Criticism #4: Active Gaming Breaks the Piggy Bank

The 4th criticism regarding active gaming being discussed in a series of seven blog posts is "Active Gaming Breaks the Piggy Bank". This critique suggests that active gaming is too expensive and not necessarily feasible to consider in the physical education classroom. While there is certainly merit to this critique, let me discuss and share available,reasonable active gaming alternatives:

Active gaming has been identified as being an expensive investment and many parents and schools may deem the expense to be unrealistic. School administrators would understandably need to make decisions related to costs versus the benefits. However, there are active games that are affordable. A variety of Dance Dance Revolution pads are available for under $20.00 a pad and active games such as the Gamercize steppers, Nintendo Wii, Xavix Sports, etc can be purchased for under $300.00 each. Additionally, depending on the active game selected (Gamercize, Cateye GameBike, Nintendo Wii, etc.) the activities are compatible with multiple video games which fosters sustainability with children. Therefore, after the investment in the equipment, the type of game played can continue to change providing a higher return on investment. Creating a full functioning active gaming room may not be a reasonable task immediately; yet, taking small steps toward this goal to continue to add new activities each year or as funding is available is feasible.

At home, research suggests over 90% of children play video games or computer games. Considering many active games are operated using a traditional game console (Nintendo Wii, PlayStation2, PlayStation3, Xbox 360, etc.) or through online game play, the gateway for children to be active in their homes is increasingly available.

Schools will find that there are several funding initiatives available that can provide resources for purchasing this technology. The federally funded Carol White Physical Education Program Grants provide physical education programs with funding in amounts ranging from just over $100,000 to nearly $600,000 (United States Department of Education, 2009). These grants are specifically targeted for the improvement of physical education programs and can provide funding to facilitate such program initiatives. The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation grants for the prevention of childhood obesity (Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, 2009) also has funding based initiatives that not only look at increasing physical activity levels among children and adolescents but also at the impact of active gaming on these variables. State and local funding is also available for physical activity and technology initiatives providing multiple possibilities for funding active gaming equipment.