Game Based Learning: Playing Toy Box Game Discs with Your Child

As a teacher, I wrote and secured a grant that put 6 stations with Disney Infinity in my classroom for the purpose of teaching Geometry and Algebra concepts.  And while I will write future articles that address this inclusion, I wanted my first article to be about how I use Disney Infinity to teach my children at home.  In that light, I wanted my first article to discuss the reasons why I think the Toy Box Discs are essential in building relationships with your children and preparing them for their future.

#1:  INDIVIDUALITY  The Disney Infinity Toy Box Discs allow your child to express their individuality.  In survival mode, your child can be any character they want.  Are they a natural fighter or defender?  Do they prefer to address problems head on or solve them from afar?  Do they prefer boy or girl characters?  They can do all this in a safe environment that allows them to explore who they are and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

#2:  COOPERATION  The number one skill your child will need later in life is the ability to work as a team.  School provides them limited opportunities to do so, especially in the standards based world we live in.  The first place your child will learn how to work with others towards a common goal is through gaming.  So, whether it’s getting Rocket to the Milano or protecting Asgard’s treasures; trust, loyalty, cooperation and so much more may be learned for the first time.

#3:  REAL GOAL-FOCUS   Disney Infinity does a great job of making sure there are numerous objectives, not just the end game.  Collecting sparks, leveling characters, sidekick loot, are all ways of ensuring that your child understands that the “final task” is not all that’s important to the development of their well-being.  Sure, getting to the end is important, but if you don’t do everything you need to do to prepare for the “main event” it won’t matter as much.

#4: FAILURE IS AN OPTION   Game play is the one place where we have a real opportunity to talk about failure with our kids.  Did you know the popular cleaning product Formula 409 is called such because the creators failed the first 408 times?  Healing defeated characters, characters not being allowed to re-spawn in toy box game discs, or failing to protect towers require us to redraw plans, create new paths, or choose new characters we might not have chosen otherwise.  When we fail at the Toy Box games, we have to think of ways to do it better. If I use Iron Fist to heal my partner and then switch back to Captain America, can we reach our goal better?  These are all great questions for your child’s future.

#5:  LEARNING CAN BE FUN!  My five year old is a more flexible thinker since we picked up Disney Infinity.  He may never get into the things I am into sports-wise or any of my other interests, but we both now share a passion for gaming that I am not sure could have been forged other wise.  It’s making him a better learner and allowing me to cover topics with him I would not have before.

So, that is my challenge.  If you have the game and haven’t yet played with your kids, put the Toy Box game disc down and have a blast.  If your kid has this game and you have been hesitant to play with them, this is where I suggest you start.  Two hours later you’ll wonder where the time went as you worked together to achieve some common goals, and did a little of “unintentional learning” in the mean time.