What Video Games and Technology Are Really Teaching Kids

So yeah, I read this week that picking your nose and eating it is good for you. It boosts your immune system.

I took great pleasure in telling my boys this. 

I had been told for the past 46 years it was bad for you and I have been dutifully passing on this message. I won't take up this habit but the boys will be boys and it will save me from telling them off for it.

Looking back, this post wasn’t really about nose picking at all. It was about how quickly technology was becoming part of childhood learning, creativity, and problem solving.

It got me thinking what else have we been told when growing up is bad for you but might be good. Living in our nanny state maybe boogies are not alone.

Questioning What We’re Told

Tv is bad for you? Son 2 (age 6) has a massive vocabulary. He got up the other morning and I asked him how he was and he responded with "fantastic" While helping me make my packed lunch he asked are the roots on the spring onions were "edible". I don't recall teaching him these words so can only assume it was the TV. He likes his TV. Pepa Pig has even taught him a bit of French... he announced one day "Bonjour Delphine donkey!". (I only know it was Peppa Pig as I have seen that episode) We have 3 TVs in the house and something is normally on. Mostly on demand these days, be it Netflix, Amazon, or YouTube.

Why Simulators Fascinated Me

My other son Son 1 (age 9) is a tractor daft. He asked for Farming Simulator 17 for his Christmas. It's a game that runs on the computer. Santa snuck in on Christmas Eve and installed it on the Mac in my study. Son 1 likes nothing better than doing a bit of farming. It's a very realistic 3D simulator. He has taught himself how to manage an entire farm. Buying the equipment, budgeting, sowing crops, and reaping the rewards from his harvest.

Children Growing Up With Technology

The tech in this game is brilliant. The 3D rendering and fully explorable maps are "awesome" (to quote Son 1. It even has a mud mod pack that simulates real mud across the farm so at the end of the day you have to wash your machinery with your 3D jet wash. It's certainly more realistic than any game I had growing up. I'm sure by the time Son 1 is old enough to work he will probably be able to run a profitable farm with little or no training. He has taught himself with this game how to farm and also gained a wealth of knowledge on tractors, combines, and other machinery, even to the point when we are out in the car we have to take the back roads if there is a chance of spotting some farm machinery.

So we are told computer games are bad for you!

All this farming doesn't really matter as Son 1 wants to be an Architect. Possibly inspired by Minecraft, another 3D simulator. Actually, if I remember right he wants to be a successful architect designing big buildings, and then when he is "rich" buys a farm and just does all the "cool tractor-type jobs".

So are these games a kind of training? A way of self-teaching. They seem to go hand in hand with YouTube too, where you watch a clip on how to do something on your farm and then recreate it.

Technology as a Learning Tool

Kids using iPads is also supposed to be bad for them. Mine both have iPads. Both with Military spec Griffin Defender covers. These are supposed to be tuff. Despite this, I have changed the screen on Son 1's three times. Not an easy job. Getting the glass off without destroying the wifi antenna is almost impossible. And those tiny screws I can nearly see them let alone pick them up. Thankfully parts are cheap on eBay. There are also many YouTube videos on how to change the screen.

Son1 and 2 are a dab hand at using the iPad it's almost second nature to them, in fact, it is. They don't remember a time before them. They learn so much from the apps. They can be driving trains, or identifying animals. playing with numbers, spelling, farming (more farming), being a doctor or dentist, there is even one app where you give Santa a shave.

As an aside, they are learning to install their own apps (free ones) and configure them, manage their memory space, and understand the need to recharge the battery.

Son 2 has Bluetooth headphones he uses with his iPad. He repeats the "Your Bluetooth device is connected" message every time they are turned on. He has destroyed many corded headphones by chewing the cable so wireless and Tech solve this problem.

I did try to introduce Son 2 to the flight simulator on the Mac. A step too far! It didn't go well. He likes pressing buttons. Perhaps he won't be a pilot.

Technology as a Learning Tool

So yeah I might not encourage eating bogies but I will let my kids embrace technology. If they are learning something it can only be good for them and set them up with valuable life skills.

What This Made Me Realise

A couple of coding books for kids arrived in the post this week. One for the new Raspberry Pi and one for Scratch. They are colourful with lots of pictures, so here's hoping I can take the boys back a step and show them what goes into their games, iPads, and YouTube. I'll let you know how I get on...

Looking back now, it feels obvious that games and simulators were becoming educational tools as much as entertainment.

Minecraft, farming simulators, YouTube tutorials, and creative apps were quietly teaching problem solving, systems thinking, planning, and creativity.

In many ways, kids were teaching themselves using technology long before schools fully adapted to it.

A lot of this also connects to my reflections on visual thinking and different learning styles.

