GLOBAL gaming and creator platform Roblox is encouraging parents to take a more active role in their children’s digital lives, arguing that gaming can become an avenue for learning when children are guided to explore coding, game design, creativity and critical thinking.
Papri Dev, head of communications for Asia Pacific, Roblox, said the global gaming and creator platform is positioning parents not simply as monitors of their children’s screen time, but as partners who can help transform play into opportunities for developing skills that could eventually lead to careers in the digital economy.
‘Kids can actually learn while playing,’ Dev said during the company’s first Unbox Roblox event in the Philippines, highlighting how young players can move from simply playing games to creating their own digital experiences.
Dev said many Roblox creators started as young players who became curious about how games were made. Some eventually learned programming, designed their own games, built studios and reached audiences around the world.
For parents, she said the challenge is to recognize that distinction between passive consumption and active creation.
For example, Dev has created a program to make physics more engaging and eventually evolving into a user-generated platform where users can create and share their own experiences.
Dev said the platform now offers Roblox Studio, a free development environment that allows users to build interactive worlds, games and other digital experiences.
With this development, Dev said it provides young people with an accessible introduction to skills such as coding, game development, digital design, storytelling, problem-solving and collaboration.
Estephan Millendez, Roblox developer engagement team for the Philippines, said the progression can start with something as simple as curiosity. A child playing a racing game, for example, may eventually wonder how the cars move or how the virtual environment was created. ‘That curiosity can lead the child to experiment with Roblox Studio and eventually learn the fundamentals of game development,’ he said. The company highlighted several Filipino creators who followed a similar path-from players to developers and creators with global audiences.
‘Among them are developers who have created games played internationally, while other Filipino creators have produced user-generated virtual items inspired by local culture, including digital versions of the barong,’ Millendez said. Roblox said these examples demonstrate how young people can move from being consumers of digital content to becoming creators of products and experiences.
The company is also encouraging parents to explore Roblox’s educational content through its Learning Hub, which features experiences covering computer science, mathematics, science, geography, art and creativity, and life skills. The idea is to make learning more engaging by placing educational concepts in an environment that children already enjoy. The company said some young users have also used Roblox to develop their English vocabulary and communication skills.
For parents, this creates an opportunity to connect their children’s interests with their education.
Instead of simply telling a child to stop playing, parents could encourage them to explore experiences related to a subject they are studying or use their gaming interests as a starting point for learning.
A child interested in dinosaurs could explore experiences related to paleontology. A student fascinated by computers could experiment with coding. Another interested in fashion could try designing virtual clothing.
Founded in 2004 by David Baszucki and the late Erik Cassel, Roblox was created around the concept of combining physics-based play with creativity.