Raising Geek Kids

Being a nerd is a good thing in our house. My daughters both love being creative, working with technology and learning new things. They proudly identify themselves as geeks.

For a long time now I've had a goal to raise children that are creative problem solvers - the kind of people that encounter a problem and say "I have an idea!" instead of "What am I going to do?"

This post I wanted to share some of the things we do together in hopes of inspiring creativity and problem solving. Hopefully it give other geek dads parents some ideas they can do with their kids.

However, before I start ...

Important Things I've Learned

I'm not an expert in Early Childhood Education, I'm a web developer. This blog post is full of things I've come to realize through trial and error. That said, here are a few important things I've discovered.

Your kid is just a kid

You are introducing them to new challenges they have never seen before. To you, certain things are obvious but to them they have no idea what is going on. But even though you know exactly what to do it'simportant to let your kid lead the way.

Your kid wants to do things with you

When you're getting started favor activities that keep you involved. Handing your child a science kit and saying "good luck, kiddo" isn't the same as working together to solve problems. Many of the best problem solving nerd activities are done in pairs!

Don't get mad - take a break

This is the most important thing to keep in mind. If you're getting frustrated sometimes the best thing you can do is take a break. Getting angry or yelling doesn't make the kid try harder - it will make them want to quit. In fact, in many cases stepping away will take pressure off your kid and let them focus - and sometimes solve the problem while you're away. Your kid wants to impress you - make sure they know you're on their side.

So, lets take a look at a few of the best creative, nerdy, problem solving activities in our house!

Heroica

I can describe Heroica with one word - Brilliant! If you're a Dungeons and Dragons geek then you're definitely going to be interested in this one.

Heroica is a Lego board game similar to D&D (notice, we love Legos around here). What I like about Heroica is that it encourages players to create their own games and stories. Heroica has several different sets (we bought two already) that can be used apart or combined. Heck, you can use any Legos you want - anything goes!

When we play, one player acts as the Storyteller -- more or less the Dungeon Master for the game. The Storyteller sets up the board however they like, comes up with a story and then we play. We play... and play... and play.

Have you ever kept a 10 and 5 year old entertained on the same activity for more than 2 hours without electronics? We have... and it was with this game!

It is important to stay flexible and let the Storyteller be creative. Set game rules to keep the gameplay moving but let the story drive the events on the board. (We've had several talking frogs pass out free health potions)

Name	Heroica
Website	heroica.lego.com
Price	$10 - $30 (worth it)
Fun Factor	Highly Recommend
Summary	Lego board game similar to Dungeons and Dragons that encourages creativity. Easy to play for hours (literally) of family fun.
Ideas	Take turns as the Storyteller. Buy more sets and combine them. Have kids create their own stories and special rooms.

Minecraft

You've probably already heard about Minecraft but if not think of it like Legos... but in a 3D world. The game requires players to survive off the land by collecting resources so they can build structures.

However, the real fun comes from multiplayer with your kid. Simply create a private server (we just used the local network in the house). Then, with a few configuration changes, you can turn off monsters and have unlimited resources to start building anything the two of you can think of.

Of course, you can sneak some nerd lessons in talking about IP addresses, scaffolding, and connecting to servers.

Name	Minecraft
Website	minecraft.net
Price	$20 - $40
Fun Factor	Highly Recommend
Summary	Easy to play game similar to 3D Legos. Multiplayer and Creative Mode make it easy to team up and build entire worlds together. Geek parents can easily setup a local mutliplayer server.
Ideas	Multiplayer team project. Kid acts as 'Architect' as you build.

Portal 1/2

If any game really gets the gears turning in your kid's head then it is probably Portal. The concept is so simple - Shoot two "portals" and then pass through them which takes you out the opposite portal.

Now, just add a puzzle element to the game, another player with an extra set of portals and a variety of environmental variables and then you have Portal 2 Multiplayer.

This game really makes players think outside the box to solve problems. Need to jump really far but you don't enough momentum? Use gravity fall through one portal to fling yourself out the other. Yeah, wild stuff like that.

Remember, sometimes just stop and say "I dunno kid, do you have any ideas how to solve this puzzle?" and give them a chance to find the solution. It takes a while but sooner or later they might even beat you to the solution (true story!)

Even if your kid is too young for multiplayer you can always have them keep an eye out and look for solutions.Leave a simple problem, like a box sitting next to a button, and then ask them what they think.

Name	Portal
Website	thinkwithportals.com
Price	~$30
Fun Factor	Highly Recommend
Summary	Creative and complex puzzle game that allows you to team up with your kid. Expect a lot of fist-bumps as you solve problems together.
Ideas	Multiplayer. Leave simple problems for younger kids to solve.

Create Your Own Board Game

Board games are typically fun ways to spend some time with your kids but building one from scratch is a great way to encourage your kids to be creative and come up with some new ideas.

The first few games required some time spent talking about gameplay mechanics and common board layouts but it didn't take long before my kids were taking over the design process. In fact, one of the neat things about creating a board game is that after the game is over my kids will go back and improve parts of the game that didn't work.

