Top Five Reasons Age-Appropriate Digital Gameplay is Important for Children

As kids grow, gameplay becomes an integral part of their makeup. Whether they are playing with friends or on their own, kids need the time, space, and freedom to explore ideas, so when they play, they learn.

Here are the top five reasons age-appropriate digital gameplay is important for children.

Digital Gameplay Builds Imagination and Creativity

While most digital games take place in an imaginary world — with shapes, colors, and puzzles that spur kids to follow or adapt to the rules — the different problem-solving solutions help build confidence.

These are helpful skills for developing relationships with others and navigating life’s challenges.

It also improves creativity, which contributes to successful growth skills.

Digital Gameplay Fosters Cognitive Growth

Digital gameplay is essential to healthy brain development.

When kids can direct their own play, they are not bound by schedules or activities directed by their parents or other adults.

This influences cognitive growth by contributing to the way a child learns to solve problems while they explore different environments.

Digital Gameplay Delivers Emotional and Behavioral Benefits

Digital games are more than a distraction for small children. They are a way of bringing play into their lives by connecting them to a solution to reduce anxiety while helping boost joy and self-esteem.

When parents play digital games alongside their children — or observe them while they play — they can better understand their emotions.

Listening and asking questions about how they feel about certain aspects of the game they are playing shows kids their parents care and communicates that their feelings and experiences are important.

This allows kids to explore digital games to share their experiences, negotiate their feelings, solve conflicts, and speak out when they are both happy and frustrated.

Digital Gameplay Helps Improve Language Skills

Children begin building language and literacy skills early and continue to grow through interaction and age-appropriate gameplay.

Digital gameplay helps children develop listening skills, learn sounds, and add new words to their vocabulary by understanding the game’s stories, which teaches them how language works and how narratives are structured.

Digital Gameplay Encourages Greater Independence

Kids understand that their parents have all the power in their homes, at school, and in other social settings.

In short, they spend much of their days being told what to do and when to do it.

When children have access to age-appropriate digital games, they can lead.

Independent play is as important as learning how to play with others, and helps kids tackle other tasks on their own. Developing their independence allows children to experiment with their own creativity and ideas while contributing to future socialization skills.