Bop It games are small, battery operated games with a number of different sound effects. Over the years, there have been more than a few of these games developed. They all work on the same basic premise: there are a number of actions that must be taken, all after being verbally prompted by the computer generated voice. There are a number of options and levels of play, and the longer you play, the faster the directives come and the harder the play becomes. At the end, the computer voice will either reward you and give you your score or taunt you when you do poorly.
For most Bop It games, there is a center section which is where the “bop” comes in. Other actions include twisting, pulling and sliding. There are other options of the game that might tell a player to pass the toy to another player, like a modern variety of the old hot potato game. If you do not pass the toy to another player fast enough or the other player drops the game before the next action is called and performed, the game will buzz and that round will be ended.
Studies have shown that games that improve hand eye coordination as well as thinking and reasoning skills and even memory retention. Students who have these skills will have much better grades overall. Hand eye coordination is also important to help them with athletics at every level.
Using the Bop games as a way to reduce stress during long study sessions not only resets the brain so that it can actually focus on what it is doing, but may also improve concentration and listening skills as well. Those benefits extend to adults as well, who may find that they are better able to retain knowledge after they have played this or other, similar games than on days when they did not. Working your brain now can keep it healthier in the future, which may reduce your chances of age-related memory decline.
But, don’t bother telling your kids about all of the healthy benefits of these games- they aren’t going to care. Besides, if you let on that they are actually good for them, they will either abandon them or use that information against you whenever you tell them that they need to put them down and do their homework. Sure, you don’t want to let the kids just sit for hours playing their Bop It games, but as there are actual benefits, you do want to allow them to do so every now and then.