PLAYBOOKS: FOR THE NINTENDO DS

Brain Age

In Brain Age kids will test their abilities and exercise their brains in nine different training programs or mini-games. Kids will need to calculate simple math problems, count people, identify and count syllables, and so on, in order to achieve the youngest brain age.

Game play alone results in modest improvements in real-world executive skills. Please refer to our Playbook Tutorial, general coaching and comprehensive guides to transfer game skills to sustainable real-life behaviors.

QUICK FACTS

Game Type: Puzzle, Edutainment (educational entertainment)
Platform/Console: Nintendo DS
Number of Players: 1+
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
LWK Recommended Age: 7+
Buy Now From: Amazon.com

 

This Game is Good for Kids Who Need Help With:

• Varying routines (flexibility)
• Taking the time to make sure that answers are correct (response inhibition)
• Waiting until questions are completed before giving the answer (response inhibition)
• Judging how long something takes (time management)
• Starting projects on time (time management)
• Making accurate self-assessments (metacognition)

What You Need to Know About the Game:

Big Brain Academy is recommended for ages seven and older due to the small amount of reading that is involved during the instructional process. Younger children should have no problems playing Big Brain Academy if they are given verbal instructions prior to beginning mini-games.
Note: This playbook reflects the content of the Nintendo DS version of Big Brain Academy.  Please be aware that there may be slight content differences in other console adaptations. 

Solutions:
For parents who would like a walkthrough, many great fan-made (and free!) walkthroughs can be found on the internet.  We suggest you look here:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/game/926846.html or here http://www.bellaonline.com/gaming/w/bigbrain/.

This Game Helps Your Kids With Time Management/Processing Speed?

This game is good for kids who display difficulty with judging how long something takes and starting projects on time, because they must:

• Answer questions quickly and efficiently. The more correct answers a player has by the end of time limit, the heavier their brain weight will be (and heavier is better!).  Floundering will cause the player to lose precious time and in the end their brain weight will reflect their hesitation. Remember, though, that while it’s important to work quickly it’s just as important to take time to answer questions correctly!

Talking Points: 

• How do you know how much time you have to complete a mini-game? 
• How did managing your time help you to get a heavier brain weight? 
• How can having to answer questions quickly in Big Brain Academy help you to be aware of time limitations and to help you become more efficient in completing your schoolwork?

Making It Real:

• Choose a particular chore or task with your child and estimate how long it should take to complete it. Time him/her from start to finish, and use this amount of time as a baseline for completing this task. Set increasingly shorter time periods and limits for the child to complete the task. Help the child to determine methods of becoming more efficient in their efforts at completing the task.

• Help children develop an appropriate “sense of urgency.” For example, inform your child that he/she will not have time to engage in a favorite activity unless he/she completes a task within a time limit. Then keep to what you have said.  It is important not to overemphasize a sense of urgency, particularly in children who are prone to being anxious or who become overly self-critical when it takes them a long time to complete a task. Having an appropriate sense of urgency can be helpful for children who delay starting tasks more than for children who appear to be working hard but take an excessively long amount of time to complete tasks.

This Game Helps Your Kids With Metacognition:

This game is good for kids who display difficulty with making accurate self-assessments, because:

• Kids can see their progress in each of the five Brain Academy subjects, including: memorization, thinking, identification, computation, and analysis.  Ultimately, the graph on the main screen helps kids to identify and describe which areas they need more practice in and which ones they excel at. 

Talking Points: 

• How do you know what your scores are in each of the five Brain Academy subjects?
• How did thinking about your progress in these areas help you to improve your brain weight? 
• How can looking at charts and graphs that show your scores help you to accurately describe yourself, your strengths, and your interests?

Making It Real:

• Encourage children to practice their skills at all types of estimating. Metacognitive strategies that help identify how easy or difficult a task might be, assist in understanding one’s capacities and abilities to complete a task, and consider barricades to completion of a goal can be very helpful. For example, ask the child to think about what could prevent them from successfully completing a task.

• Encourage active self-evaluation of effort, study skills, and performance at school.  Prior to a significant exam, ask your child to grade him/herself on his/her studying.  After completing the exam and prior to getting it back, ask the child to estimate how well he/she did on the exam. Later, compare the estimates and encourage your child realistically to evaluate his/her estimates of him/herself and his/her performance. Use a range of self-checking strategies. These could include correcting someone else’s homework, asking others if he/she is making sense in communication, or using some form of a checklist that ensures that he/she has completed the necessary steps for a task.