- We don't really play games with our parents.
- Oh, game playing, um...
- Probably, maybe once a month.
- Video games, I usually am like, no.
- I haven't really played anything since the early 90's.
- Once a week?
- Mmm.
- [Kid] No, Dad. (soft playful music)
No, no.
- Family learning, let me think.
(chuckling) Let me think.
When her and some kids get together
to share experiences and explore the world together.
My name is Sinem Siyahhan.
I'm an Associate Professor of Educational Technology
and Learning Sciences at Cal State San Marcos.
My gaming skills are average.
(mooing)
Sorry. (laughs)
I just wanna make sure that I can get some meat
out of this cow.
My current work is inspired by my experience as a child.
Two parents are working long hours.
They didn't have enough energy and time
to play with me and my brother,
and we didn't really get to spend time together.
I try to play with my son
as much as I can.
I value playing games.
- Oh, there.
- Yes.
So, for example, here,
we're exploring the farm.
(pig squeals)
And we're interacting with animals,
and my son is learning
(baby exclaims)
what sound each animal makes.
What does the sheep say?
(imitates bleating)
(chuckling) Mah, yes.
Engaging in play is important,
whether it is digital
or non-digital play.
We invite parents and kids to play together.
We're fortunate to have Alienware
provide gaming laptops for our families.
- What I find really interesting with Play2Connect,
it helps families grow these shared values together.
Hey, Sinem, how's it goin'?
- It's going well, how are you?
- I'm doin' well, did everything show up?
- Yes, we have the laptops, they're ready to go.
I believe I am making positive impact
through video games.
One of the problems that I see is video games are framed
as a context of conflict between parents and kids.
What I'm trying to do is
to show parents and kids that video games
could be a context for togetherness,
collaboration, problem solving.
Hello, everyone, welcome to our Play2Connect event.
Thank you for coming, we're really excited to have you here.
(crosstalk)
- [Woman] The light one.
- Oh my gosh, look, you're stopping the water flow.
- All right, we're gonna have parents and kids switch.
- Now you need to start capturing the animals.
- And enter space
- Ah, put it in there again.
I got it, I got it, I got it.
- No, Dad.
You build it on top of that.
- All right, let's try to plant seeds and see what happens.
- (chuckling) What is happening?
- [Kid] I have a plan.
- [Man] What are we gonna do?
- I have to clear it myself.
- We put some lights on.
Some more torches?
(crosstalk)
- At home, I'm tutoring her,
now it's the other way around.
- A few times I did big mistakes,
like flooded our cornfield.
- It's not corn, wheat.
- Oh, wheat, see?
- Did you enjoy the challenges?
- Especially the chicken farm we made.
Why does it have a skeleton in it?
- It's a lot more fun than I thought.
It's really interesting watching him at work.
- There's just more value here than I think I had imagined,
that it could be really good quality time.
And I'm surprised at how patient he was with me.
- You liked me doing it,
and then you were tellin' me, "good job."
That was cool.
- It's really important that we shift the trend
around video games and families,
and really start thinking about video games
in terms of their potential
to contribute to our lives.
(pig snorts) (baby exclaims)
Yeah, that's a pig!
Where's the pig?
(grunts excitedly)