This post is sponsored by Playful Corp. All opinions are my own.

When my boys are not at their sports practices or games and are home instead, chances are you will find them looking something like this:

They love video games. Their favorite Christmas presents have definitely been their different gaming systems over the years as well as video games and accessories. Since I grew up in the generation where we were getting the very first at-home gaming systems, I understand their fascination.

Though I’ll admit that I used to let them play on their own and wasn’t joining in very often.

But then I realized that there are some pretty good reasons for me to occasionally play video games with my boys.

Why Mom Should Game, Too

It’s family time everyone can agree on. 

We have plenty of Family movie nights and board game nights that our whole family enjoys. My boys will even suggest these on their own. But until I brought up playing video games together, they didn’t really think that was something that we could do. Once I suggested it, they were all for it and thought it was pretty cool that mom was interested in doing something they love.

Gaming helps you understand what your kids are talking about. 

Different video games have their own vocabulary. For the longest time, I had no earthly clue what my kids were talking about when they mentioned certain characters or actions or missions in different video games. I said a lot of “uh-huh” and “oh, yeah?” and “that’s awesome!” but I really had no clue what they meant. Actually playing a little bit taught me at least some of the language they were using, as well as showing them that I care about what they’re interested in.

Video games can put your kids in a leadership role. 

It’s usually the kids following mom’s lead, asking questions or needing help with how to do something new. But with video games, they can be the ones to teach me.

When my family plays games together, I prefer to stick with games rated E for Everyone, since my boys range in age from 8-12.

One that we just tried this week is Super Lucky’s Tale. The feel of it reminded me of some of the video games I played when I was a kid. Except with way better graphics and more creative levels and missions. 

It’s a cute game with enough of a challenge to keep us all interested, though even a novice gamer like me could figure it out(with some help from my kids).

Super Lucky’s Tale (Retail price $29.99) is available on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC and would be a good addition to your family Christmas list, especially if you have tweens.

Do you game with your kids?