FROM SOCCER TO CHESS, KIDS STILL LIKE GAMES

They can be educational or active, but they must be fun

Almost everyone plays games -- from Chutes and Ladders as a preschooler to Monopoly and chess as an adult. But according to the Toy Industry Association, board game sales declined by 10 percent in 2001, while video game sales rose 43 percent.

To find out what kinds of games kids appreciate, and if they still play board games, Y-Press recently interviewed a group from IPS School 84's after-school program. They are Wyatt Dietrick, 9, Elizabeth Kovacevic, 10, Ian Rai, 10, John Blum, 11, and Paris Toler, 11.

Favorite games

JOHN: I like to play mind games, like chess and checkers and games like that. I like board games versus games that use your body a lot. I like to play games that you sit down and just do by yourself, and I play a lot of games with my mom and dad.

WYATT: My favorite types of games would be card games and computer games.

IAN: Some of my favorite games are baseball and soccer and basketball and dodge ball and kickball.

LIZ: I like sports and stuff and table games.

PARIS: Usually my favorite games are active, like running and jumping and shooting a basketball. I also like board games and mind games as well. But I don't like puzzles very much.

Why kids play games

JOHN: What makes games appealing to me is probably the challenge and learning just by seeing other people play.

WYATT: What makes a game fun is maybe the challenge of winning the game, or maybe just playing the game for the first time. Also, it's boring sometimes, so I play solitaire and one-player games and maybe games on the computer.

IAN: I like to play games 'cause it helps you exercise.

LIZ: I like games that you can run around 'cause it kind of keeps you healthy and I like that in a game.

PARIS: I like to play games because sometimes they're fun and some games are educational, and that's like a good way to increase your brain power. And they're interesting 'cause I'm an only child and that gives me time to do things.

Educational games

IAN: A thinking game would be checkers and chess and golf. Golf you have to know the distance, like where you're gonna hit (the ball).

WYATT: I've played Golden Tee Golf for PlayStation, and I enjoy that. It teaches you how to play a game and it shows you what people actually do in life.

PARIS: A game (that) would be like challenging and (make you) think would be puzzles, 'cause I mean some of them don't fit in the right places and you get real aggravated, but it's challenging 'cause you have to see the shape and the texture of it to get it in the right place.

JOHN: A game that really needs thinking is chess because you have to be thinking. You can't be thinking about their move; you have to be thinking about your next move, and it requires a lot of brains.

LIZ: I think that games that are challenging and like have to do with concentration and stuff are more educational than games that like you run around and stuff.

Age differences

IAN: I think games that older kids play are chess and checkers and card games like Uno. I think younger kids like dodge ball and basketball and kickball and soccer.

WYATT: I'd say a lot of older kids are into card games. I like Magic cards. Not many adults actually play very many games, except for mature games.

PARIS: I don't think there's that many games for older people.

JOHN: There are only some games that unite the older kids and younger kids. My dad and I play a game called backgammon that my brothers don't really know how to play very good.

LIZ: I think that what younger kids like, card games and Pokemon and stuff . . . a lot of older kids don't 'cause they think they're too cool.

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WHO WE ARE

Y-Press is a nonprofit news organization located in The Children's Museum. Stories are researched, reported and written by teams of young people ages 10 to 18. For more information, call 1-317-334-4125 or send an e-mail to ypress@in.net.

GO ONLINE FOR MORE

Inspired by faith: If you want to read more about this topic from a child's perspective, check out www.ypress.org. Y-Press also invites students' response to a poll question and wants your comments about student-written movie and book reviews.

REPORTERS: Sara Kritsch, 13; Whitney McTush, 12; Milan Patel, 12.