Have you ever watched a child so invested in a video game that you can see their brain pistons firing up as they create a world or solve a problem, however it's working? It's not hard to sit there, watching the glow of the screen, and think, does gaming help to grow creativity, or is it hurting it? Today, more than 90% of youth play video games for at least an hour daily (Granic et al). As gaming continues to become a bigger part of kids childhoods, Guardians begin to question more about it and all of the possible effects that video games may present. Most notably, guardians find themselves asking the question of the impacts it has on their child's creativity. However contemporary research actually shows that the opposite could be true. Meaning gaming could actually have a positive impact on creative thinking. Video games are often looked at as something that has potential to harm kids creativity. Today I will be showing you that this is actually not the case and how video games can improve kids imagination, problem solving, and creativity when presented in the right ways.
First let's go over how games help to improve creative thinking. Games that are more open ended, help to create a sandbox for imaginative play. Games that are good for kids to take advantage of are games like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox. These are all great examples because these types of games provide youths with a chance to design, build, and play by their own rules. Games like these are not solely based on winning. They instead help their players to use their imagination and promote creating new things in new ways, and encourage them to think outside of the box. For example, in Minecraft the player mines for resources and searches for loot in order to craft tools, make structures, and even modify the environment creating huge landscapes. While there are an array of bosses to fight in Minecraft there is no set objective, rather the kids' creative ability becomes the objective testing to see how complicated or how massive of things they can create. Similarly, a game like Roblox allows kids to actually create a game, by using different levels of coding. This works to improve youths' digital creativity. Roblox helps kids practice their creativity in a way where they can fail safely with no repercussions, helping them to learn from their mistakes.
Studies have revealed what many parents and teachers had suspected. Research done at Michigan State University by Jackson, L. A., et al discovered that children who play video games achieve significantly improved levels of creative thinking, this has been measured in activities like story writing, drawing, and so on (Jackson et al p. 373). What stands out in this study is that it showed that it relied on the types of games that were being played. It revealed that kids who spent their time playing more open ended games achieve higher scores in creativity . More recent studies have worked to explore deeper into this topic. For example, research conducted by Mercier & Lubart found that there was a positive correlation between video games and critical thinking, more specifically an improvement of psychological capital consisting of optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience. Optimism can help the youths perspective to stay positive and to think from different angles.Optimism also is a part of self efficacy because if kids can look at a problem in multiple ways it can help them to have more confidence in finding their solution. Now resilience is one of the most important ones because it takes resilience to be creative. Some of the best inventions took hundreds of failed attempts to accomplish and if youth can improve all three of these traits they can greatly impact not only their critical thinking but can help them to be more successful in all. In fact, children facing difficult situations in video games can build confidence in their own creative powers as well. The use of creative environments, as claimed by Rahimi & Shute, can foster creativity driven by both emotional experiences and motivations. In other words, games that give users more opportunities and options to construct and explore, act as a modern day canvas.
Of course, I'm not saying that all gaming is good. The bulk of the issue comes when children spend too much time gaming or find themselves playing games that are too structured and/or overly competitive. Many of today's games, such as Call of Duty, Rainbow Six Siege, or FIFA, all provide little room for creativity and instead promote repetitive play and quick reflexes. Too much gaming means that it could be taking time from other creative activities outside of gaming. As the Institute for Educational Advancements stresses, “video games are not inherently harmful; rather, their effects depend heavily on the type of game and the amount of time a child spends playing” (Institute for Educational Advancement). More importantly, these games are modeled based on linear type of task completion. Meaning they have small room for kids to use their creativity. These are things that can hurt creativity in a child.
Too much gaming also means a lack of time for other creative activities. According to Gellner, excessive gaming can lead to being a substitute for reading, physical activities, as well as creative play outside, which children need. By spending so much time gaming, children could be missing out on valuable experiences from the real world. To truly create a balance kids still must maintain a connection to offline life with things like sports, friends, and hobbies other than gaming. They also should be experiencing a level of creative play that doesn't include technology. These activities can include things like playing with LEGO, building forts, making their own games etc. It is important to challenge children with physical problems with creativity, helping them to be more hands on and helping them become a better tinkerer.
