Smash Hit helps kids practice and improve the following skills:

Focus

Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks.

Smash Hit gives the player the chance to practice a wide variety of focus skills. First, the player has to be able to split their focus between watching for obstacles to break and looking for crystals to break. Breaking obstacles keeps them from hitting things and losing balls; breaking crystals gives them more balls to use. The player also has to be able to focus well enough to initiate these tasks immediately. If they wait around too long, the crystals will be behind them and they will have run into the obstacles. Finally, the player will also be using their short-term focus skills (because you can only see a few obstacles at once) and will have to strengthen their long-term focus skills the longer they play.

Self-Control

Managing our actions, feelings, and behaviors.

This game also provides self-control practice. First, the player must think about the future. Do they have enough balls to keep playing? Is it actually worth it to try and hit that out of the way crystal? Do they need to use a ball on that moving obstacle or will it get out of the way on its own? If the player doesn't think about the future this way, they will use balls that they didn't otherwise need to use. They also need to exercise impulse control. If they throw balls as soon as they see an obstacle or crystal, they may end up missing them and use up too many trying to get it. Or, the player may end up using a ball to smash an obstacle that would have moved out of the way on its own. Finally, the player also needs to work on frustration and anger management. If they get excited and throw a bunch of balls (because of lack of impulse control) and end up missing, it is very easy to get mad about the wasted balls. But if this emotion isn't controlled, aim and impulse control will both get worse. This will result in more misses, more anger, and eventually running out of balls.