Your kids, if they are like 99% of other boys and 94% of other girls, play video games. While psychologists have demonstrated the fact that play leads to learning, there are legitimate concerns that some video game play can be a waste of time (however fun they may be). You can easily help your kids get more from their video game play by trying out these strategies. Here are five great ways to help your kids learn from video games:

1. Ask general open-ended questions such as, “What do you learn when you play video games?”

2. Ask more specific questions such as, “How do you solve problems in video games?”, “How did you overcome obstacles?”, or “How did you learn from making mistakes?”

3. Ask your children to show you how to play video games and make comments about what you are learning as you play.

4. Encourage your children to think about how they can apply skills they use in a video game to  other settings (for instance, while completing school projects or while solving problems with their friends).

5. Ask your children which games they have learned the most from.

Featured image: Flickr user Alper Çuğun