Furthermore, too much screen time results in decreased attention span and poor sleep, which can both affect creative thinking negatively (Granic et al). Creativity requires a rested, curious, and well-regulated mind, which can be challenged as a result of too much gaming. However it is important to point out that these harmful impacts are not from the act of gaming, but from the manner in which it is played, as well as the time spent, in which it is played in this manner. Similar to only reading a certain genre of book let say, playing video games too much can be critical to a person's imagination by not giving it other things to do. Occupying all their time to a single source, keeping them limited and not allowing time for them to explore different ways to enhance their imagination.
The answer is simple but complicated, and relies within the balance and intention in which video games are played. So to help parents find what they should do to help encourage creativity we must look at certain criteria of the game. These criteria rely on how open-ended the game is, the amount of time spent playing the game, and the like with many things. And the more these criteria are fulfilled the more benefits you can expect. Benefits include. If theirs is an unhealthy balance then it usually leads to negatives. By turning play into more of a time to think outside the box, we can help to ensure that its impact is positive for creativity. In order to unlock the creative ideas within gaming, both teachers and parents have their part in informing their kids of gaming's negatives that occur when played in an unhealthy balance. It is essential to choose games based on their story, building, and puzzle games. Minecraft, Roblox Studio, and many other games enable children to modify their environment. Games like these show kids that they don't have to purchase games to have fun, they can create them instead. It also ensures that gaming is being used in a supportive way, instead of taking away from other creative activities in your life. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a limit of two hours of recreational screen time per day. A routine, such as a sequence of outdoor activities, reading, homework, and gaming, can help.
We need parents, as well as teachers, to step up and encourage children to make a connection between digital play and offline creativity. For example, children can make a drawing of the things they have built in Minecraft, write a story about the virtual world they have created, or construct a real-life replica using building blocks or crafts. The concept of making a connection between digital play and offline activities increases learning. Often, the discussion on gaming and creativity operates on a set of outdated premises about screens being passive, or about creativity occurring offline. In fact, modern games can be considered interactive laboratories of creativity. The player is required to think critically, be adventurous, and solve tough problems, which are qualities of a creative thinker. In fact, according to Mercier & Lubart, creativity can be observed outside of conventional arts, especially online, where a person can experiment, learn, and create. Video games provide exactly this setting. If a person views games as a chance rather than a threat, then games can be considered a tool for development, not a factor hindering creativity.
Overall, video games don't decrease kids creativity, but instead make it more accessible, when played strategically that is. Games that rely on imagination can be helpful, it's the excessive amounts of time that can really damage creativity.
The key to creating health habits for gaming is intentions and balance. It's selecting the right games while keeping in mind your purpose and creating an environment where online experiences connect to offline. Instead of wondering if kids should play video games we should think. What ways can we help kids play more creatively? By helping kids properly play in a way where they can grow their imagination, we can help turn video games into a creativity engine for generations of dreamers, designers, and creators to come.
Work Cited
Gellner, Lardan C. “The Video Games Your Child Plays Have an Effect on Their Behavior.” University of Utah Health, 9 Aug. 2021, healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/kids-zone/2021/08/video-games-your-child-plays-have-effect-their-behavior.
Granic, Isabela, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C. M. E. Engels. “The Benefits of Playing Video Games.” American Psychologist, vol. 69, no. 1, 2014, pp. 66–78.
Institute for Educational Advancement. “The Good and the Bad Effects of Video Games on Children.” Institute for Educational Advancement, 21 May 2022, educationaladvancement.org/blog-the-good-and-the-bad-effects-of-video-games-on-children/.
Jackson, Linda A., et al. “Information Technology Use and Creativity: Findings from the Children and Technology Project.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 28, no. 2, 2012, pp. 370–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.10.006.
Mercier, Maxime, and Todd Lubart. “Video Games Can Enhance Creativity: The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital.” Journal of Creativity, vol. 33, no. 2, 2023, Article 100050. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjoc.2023.100050.
Rahimi, Shabnam, and Valerie Shute. The Effects of Video Games on Creativity: A Systematic Review. Florida State University, 2021, myweb.fsu.edu/vshute/researchpapers/Rahimi_Shute_2021.pdf.
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