Games consoles are very popular amongst people of all ages as many adults find them as enjoyable as children do. New consoles like the PS4 or 5 and Xbox can easily set you back a few hundred pounds and even after you have forked out for a console, you then have to buy games for it. The cost of games varies from as little as a few pounds upward of £70. You may even be able to get some games for free as a download or save a bit of money by buying them second hand.

If you want one of the newer games or want to buy it new then it really is worth shopping around for the best price. You may be surprised as to how much the cost of the game can vary from seller to seller. It is not the case that one seller is always the cheapest either. One time you may find the game is cheaper to buy from Game or Amazon and another time it may be cheaper to buy as a download from the PlayStation store. It is important to bear in mind that any game you buy as a download cannot be sold on whereas any with a disk can be traded or sold elsewhere to make a bit of money back.

With many children having to do school work from home again, managing screen time can be a bit of a nightmare. It may be that your child is having to spend almost of the day in front of a screen, sat watching it or working on it. This is not ideal but makes it possible for their education to still continue whilst they are off school.

If you have a child that enjoys playing on a tablet or games console such as an Xbox or PS5 then you will probably find that after a hard days schoolwork all they want to do is play on their device. This means yet again more screen time but you may feel it’s unfair to say to them they are not allowed when they have worked so hard during the day.

Many schools are using different online applications to send the work home but that doesn’t mean that all the work has to be done online. It may be possible to print off a few of the worksheets or to hand write out some of the answers as that will give the child a little bit of time away from the screen.

If you own a PS4 you are probably aware that some games take a long time to download. If you have purchased PS4 games for your child or loved one for Christmas then you probably want to try and install them prior to the big day. If you do not install them in advance then you will most likely have to wait a good number of hours before you can play them which can be frustrating. Once you install a game, I’ll will appear as a tile on the home page of the console. This will give away the present you have bought and the person could even start playing it. There is no way to remove this tile from the home menu without deleting the game but you can put them in a folder. Add lots of other tiles to the folder to disguise the game icon that you have bought and that should be enough to keep it hidden until the big day. If you really struggle to install the games then you may even decide to give them that present early so they can preload it on Christmas Eve – just remember to tell them not to play until Christmas day!

When it comes to buying new games for a console such as the PlayStation or Xbox, you may be surprised as to how much they can cost. New games that are high in the charts can cost up to £100 for a limited edition version. Most games for the PS4 or Xbox are priced at around £40-£50 which is still a lot for a game which may only take you days to complete. If you are keen to save a bit of money then it may be worth investing in some second hand games rather than buying new. Many high street stores and online businesses sell second hand games at a fraction of the cost they were new. Most of these retailers also give you a warranty on the discs and may even offer you an extended warranty should the disc get damaged in the future.

It is always worth checking the second hand price vs the new price as occasionally if the game is on offer you may actually find it is cheaper to buy it new. If you have a number of games you wish to trade in then you can often get cash or even more in credit if you then want to put that amount towards a new game.

Just Dance has been a round for some time now and over the years although the gam has evolved, the idea is just the same. Just Dance is a great game for kids and adults and unlike many console games, it gets you up and moving which can contribute to your health and wellbeing.

The idea of Just Dance is to copy the dance moves of the avatars on screen. The better you are at copying the moves the more points you will score.

Some parents may want to check out the content of the dances as some moves may not seem suitable for younger audiences.

To play this game you will need some sort of device to follow your moves i.e. a PlayStation camera, move controllers or even a smart phone. Allowing people to download and app which can then be installed on their smart phone makes this game much more accessible to many more people.

Although the game does come with a number of songs in which you can choose from it also offers you the chance to subscribe to receive additional songs if required. This is a monthly subscription fee though, which some feel is a lot after you have already forked out money to buy the game.