I often talk about how important it is to enter kids' world and get to know what they like.
This lets kids know you care about their interests and want to connect with them on a personal level.
One of the things you can talk about with kids is their favorite video game system and favorite video games (especially when it comes to boys).
I often tell the story of when I walked into a classroom and there was a boy sitting in the back of the room with a big frown on his face. The room leader shared with me that the boy didn't want to participate and was having a bad day. His behavior was so bad that they had to move him to the back of the room by himself.
I said, "let me see what I can do." I went back and sat down beside him. He had no intention of talking to me. Nothing I was trying was working.
So I decided to try this - I asked him if he had a video game system? For the first time he looked at me and smiled. He told me about his video game system and we talked about what games he liked for 5 minutes or so.
After talking with him, I told him I was going to go up front and join the other kids who were singing praise songs. I told him he could stay in the back or join me up front. It was up to him. I went up front and in a minute or so, I felt a tug on my shirt. It was the boy. He joined us in singing and didn't cause any problems for the rest of the lesson. All because I took the approach of entering his world and connecting with something he loved.
That being said...here is a list of the most popular video games (at the time of this writing). Take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with them. You can then use these as a great talking point with kids.
1. Crewmate
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
3. Crossy Road
4. Cup Head
5. Five Nights at Freddy's : Help Wanted
6. Fortnite
7 Forza Horizon 4
8. Kingdom Hearts III
9. Kirby Star Allies
10. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
11. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
12. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
13. Minecraft
14. Minecraft Dungeons
15. Nintendo Labo VR Kit
16. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
17. Overwatch
18. Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
19. Pokemon Sword and Shield
20. Rachet and Clank
21. Roblox
22. Rocket League
23. Scribblenauts Mega Pack
24. Sea of Theives
25. Splatoon 2
26. Super Mario's 3D World and Bowser's Fury
27. Super Mario Maker 2
28. Super Mario Odyssey
29. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
30. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
31. The Wonderful 101: Remastered
32. Threes
33. Untitled Goose Game
*this is not an endorsement of these games
