Many games not only help kids have fun, but also learn. Randy Kulman, founder and president of LearningWorks for Kids, an organization that helps inform and instruct parents on how to enrich and enhance their kids’ digital playtime, provides us with the following 10 games to try on smart devices:
“Thomas Was Alone” is a charming and funny puzzle platformer recommended for kids ages 12 and older, in which players move rectangles of different sizes, shapes and abilities through an increasingly challenging environment.
“King’s Quest” is an episodic adventure game for kids ages 10 and older that allows players to embark on the adventures of King Graham of Daventry, now an old man, as he reminisces about them to his grandchildren.
“Lightbot: Code Hour” is an app that teaches coding logic to kids as young as age 5 who must use sequences of symbols to move a cute robot through obstacle courses.
“Ori and the Blind Forest” is a beautifully rendered and poignant puzzle platformer that can teach kids as much about overcoming obstacles as it can about getting along and understanding others.
“Toca Blocks” is one of the Toca Boca game studio’s popular “digital toy” apps for kids of all ages, and allows kids to create worlds with blocks and characters.
“Lifeline” is a text-based adventure game for kids ages 12 and older, reminiscent of a choose-your-own adventure book, that challenges players to remotely guide a young scientist through survival after a spacecraft crash on a distant moon.
“Never Alone” is a gorgeous, immersive and exciting puzzle platformer developed through the cooperation of the Alaskan indigenous Iñupiaq people, with additional video learning content that is unlocked through gameplay.
“Writer Rumble” is a game in which players ages 6 and older fight using the “pen” rather than the “sword.”
Similarly, the obstacles in “Scribblenauts Remix” are overcome when players write the names of objects they want to use to solve in-game problems.
And, of course, there’s “Minecraft,” perhaps the most popular (and versatile) game ever, which is being used in classrooms across the country to teach kids school subjects from art and history to science and math, as well as social/emotional and thinking skills.
For more information, visit learningworksforkids.com
