- I have three children under the age of seven.
- My oldest son was asking us if he could start playing video games.
- I didn't like the idea of my kids being sedentary, but the Nex Playground kept them moving.
I grew up in the late 80's and 90's and was an avid Nintendo player. I had an NES in my room and played with it almost endlessly.
When I became a parent, I realized that too much screen time is bad for children's brain development. Also, although it's still young for organized sports, I felt like I needed to move more after sitting all day at school.
But my oldest son, 6, kept saying he wanted to play video games because all of his friends were already playing video games. Thankfully, I found a solution that alleviated his play itch and made him feel less guilty about screen time.
A video game system that captivates children
After my husband and I spent so much time playing video games growing up, I felt a little hypocritical of not letting my son play video games. But at the same time, I also felt that more screen time wouldn't actually benefit him.
It is recommended that children under 6 have no more than 1 hour of weekday screen time per day. But as most parents know, it can be very difficult to negotiate with your kids when it's time to end their favorite show.
When I heard about Nex Playground, I was very intrigued. The concept is very simple and similar to Xbox Kinect. Video game consoles have cameras that record your movements, and you use your body to play the game instead of using a remote control.
It is recommended for children ages 5 and up and costs $199.99. For an additional $89 per year, you can add a Play Pass that gives you access to the entire catalog of games.
It took them a little while to get used to it
Maybe it's because this was their first video game experience. Or maybe it's because my kids aren't particularly cooperative (that's what they heard from me). However, it took me a while to get used to staying in the right spot for the camera to detect. And it's about nailing the moves you need in each game.
However, once they experienced it, they loved it.
My 4 year old twins are obsessed with Peppa Pig and the console comes with a Peppa game. The character games are very simple, such as jumping into muddy puddles until the puddle is completely empty, or competing to see who can get the most turns with his hoop.
Keeps you entertained while on the move
The console allows up to four players to play at once, so I decided to play Hungry Hippo with them. Like the old-fashioned game, the key is to collect as much food as possible for the hippos by munching on watermelons, strawberries, and other items with your hands. After two rounds of playing with some very competitive kids, I was out of breath and sweating.
I took a break while they continued playing. And I noticed how they helped each other in the next round, screaming as extra-large watermelons with more points were waiting for them to munch.
After each round, they celebrated who won and instead of fighting over it, which I honestly expected them to do, they then prepared to try again.
I like to get outside as much as possible, and Nex Playground is a great option to improve hand-eye coordination and reduce frustration.
We booked it to play video games when it was raining or snowing outside and we couldn't ride our scooters around the neighborhood.
