The physical activity inherent in outdoor games is necessary for a growing child. These games help in muscle growth, the strengthening of limbs and the development of motor skills. Many games teach invaluable social skills such as negotiating rules, teamwork, taking turns, handling loss, helping a friend handle defeat, interactive communication and leadership. Moreover, most outdoor games are inexpensive and require very few resources, like a ball or a bat.
Board games make a child think in nonconventional ways and help him to develop critical thinking and cognitive skills. Many board games, both simple and complex, help in the development of useful intellectual skills such as detecting patterns, planning ahead and predicting outcomes and options available. They also help children to understand and follow rules.
Music is a brilliant way to develop mnemonic skills. Educational and cognitive tasks can be broken down and delivered to children using a simple tune that helps them to learn basic things like numbers and the alphabet or more complex subjects such as names of animals, countries and planets. The songs chosen can be used to teach math, history, morality and vocabulary. Action songs help a child develop rhythm and motor skills. Singing games may also help teachers or parents recognize and develop a child's musical talent. They can also create a passion for music in a child.
There are many lessons to be learned from computer games. Children who are sick or injured and cannot participate in conventional games often find video games a good distraction from their discomfort. Computer games also allow them to have fun and compete on the same level with friends. Computer games can improve a child's reflexes and hand-eye coordination, which are useful skills in many other real world applications. The games also enhance creativity and instill a taste for graphics and design which could develop into artistic skills and technical careers in the future.