Lil' Techies

One of our favorite Christmas presents this year was Super Mario Brothers for the Wii. This is the first game of its kind that lets gamers play in the same world, at the same time (if you have 2 remotes). In multiplayer mode, both of my kids can run through Mario land as a team.

Even though many fights have erupted between the brothers for not collaborating properly, multiplayer mode has the potential to teach team-building and collaboration:

1. Cooperation
   To get the most coins, the players must work together. This means that they must cooperate and make plans outside of Marioland. For example, one player can say to the other, “you get the coins on the top, I’ll get the coins on the bottom”. Time is saved and both players get the benefits.
2. Courtesy
   If one player runs ahead too far, the other player will die. As a courtesy, the faster player usually waits for the other player to catch up before high tailing it to the next adventure.
3. Teaching
   In our case, one of our players is more advanced (the 6 year old) than the other (the 4 year old). In order for their partnership to work, the more experienced player must instruct the other player on what to do, how to do it and why.
4. Helping
   One thing my two lil’ players have discovered is that they can help each other. When time is running out, the better player lets the less experienced player hop on his back and carries him along to finish the board.
5. Team Work
   The brothers are a team. Like it or not, what one does affects the other. The players learn that they are dependent on each other and that they will win or lose together.
6. Decision-making
   In Marioland, everything happens quickly so there isn’t much time for making decisions, but in multiplayer mode, this gives kids a chance to make decisions together.

Here is a list of more cooperative games for the Wii.