Lessons from Wii Lego Star Wars
I started this post awhile back...
So, Elie has been playing Wii Lego Star Wars a good bit recently. She sometimes asks me to play too. I have to admit that it used to be really frustrating playing Wii Star Wars with Elie - she would always want to be R2-D2 and have me do all the fighting... Which meant I got blown up a lot. Or, when she was in a "fighting mood" she was pretty random in her shooting or swinging the light saber...which meant that I got blown up a lot. Or she would go off in unpredictable directions, pulling my character off a ledge...and, yeah, I got blown up a lot.
But she's getting pretty good at the stupid game. So I play sometimes - or I watch.
One thing that occurred to me while she was playing the game is that this game (and probably every video game of its ilk) encourages "out of the box" thinking to a degree. She had a problem to solve - how to get Artoo (who can't climb anything), some Jedi (who can levitate things) and another guy (she probably knows his name, but I don't have a clue) who climbs up these kind of "secret passages" to a second level. She kept wanting to be Artoo and have the Jedi levitate her up to the next level - but they were frustratingly uncooperative. She she kept asking me to "help" (but all she wanted was to get Artoo up on the landing). But I kept telling her to figure it out. And under a planter (really???) was an elevator...so, eventually, she could get all six characters up on the landing and open the door and move on.
Elie is definitely one of the "let me see what happens when I push THIS button" kind of kids - she tries to figure things out, comes up with sometimes off the wall solutions. I don't really believe that the Wii is developing or fostering those attributes in Elie, though. I think she likes the games she plays BECAUSE she is that kind of person (kind like her dad, you know?) But...maybe it's a two way street? Maybe she is like she is...but the things she does and likes reinforces these attitudes? Dunno.
Ah well, maybe tonight we'll smash some stormtroopers or "accidently" chop off C-3PO's arms and legs...
So, Elie has been playing Wii Lego Star Wars a good bit recently. She sometimes asks me to play too. I have to admit that it used to be really frustrating playing Wii Star Wars with Elie - she would always want to be R2-D2 and have me do all the fighting... Which meant I got blown up a lot. Or, when she was in a "fighting mood" she was pretty random in her shooting or swinging the light saber...which meant that I got blown up a lot. Or she would go off in unpredictable directions, pulling my character off a ledge...and, yeah, I got blown up a lot.
But she's getting pretty good at the stupid game. So I play sometimes - or I watch.
One thing that occurred to me while she was playing the game is that this game (and probably every video game of its ilk) encourages "out of the box" thinking to a degree. She had a problem to solve - how to get Artoo (who can't climb anything), some Jedi (who can levitate things) and another guy (she probably knows his name, but I don't have a clue) who climbs up these kind of "secret passages" to a second level. She kept wanting to be Artoo and have the Jedi levitate her up to the next level - but they were frustratingly uncooperative. She she kept asking me to "help" (but all she wanted was to get Artoo up on the landing). But I kept telling her to figure it out. And under a planter (really???) was an elevator...so, eventually, she could get all six characters up on the landing and open the door and move on.
Elie is definitely one of the "let me see what happens when I push THIS button" kind of kids - she tries to figure things out, comes up with sometimes off the wall solutions. I don't really believe that the Wii is developing or fostering those attributes in Elie, though. I think she likes the games she plays BECAUSE she is that kind of person (kind like her dad, you know?) But...maybe it's a two way street? Maybe she is like she is...but the things she does and likes reinforces these attitudes? Dunno.
Ah well, maybe tonight we'll smash some stormtroopers or "accidently" chop off C-3PO's arms and legs...
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