I have to admit, I have a tough time letting my 9 year old nephew play Halo, or Call of Duty or any other game with enough violence in it that it makes me uncomfortable. The problem is, and I know this from experience, kids are going to find a way to play these games anyway. If you don’t let your kids play the game they know they shouldn’t be playing, they will go to their friends house to play behind your back. It happens all the time. Unfortunately, not every parent is as concerned about what their kids are playing and how it may affect them; their personality, their temper tantrums, their school studies etc. Questions I ask are, is the game even productive for them and what are they getting out of the experience?
The point I am trying to make here is that there are other gaming experiences out there for kids that don’t involve shooting, blood, guts, and horror. The best kind of games for kids are games that are productive; games that become learning tools to help develop their young minds. This is where I introduce a new site called ChallengeYou. Kids (8-14) can now create their own multiplayer games to play on their own or with friends and family. ChallengeYou also have contests to see who creates the best multiplayer game which can encourage young kids even more to create something they want to play.
The gamebuilder ChallengeYou uses is called aMazer. All you need is the Adobe Shockwave program and you’re on your way to creating custom games directly in your web browser. Let your kids imagination run wild where they can create mazes, 3D art, scavenger hunts or whatever they can imagine. ChallengeYou have made game creation simple by including features you just drag and drop. The best part about this whole program, it’s FREE! It won’t cost you $60 like a new game would. OK, you’re also not getting the realistic HD graphics but that’s not what this program is all about. It’s about encouraging young minds to be creative and learn from the experience of creating their own game. I cannot imagine where I would be today if I started on game creation when I was just getting into my “tweens.”
Look, if you have kids, go check this site out. I’ve already played a few maps myself and they’re quite fun. When introducing something new to your kids that is productive and stimulating, you never know where it may lead. Who knows? Maybe this will be the start of successful game career.
Check out more of ChallengeYou here…
Check out how “safe” ChallengeYou is for your kids…
The Gamer Report 