This idea is cheap and simple to do but has been the source of hours of entertainment.

Geek-tip: The only rule you should have is that rules should be stated at the start of the game. This helps avoid confusion (and frustration) as the game progresses.

Name	Create your own games
Price	???
Fun Factor	Highly Recommend
Summary	Helping your kid to create their own board game allows them to be as creative as they want. Not only that, they can continue to improve their game by working on it more.
Ideas	Get poster board, markers and dice to create a simple game. Recreate an existing board game with new rules.

Zelda - Link To The Past (SNES Games)

My 10 year old and I really enjoy playing Super Nintendo games and this is one that we really enjoy.

I'm a big fan of the Zelda series of games. I've always thought Zelda might be a good way to condition your mind to not only solve problems but to solve them quickly. I get the feeling that dodging fireballs, avoiding spikes, analyzing enemy weaknesses all while running on a moving floor has to do something for your brain.

In any case, Zelda - Link To The Past is one of those games that just did everything right. It isn't too easy and it isn't too hard. Just the right blend of action and problem solving.

It is worth mentioning that this game is single player, so you'll be watching your kid play for the most part. However, there are quite a few other great SNES games you can play together such as Tetris, Secret Of Mana and Final Fantasy 3 (technically part 6)

Geek-tip: This game isn't for young kids - I'd say that 10 years old is probably old enough but no less.

Name	Zelda - Link To The Past
Price	~$60 for system and game
Fun Factor	Highly Recommend
Summary	Zelda is a great action and puzzle game for the Super Nintendo. You'll be the spectator for the most part (but you can always play when your kid is in bed)
Ideas	Cheer them on as they get things done Buy other SNES games to play together

Kodu

Kodu is a great way to start teaching logical flows to kids through game design. Kids can quickly design and test their own games for XBox or PC using a colorful and easy to understand game editor.

Kodu doesn't really represent "writing code" as well as Small Basic. However, Kodu is more rewarding for kids since games can be put together easily. Think of it more like very flexible configuration of an existing game. It isn't real programming but it doesn't matter since kids love it.

It won't take long before you're playing your kid's first game by running through trees, dodging missiles and gathering apples.

Don't forget to lose every once in a while and let your kid know just how hard their game was.

Geek-tip: If you purchase the controller for the PC you can buy a wired version which is cheaper than getting a wireless controller and the extra wireless adapter.

Name	Kodu
Website	research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/
Price	Free
Fun Factor	Not Bad
Summary	Kodu allows kids to quickly build 3D games using a simple and easy to understand game editor. You can create games for XBox and PC using the XBox controller.
Ideas	Work together to create a game Ask your kid to create a custom game for you.

Small Basic

As a web developer half my time is spent in Photoshop and the other half in code. Naturally, my kids started asking if they could write programs themselves. I needed a way to introduce programming to my kids in a fun and easy to understand way.

Small Basic was a good start to show my kids what writing code looked like. The IDE was simple and easy to understand and there were helpful hints and colorful graphics. There is even a Logo style turtle built right into the app.

However, that said, this definitely requires a pair programming approach. You aren't going to be able to hand this off to your kids without walking them through the basics.

Geek-tip: Unless your kid is an excellent typist, I'd suggest you do the coding and leave plotting turtle coordinates to your kid.

Name	Small Basic
Website	smallbasic.com
Price	Free
Fun Factor	Not Bad
Summary	Simple introduction to computer programming using a simplified IDE with large, helpful hints. Small Basic also includes a Logo turtle which is awesome on its own.
Ideas	Use simple drawing commands to create wild art. Create a "Paint" style app (it's easy to do). Draw a picture on graph paper and plot the points for turtle.

Snap Circuits

Snap Circuits are similar to Legos except they allow your kids to build all sorts of electronics related projects.

We've used Snap Circuits to build AM radios, fans, lights and more. Snap Circuits are very fun but typically requires a parent to be involved the more difficult the schematics become. It is unlikely that your kid will just start plugging things together at random and end up with anything that works.

It is important to note that as much as I love Snap Circuits they don't seem to be much of a hit unless you stay involved.

Name	Snap Circuits
Website	www.elenco.com/snapcircuits.html
Price	Free
Fun Factor	Not Bad
Summary	Snap Circuits are similar to Legos but for creating simple electronics like radios and lights. Easy to use but will probably require parent involvement.
Ideas	Check off each project as you complete them - Try to finish them all. Research how certain parts work (resistors, switches, etc)

Real Life Hacks

I'm throwing this one in as a final thought - Creative, nerdy, problem solving activities are everywhere, including the things your kids already like.

For example, my kid loves to bake (decorative cakes, fancy frosting, stuff like that) so we got her an Easy Bake oven. We were disappointed to see that the oven had to be plugged in and out to be turned on and off (... actually, I was the only one bothered by this)

So, what did we do? Well ran to Radio Shack, bought a switch, came home and wired it up. It was great fun and a great way to sneak in some nerd lessons.

Summary

This post isn't really web development related like most of the things I write about but I've wanted to share it for a while now. There are a lot of ways you can spend time with your kids and still enjoy all the nerdy things you love.