Kids love to play games. This has never been more true than right now, with the rapid development of esports and gaming communities both online and offline today.
Now, this might sound a little wacky but what if we told you there was a way to take your child’s obsession with gaming and turn it into a simultaneous learning opportunity so they aren't just wasting away time staring at a large monkey-like character you can’t understand the appeal of throwing barrels at a little guy in a red hat and overalls.
We really hope that everyone understood the reference to Donkey Kong and Mario there, but that’s besides the point.
Anyways, to get back on track, let us take you through two ways you can turn your child’s gaming obsession into a real learning opportunity today!
The first way to accomplish this is through the power of a type of game that you might be a little more familiar with than your kids: board games.
There’s Monopoly. There’s Scrabble. There’s Settlers of Catan.
Unfortunately for you and your nostalgia, those particular games have nothing to do with what we’re going to talk about. We’re talking about your kids building their own games. How, you ask?
That’s how.
Board Game Ninjas is Explorer Hop’s fun and innovative program that allows your kids to work in teams and apply the skills we help them develop in math, logic, and art to create their very own board game. Over the course of 8 weeks, they will build a board game or card game - from conception, strategy and logic development, to design and finally to sale. Yes, we even throw in a bit of entrepreneurship at the end by encouraging kids to sell digital copies of their games to raise funds for a cause.
Learn more about one of our past Board Game Ninjas sessions here and find out how to sign your child/children up for this course and others on our website.
For a more modern gaming experience that will help your child learn how to invest through practice, look no further than online gaming.
Fortnite and Among Us (no, we don’t understand what goes on with those games either) are no competition for Explorer Hop’s online game, our Global Investment Challenge.
This challenge is a six-week simulation where participants invest in stocks, mutual funds and fixed income with the goal of growing their initial $30,000 virtual portfolio and seeing who can win the $500 grand prize at the end. No investing knowledge is required.
If you or your child think they have what it takes to compete against a global field of young investors aged 11-17 in our challenge, sign up here.
Take learning about investing out of a book that your child will fall asleep reading and allow them to learn through practice in a real-world simulation that will also reward them at the end of the process – with a $500 prize if they win or a certificate of completion just for finishing the entire challenge, which they can proudly display knowing they have a head start in understanding a concept that not even all adults have a complete grasp on.
Gamified learning is more possible now than ever, and Explorer Hop is proud to assist in that journey for children of all ages with both our programs mentioned above and the other offerings we provide, which you can check out here.