beijing’s Smallest

Photos: Uni You

This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 November issue

News on Wednesday detailed how excited Universal Studios Beijing investors have doubled their investment from USD 3.3 billion to USD 6.5 billion even as Chinese authorities try to dampen enthusiasm towards the country’s booming theme park industry.

The investment by Universal Parks & Resorts and five state-owned Chinese entities that have amalgamated beneath the Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Company will be the largest ever made for a theme park, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The investment surpasses the USD 5.5 billion investment made into Shanghai Disneyland, which broke even in its first year of operation by welcoming some 11 million park visitors.

The greatly-improved budget for Universal Studios Beijing is said to increase park space and broaden the scope of its attractions. The future theme park will also feature a CityWalk shopping and entertainment district as well as the world’s first in-park, Universal Studios-branded hotel. Buoyed by the success of the House of the Mouse to the south, Universal Studios Beijing is now expecting some 10 million visitors in its first year of operations.

As well, the first Universal Studios Beijing ride attraction has been officially confirmed to be “Fast & Furious Supercharged.” Stars of the multi-sequel gear-shifting family-bonding franchise had revealed the news last week when they helped open the movie-themed attraction at Universal Studios Orlando.

But with hundreds of theme parks opening around the country, China’s central planning body warned prospective builders in April to be wary of local debt build-up and low-grade developments. And yet, theme parks continue to be a lucrative business in China, rising 27 percent from 2016 to reach USD 6 billion last year, according to market researcher Mintel. And with revenues expected to hit USD 14 billion by 2022, China’s theme park industry will soon surpass the USA.

First announced in 2014, the opening date for Universal Studios Beijing has been pushed back a number of times, most recently to 2020. Although it has undergone a number of changes since its inception, the theme park will most likely incorporate Chinese elements into its design to help cater to local visitors at a rate reported in the Chinese press as being 35 percent.

When complete, Universal Studios Beijing will join the ranks of other local theme parks like Happy Valley and Shijingshan. Beijing residents will be able to access the southeastern-located theme park by subway.

More stories from this author here.

E-Mail: charlesliu1 (at) qq (dot) com 
Twitter: @Sinopath

Images: Weibo