Computer Games For Children Research Articles

“Funny Face”: Shareware for Child Counseling and Play Therapy

SUMMARY “Funny Face,” an off-the-shelf children's computer game, is used in play therapy and counseling with preschool and latency age children by the author/designer, who also serves as the therapist.

Effect of reducing children's television and video game use on aggressive behavior

Effect of reducing children's television and video game use on aggressive behavior

Children's Computer Access: Analysis of the Visual-Motor Demands of Software Designed for Children

As technology access becomes an increasingly important activity of daily living, debate persists as to the manner in which computers are best able to assist children in educational and recreational settings. In particular, information regarding the suitability of commonly used child-computer interfaces is required. Occupational therapists are uniquely qualified to assess and problem-solve computer access issues but, to date, have limited the application of this skill to the areas of rehabilitation and disability. This paper describes a process where the traditional occupational therapy tool of task analysis was used to identify the visual-motor demands of the children's computer game packages that use the mouse for operation. The first author examined 12 game packages comprising 45 separate games and applications and recorded information on the types of movement, task design features and recommended ages for all games. The results of the analysis are discussed in terms of the degree of visual-motor development that is required of children accessing these games and the implications for game designers producing developmentally sensitive software.

The Commercialization of Childhood

Commercialism has left its mark on all aspects of children's everyday lives today. It constitutes a shared world of experience, permeating relations between children and within the family. The article discusses the possibilities of an in-depth analysis from an ethnological perspective. One possibility is to study commercialization from the children's perspective as practice, social activity, or lifestyle. This is exemplified primarily with children's computer games. Another possibility is to study in a historical perspective how consumerism has been gradually introduced, established, institutionalized, and finally made into a seemingly self-evident part of the children's world. The authors discuss how the process could be studied through archival sources such as advertisements and price-lists. The article concludes with a discussion of the new images of family relations and children's competences that emerge from the commercial media. In advertisements for computers, children are presented as competent and superior. In television series, parents are often portrayed as pathetic, as clumsy fathers and nagging mothers, while the children are enterprising and crafty. What does that say about actual changes in family relations and problems in today's families ?