Wendy Piersall, of eMoms at Home fame (now Sparkplugging.com), wrote in to tell us about 14 games to teach our kids about business. The classics are there, like Monopoly and Sims, in addition to some others you may not have heard of, like KidsWealth Money Kit, Zoo Tycoon, and Learning Resources Pretend & Play Snack Shop (these are her affiliate links, by the way, to Amazon, where you can read more about the games).
Interesting tidbits from the article:
- The top 10 jobs we will have in 2010 did not exist in 2004 (as in, we are currently educating our children for jobs that don’t exist yet)
- In 2004, Nintendo invested more than $140 million dollars in research and development, yet the US Government spent less than half that much on research and innovation in education
- A week’s worth of content from the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.
I grew up with Monopoly, Risk, Axis and Allies, and Life. Those games are near and dear to my heart. As we grow up, we should remember our childhood and apply those lessons learned to the personal development of our own children.
I'd like to see these games being bought, in HUGE quantities, by our school systems. In addition to our faltering status in math and science, we're in danger of falling behind in business, too, which has been our long-standing strength.
While I think the US is still far ahead in terms of innovating businesses, our lead is shrinking. It's only a matter of time before the tidal wave hits our coasts. The economic tsunami that is to come can be averted.
The first way, and best way, is to get our kids involved in learning about business and finance, in addition to getting them back on track in the math, science, and engineering fields.
Thanks, Wendy, for bringing these educational games to our attention! Getting kids interested through game- and role-playing is one of the most effective ways to teach them the things we deem important. It's too bad that our kids are playing "games" like "American Idol" rather than Monopoly, Life, and Risk.
14 Educational Games to Teach Your Kids About Business | Sparkplug CEO
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