Comments on: More Than One to Play

By: Etta Wilson

Etta Wilson — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:10:04 +0000

Karen, I took a post-Thanksgiving trip to Target and was astounded by the variety and amount of selection in games. We may be spending a lot of time at computers, but we apparently have time to play games with others. I do think our vocabularies and perhaps our brains have changed since the days of McGuffey’s Readers.

By: Valerie C.

Valerie C. — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:52:39 +0000

I think education/learning does bear on some games, like any involving spelling, quotations, math or logic. Others rely heavily on strategy – being able to think multiple steps ahead. Some involve mechanical skills, like being able to draw or have good fine motor control. But regardless of the requirements, playing the game gives you practice, the opportunity to stretch yourself and the knowledge to do better at that game next time!

By: KC Frantzen

KC Frantzen — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:13:32 +0000

It seems to me, most humans these days don’t do much for just pure fun. And that is a very sad thing.
Too many computers, too much information, too much pressure from all sides really.
That being said, levels of education varies greatly these days, especially when compared to that of our grandparents and great-grandparents. There was a time when McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers built such a fantastic foundation in America’s youth that much of the country was ably run by those who’d just gone through the 5th or 6th grade.
(I “are” a college graduate, and occasionally require a dictionary when leafing through the upper level readers.)
Would era have a bearing on your question?
Games children used to play, especially outdoors, prepared them for many things in life. These days so many things are done for us that I wonder how we will cope when the power or a satellite goes down for any length of time.
(I must be wandering around in a turkey coma…
Hope you and all readers had a great Thanksgiving. We’re still enjoying creative leftovers.)