Are Video Games Teaching Kids Patience? A Surprising Take for Parents
Patience and Pixels: A Match Made in Gaming?
If you're like many parents navigating the tricky waters of raising a child between the ages of 6 and 12, chances are you’ve encountered the everlasting debate around video games. Are they a waste of time or a missed educational opportunity? Can they help your child thrive — especially if they struggle with homework, learning challenges, or emotional regulation?
One surprising angle getting more attention is whether video games could help develop something few kids have in abundance: patience. It may sound counterintuitive, especially when your child seems to lose their cool the second the Wi-Fi cuts out. But dig a little deeper, and you may uncover some unexpected benefits woven into your child's digital adventures.
What Kind of Patience Are We Talking About?
Let’s be clear — we’re not suggesting that playing games turns kids into little monks overnight. But the kind of patience that’s nurtured through gaming is more nuanced, and often tied to persistence, strategy, and emotional control in the face of failure. Certain types of video games — especially problem-solving or narrative-based ones — require children to:
- Wait for the right moment to act
- Stick with a task despite repeated failure
- Manage frustration to reach a goal
- Follow multi-step quests or puzzles that demand long-term focus
These qualities don’t just stay on the screen. Over time, the resilience a child uses to beat a challenging level can cross over into schoolwork or tricky social interactions.
Real-World Experiences Behind the Screen
Of course, not all games are built alike. Fast-paced, competitive games with instant gratification don’t encourage patience — rather, they can occasionally erode it. But research is starting to show that games with delayed rewards, complex storylines, or creative problem-solving elements are another matter entirely.
In our recent article about what kids really learn from video games, we unpacked how gameplay often involves trial-and-error learning. A child might scheme for hours on how to clear an obstacle, adjust their strategies, and, yes, fail repeatedly before finally succeeding. That “growth mindset” experience — where persistence yields progress — is a quiet but powerful lesson in patience.
Why This Matters for Struggling Learners
If your child finds school overwhelming or if even ten minutes of homework feels like climbing Mount Everest, you know how crucial emotional endurance is in learning. Kids who feel like they fail over and over are more likely to give up. But games change the script, reframing failure as part of progress rather than something shameful.
This doesn’t mean you need to go all-in on screen time or turn your home into an arcade. However, you might consider how your child’s learning style may align with interactive, visual, and game-based experiences. Supporting your child in building patience through their interests — even if it’s Minecraft or Zelda — could relieve some of the homework tension at home.
Balancing Screen Time with Emotional Growth
There’s still a balancing act to maintain. Games can offer growth opportunities, but unhealthy routines or overuse can just as easily lead to irritability, procrastination, and sleep issues. If your child already struggles to focus or manage time, too much gaming can make it harder to reorient toward schoolwork.
In these cases, gently enforce structure around screen use — not as punishment, but as a way to hold space for other activities that develop patience in different ways: reading, drawing, imaginative play, or even listening to stories being told aloud.
One calming and screen-free practice gaining traction is audio storytelling. Parents have found that apps like iOS / Android's LISN Kids, which offers original audio adventures for children ages 3 to 12, provide a gentle, engaging way to build patience through listening and imagination. These stories are crafted to help children develop attention spans while winding down after busy school days or overstimulating screen time.
So, Are Video Games a Winning Bet for Patience?
It depends on what your child plays, how often, and why. If you use gaming as a springboard for growth — rather than a replacement for connection — then video games can absolutely support key emotional skills, including patience. Especially for children with learning or focus struggles, the right game can unlock curiosity, build endurance, and shift their mindset around struggling and succeeding.
Still unsure how to navigate games and schoolwork? You might find our piece on stopping video games from interfering with homework helpful. Or explore what child development experts say about educational games to guide your choices.
At the end of the day, helping your child grow patience doesn’t require eliminating what they love — it’s about reframing it. Meet them where they are, observe what ignites their attention and persistence, and use that spark to build long-term emotional strength.