Practicum 7 - Sara

This week I decided to play games online that tweens play. I asked my aunt what her kids play and what websites they go on so that I could have an idea of what to play. The first game I played was called "Word Racer" and it was on Yahoo! Kids Games. I actually found myself quite addicted. The point of the game is to make words out of letters that connect with each other. I played longer than I planned on because it's pretty addicting! You kind of get in your mind that you want to do better each time and win! You can play other kids online or if no one else is on you can play it by yourself. When I first started, I played against a few people; but as I kept playing, I ended up playing by myself, but it was still intriguing. I also thought it was neat that you got to pick your screen name out of a list that they provided. I chose the name "Happy." The next game I attempted to play was called "Literati." It was another "word" game, but I had to wait for an opponent and it was taking too long so I tried the next one. The next word game I played was called "Spelldown." In this game, they give you some letters and 3, 4, or 5 blank spaces and you have to drag the letters in the spaces to make a word. This game was fun, but I enjoyed the first game I played the most! I played other games as well, but I found these most intriguing. All of the games I played this time had to do with "words" and I did this because I think it is important that tweens play these kinds of games because even though they may not realize it, they are learning as they play. When I am a parent, I will let my kids play games online as long as they are getting something out of it. I plan to play some other types of games, too, because I want to see if I think that I would allow my children to play them and if they offer any learning opportunities.