Before we can begin playing Maria needed to clear some space in her room as she says that “Dad tells me to do this before playing so as to not hit anything and to make sports space”. This demonstrates a habit that has been created by interacting with this game as it helps to teach a child like Maria spatial awareness and planning before acting by making the environment more suited for play. In addition to this, she also says that we need to get the lassos on. The lassos are what she and her parents call the safety wrist straps that go on the controllers. These are important to put on for this game because of the motion controls and how she says it's important to make sure you wear them to not throw your controller on accident. She shows me how to put on my lasso but has trouble fastening the wrist straps onto the controllers themselves and when this happens she calls her dad over to help put them on the controllers. Once again this shows another routine that has been established by playing this game but also shows scaffolding as Maria understands why and how to put on the safety straps but needs her dad’s help to finish it due to it being tough to put on. Once the safety straps are on and the "sports space" is made we can begin the game.

Going into the game she first showed me the characters that I can play. The characters are stylized cartoon-ish avatars that we can customize however we like. She shows me how to make my character which I try to match with skin tone, hair, and eye color as well as having my character wear a simple T-shirt with shorts. Meanwhile, her character seems similar to herself except hers has a pink hair color and ponytail hairstyle. 

With this feature it allows children to express themselves within the context of an active fitness setting. Many of the clothing options are comfortable yet fitted clothes that you could expect to see athletes wear. This allows children to not only be able to have the freedom to try different creative styles like varying hairstyles and eye colors but also to consider possible fashion choices they could make should they ever engage in sports like this in real life.

After we choose our characters it is now time to start selecting the games. The first game we played was bowling. In this game it's very much like the version in real life. The aim is to roll the ball and knock down as many pins as possible, whoever gets the most points at the end of all the turns wins. Similarly, this game tries to replicate how it feels to bowl in real life by requiring the use of motion controls when rolling the bowling ball. This is done by having the player make the same motions with the joy con as if they were holding a bowling ball instead. Maria shows me how to aim in the game by using the analog stick and motion in the controller. Then she shows me how to throw the ball by going first. She holds the button as her character moves and then as they reach the line she makes a swift motion of her arm going up and the bowl gets swung and rolls down the line to hit the pins. Then it's my turn and it repeats back and forth until the end when Maria wins.

As expected from the description of the game and box art the motion controls are a very prominent feature of this game. By doing this it can enable children to mimic motions that would be done in the real-world version of these games. In addition, it also facilitates a social experience by Maria helping to teach me the controls visually by seeing her use the controller and through interaction by giving me practice to do so. 

Beyond the game itself, it was a very relaxed experience since bowling is a game where people go one at a time and there is no time pressure to make your turn. During the game, Maria was helping to give tips about how to bowl and I was able to ask her questions too such as about how often she gets to play this game with others, which she says she gets to when her friends Bella and Jessica come over from school for a bit until their mom comes to pick them up. She tells me that they like to play this game too. Once again, this demonstrates how a game such as this can facilitate social interactions from how it gives room throughout to allow us to converse about the game or other things entirely.

Finally, after this game, we then played Tennis. Similar to bowling this game also tries to replicate how it is in real life by requiring the players to make the swinging motions with the joy-con controller as if you were holding the tennis racket. In this game, it's 2 on 2 but since me and Maria were the only ones playing we were against one another and we would control both characters on each side simultaneously (whenever I swung my controller the character in the back and front on my side would swing their racket). The game started and we would rally the ball back and forth until one of us missed and whoever wins the sets of games wins. It was a closer game but Maria also won this one out too. Unlike bowling which was much slower and more relaxed tennis was faster pace we would give out cheers and laugh as the game went on but we didn’t converse too much while the game was happening only in between turns or commenting about what happened. Throughout the game Maria herself was very energetic playing, often giving excited cheers regardless of who won the points. In the end, she told me that her cousin Kim is really good at tennis and that she wanted to try playing it in real life so that she could play it some more with her cousin. 

This features many of the similar points found in bowling with exposure, practice, and, social interactions. Though one difference is that due to the change in it being more active it required more fast decision-making and reaction. This shows that even if Nintendo Switch Sports is a sports game, the types of sports they feature can require different skills to be utilized which is good for children to be aware of. In addition with Maria’s close friendship with Kim. it exemplifies an important aspect of this game which is to encourage children into playing sports. 

Overall, Nintendo Switch Sports was a beneficial game to play as it helps to present one of the best aspects of the Switch which is to give children a portable gaming experience that can also encourage socialization and creativity. Although this game is much more straightforward, it gives children practice and experience of what sports can be like. In addition, with Maria’s encouragement and teaching it also demonstrates how it facilitates good sportsmanship and team-building skills which would be important for Maria to utilize as she continues in both school and sports. Lastly, both of the games featured required a sense of coordination, motor skills, and reflexes which can be valuable experiences they may not find in a traditional classroom setting outside of PE.