For many years kids entertainment was all around the television set, and programs were created to help kids learn but in recent years there has been a rise in games that do the same thing. In this article we will compare these 2 different educational entertainment methods.

For a long time there have been children’s tv shows that aimed to not only be fun but to also teach them something, from letters and numbers to how to behave or even art and history. These shows are still being made and as our knowledge of education grows these shows keep getting better.

We have already discussed games in our article How Games are Educational and these specialized games are also improving with experience as well as becoming ever more available on mobile devices and tablets as well as on the computer. This mobility gives them a bit of an edge over the television as you can’t easily carry one around. But then on the other side you can also watch tv shows over the internet on a tablet to it can balance out.

In front of the television kids don’t really have to do very much except watch, though some shows get them being active, moving around and taking part in dances or exercises in time with music and the characters. But for the most part a show will focus on teaching without your children needing to do anything.

In a game your child is able to participate or even dictate what is happening. This interaction can be a really powerful tool in helping kids to learn and being involved can also be a lot more rewarding as well. At the same time they learn basic computer skills like moving the mouse or using the keyboard.

Some games are also social too, virtual games where lots of kids from all over the world are all playing at the same time, and that in itself can be useful as it teaches social interaction and how to behave in a group. Though you do need to ensure that the lessons learned are the correct ones as sometimes the other children may not be as nice as they should. But in all cases there are safeguards in place to protect all of the kids playing.

On the flip side watching tv can be seen a less social experience, but in many shows there are groups of children all playing together, working with the characters or taking part in their own activities and games in the show. The benefit of this is that your child will only see the good parts anything bad that may have happened won’t be in the final show, so in this regard the tv show can come out on top, as you only see positive messages coming through.

One of the best aspects of both games and television shows is that they are both encouraging to children, though in different ways. A game can instantly reward your child and say well done for completing a task, where as a tv show can provide the same encouragement though in a different way, through activities and rewarding the characters or kids on the screen which helps to encourage the child watching.

In both tv and games there are lots of fun characters, bright colors and they both teach similar lessons. From basic math and English to history geography and much more. The lessons that you can find in both are almost limitless. This is a brilliant feature and it brings a great diversity to the activities you can introduce your children too.

Both games and television provide you with a lot of choices and options to teach your children and both of them come with their benefits. You have the option to use either of them or you can mix and match what they do and when they do it. That is one of the greatest benefits of both technologies that you can control when they are used and how. Balancing them out might be the best way to go, but the choice is entirely yours.