9 Seriously Fun Boy Games That Don’t Involve Guns

Boy games will be boy games

Before we tell you about the awesome boy games that won’t gross you out with gratuitous violence, we want to state for the record that we get that not all boys are the same, and not all of them like the same kinds of games. The reality, however, is that boys and girls do tend to gravitate toward different games. It’s a function of both nature and of nurture.

With regard to the “nurture” portion of the equation, societal conditioning plays an enormous role in boys’ versus girls’ likes and dislikes. “Gender is a cultural construct,” explains gender expert, Riki Wilchins (by gender, she’s referring to the social and behavioral differences associated with one sex or the other). With regard to the “nature” portion, science has demonstrated objective and observable differences between male and female brains. For example, studies have shown that anatomical differences between the male and female eye drive boys versus girls to sense, perceive, and learn differently from one another. For example, the male eye is more attuned to motion (think: spaceships, cars, and trucks) whereas the female eye is more attuned to details (think: people, faces, houses).

That being said, our academic expert on video games, Jordan F. Slavik, an instructor at the University of Maryland at College Park, whose research on video games, their place in the business world, and their usefulness in the education system has been presented around the country, believes the notion of “boy games” to be somewhat of a misnomer. Professor Slavik’s work has led him to conclude that mainstream games tend to have far more general appeal than perhaps we give them credit for. That said, we shall keep the focus here on games our experts tell us boys like, with an even more specific focus on games for boys online.

Raising boys? Here are 11 things about raising boys moms tend to wish they learned sooner rather than later.

 

Tynker helps both girls and boys get into coding and other education activities by wrapping them in games that are genuinely fun. They work with huge partners, including:

Minecraft (The second best-selling video game of all time, behind only the various releases of Tetris).

Mattel’s Monster High (see below)

Recently they debuted a flying drone that’s just as much for girls as boys, the Parrot Mambo Code

Price: $149

What is it: Codable drone bundle equipped with a Parrot Mambo minidrone and a 6-month Tynker subscription, where kids as young as 7 years old can learn how to program their own drone to complete challenges, do tricks, etc. The drone encourage kids to learn about crucial STEM education topics while helping them reap the benefits of traditional outdoor play.

Press kit: Here

Finally, here’s a recent blog post on girls who enjoy Tynker, with lots of great quotes – “DIY” Girls love STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Tech)

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