The same fascination with interactive learning and systems also influenced projects like my browser-based text adventure game Redcastle.

Many of the same ideas around creativity, systems, and engineering also appear in my reflections on LEGO Technic and engineering mindset.

I’ve always been fascinated by how people learn through technology, creativity, and problem solving.

A lot of the same thinking now shapes the technical, systems, and digital work I still enjoy today.

You can find out more here.

Building Wooden Robots With Kids Across Aberdeenshire

So I'm starting my new job on Tuesday next week. I'm super excited to move into a new career and see what it's like to be a full-time Web Developer. I need to figure out how to get to the center of Aberdeen from out in the sticks of Udny Station each day. It's either bus all the way or park and rides part of the way. I might have to get my old mountain bike running again and take up cycling part of the way too. Anyway, that's next week.

Looking back now, this post feels like one of the earliest examples of how much I enjoyed combining creativity, making, teaching, and technology.

At the time it simply felt like a fun Udny Designs project with Jamie. But it also reflected something deeper about learning through building things with your hands.

Building Robot Kits in the Shed

Jamie and I have been busy with Udny Designs over the past couple of weeks. We have been bombing around Aberdeenshire building robots with kid's holiday clubs. We had made simple-to-construct kits in the shed along with small wooden hammers and put all the parts in little zip-lock bags. We made 50 in total and had a good production line going on in the house.

Teaching Kids Through Making

Tuesday and Wednesday last week we found ourselves in Banff and Peterhead in local schools. The classes had about 8 to 10 kids, and we would step by step take them through the construction of their individual robots. Starting with adding the googly eyes to the head, then with the hammer and lots of noise, banging adding the neck to the head, and then to the body. A pair of legs and feet had them standing up, then shoulders and arms had them waving or impersonating Superman. We had printed off some stickers and each kit included a couple of body, arms, and head stickers. We had even made little stickers for the kits which made the whole thing feel very official.

Then this week we did another 3 classes in Inverurie, Stonehaven, and Fraserburgh. 

Why the Workshops Felt So Rewarding

I have to say that every class was great fun and left me with a real sense of achievement. All the kids had additional needs so being able to let them build and take home a robot that they had made them selfs felt great. 

Creativity and Confidence

There were lots of questions from the kids about what else they could make when we came back. I look forward to doing some more classes later in the year. Possibly reindeer kits nearer Christmas.

Discovering CivTech and Startups

In other news, I went to a meet-up of the Aberdeen Entrepreneur Club at The Hub in Bridge of Don. There were two presentations. The first is some dragon's den-like pitches from some of the current cohorts running through the Elevator program at the hub. There were 5 of the 15 currently taking part. It's a 12-week program and they are now in week 6. It was great to see interesting new businesses in the making. And for me, they all needed tech and software to help them get fully started.

The other presentation was on CivTech North. I attended a CivTech meet-up last year in Edinburgh so am familiar with the concept. Basically, the public sector has come up with problems that need creative input to resolve. 8 problems in total are selected and made public. People and businesses are invited to try to solve the problems by submitting a description of how they plan to solve the problem. If selected they are given £3000 and given 3 weeks to explore their idea and create a demo. If successful they get through to the next stage and are given £17,000 and an additional 15 weeks to create something that meets its MVP (Minimal Viable Product). If all goes well and the solution is selected to go to the product stage, additional funding ( I wrote down £100K but am not sure about this) and time is provided to create a full product.

The only catch I can see is that the public sector gets to use the product royalty-free (covering material costs) but you are free to keep the product and sell it to the public.

The one I remember from the Edinburgh meet-up (I may have mentioned it before) was to help the tourism on the A9 after it is dual ed from Perth to Inverness.

The guys I met had come up with a tourist App that would suggest points of interest on the journey... restaurants, hotels, etc that people could visit on route. The last I heard of this project the guys were adapting their app to cover Route 66 in the USA.

Looking Back at the Bigger Picture

Reading this back now, it’s interesting how many themes that still matter to me today were already appearing here — creativity, learning, making, technology, entrepreneurship, and helping people build confidence through practical projects.

At the time it simply felt like a busy and exciting few weeks before starting a new career in technology.

A lot of the same themes around creativity and building things also appear in my post about having the maker’s itch.

Looking back, many of the same ideas around learning through making probably started with things like LEGO Technic.

The connection between creativity, imagination, and practical learning also links closely to my reflections on visual thinking.

Looking back, projects like this reminded me how powerful creativity and hands-on learning can be — especially when people get the chance to build something themselves.

A lot of the same curiosity around making, technology, systems, and problem solving still shapes many of the projects and ideas I continue to explore today.

You can explore more of those projects and reflections here.