Starfish Therapies

A pediatric therapy company operating in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. We provide physical, occupational, speech and aquatic therapy services in the most beneficial and convenient setting for you and your child, including our clinic, currently located in Burlingame, your home, school or daycare.

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Do Video Games Promote or Hinder Child Development?

August 9, 2009 by Stacy Menz

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In an age of technology where video games are becoming more and more prevalent, I often wonder what the effects of video games are on a child’s development.  There is a mixture of information out there and I found a few articles that look at everything from physical development to their creativity and imagination to the importance of play for kids.  These articles still didn’t answer my questions and I think that’s because there is good and bad that can come out of playing video games.  The Wii Fit encourages kids to start exercising which is a good thing these days with childhood obesity on the rise, however what are they missing out on by not getting out and playing outside or actual sports?  Are they missing out on quality social interactions with their peers?

I have also always wondered if the ability to restart a game when it doesn’t go the way you want it to carries over into a child’s ability to handle obstacles that go along with gross motor development?  There isn’t a restart button in life but we can pick ourselves up and keep going.  I often see kids who are learning a more complex task like jump rope or monkey bars, or even riding a tricycle/bike want to give up after they haven’t mastered it on the first few tries.  It takes enrollment skills to keep them going, such as pointing out what they did master and encouraging them to go for the next step.  I think this relates back to developing a child’s resilience.

I do know that video games can improve hand eye coordination but do we then encourage our kids to go out and utilize that hand eye coordination away from the video console?  It can be as simple as playing catch, or frisbee, or hopscotch.

I think the conclusions I’ve taken away from looking at the information out there as well as observing a plethora of children is that video games can be a good tool although the question is how much are they being used and what other tools are you utilizing with your child to encourage their fitness and physical development?  Does anyone else have thoughts on this topic?

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Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: coordination, education, exercise, gross motor development, kids, Motor Smart Kids, peer play, physical therapy, resilience, Starfish Therapies, video games

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Our family moved to the bay area 6 years ago, and Starfish Therapies have been a part of our family ever since. Everyone at the clinic is caring and warm. The owner always looks for ways to improve the clinic and the services provided. The therapists are patient, enthusiastic, and know how to motivate the kids to do their best. Even after moving more than an hour away from the clinic, we kept going back to Starfish for intensive therapy sessions every summer! We cannot thank Starfish Therapies enough for helping my daughter to get stronger and to become more independent over the years!”

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