【Gemini × Parenting】Nurturing Curiosity and Creativity! New Ways of Playing Realized with Gemini
Hello, this is the official note editorial department for Google's AI, "Gemini."
While watching your children grow is a joy, it also comes with many "troubles," doesn't it? You might run out of play ideas, or be unable to answer your child's barrage of "Why?" questions...
Actually, AI is something you can rely on at times like those.
Get ideas for new pretend play to broaden the scope of your activities.
Have your child's questions answered instantly via voice to boost their interests.
Things like that have become easy to do with Gemini.
So, this time, we held a roundtable discussion with parents who use Gemini in their daily parenting to talk about how they actually use it.
We will introduce the know-how that came out of that in three parts:
"Introducing Gemini and Using It for Play"
"How to Use Gemini for Parent-Child Learning"
"Benefits Found Using Gemini and Future Expectations"
The theme of the first part is
"How We Started Using Gemini and Using It for Play". It is packed with episodes that will surprise you with "I didn't know you could use it like that!" and stories that will make you nod in agreement, thinking "That happens to me too!" We have also included samples you can use for daily play, so you can copy and use them right away.Currently (as of May 2025), even those using the free version of Gemini can use the latest Gemini features, including "2.5 Pro (preview)." First, please feel free to use it from the
free"Gemini app", and we hope you will use this article as a reference to incorporate Gemini into your daily life and parenting.*This note is an edited version of a roundtable discussion held by Google, for which we recruited four parents who use Gemini for parenting.
*Explanations regarding the use of generative AI, including Gemini, are for illustrative purposes. Please verify the accuracy of the actual response results yourself.
*As of now (April 2025), Gemini is available for users aged 13 and older. For children of elementary school age or younger, please use it at home together with a parent or guardian.
What are the moments parents say they were "saved by Gemini"?
The parents who participated in our roundtable have children ranging from preschool age to elementary school. First, we asked about how everyone uses it on a daily basis.
—Thank you for joining us today. Could you introduce yourselves and tell us the ages of your children?
Parent A:I am a father living in Tokyo. My child is 4 years old and in the first year of kindergarten.
Parent B:I am also a father living in Tokyo, and my children are boys aged 7 and 11. They are in the first and fourth grades of elementary school, attending a local public school.
Parent C:I am a mother living in Tokyo. My child is a 7-year-old boy who attends an international school and loves games.
Parent D:I am a mother living in Tokyo, and my child is a 4-year-old girl. She currently attends daycare.
—You are truly in the thick of parenting. How often do you all usually use Gemini?
Everyone:Every day.
Parent B:I use it so much that my eldest son tells me, "Dad, you rely on Gemini too much!" (laughs).
Parent C:I've been using AI itself for a long time; I've actually been a user since the "Google Assistant" days about 7 years ago. I found it useful for turning on the air conditioner, TV, or playing music hands-free while breastfeeding or putting my child to sleep. Especially when they were an infant, I didn't have time to take notes, so I used it to set voice reminders and make shopping lists.
Parent D:Hands-free is a lifesaver! When my child woke up early, I also used "Google Assistant" to play the voices of anime characters or animal sounds to secure even a little bit of extra sleep for myself (laughs).
Parent A: "Gemini Live," which talks to you, is also useful when my child doesn't want to walk.If I have Gemini Live tell a story featuring things my child likes, even a child who was saying "I'm tired" or "I don't want to walk" will start walking. Even at a restaurant, instead of showing them a video, I have them listen to a story.It seems they like that it talks directly to them.
Parent B:Voice input is also useful when we are traveling by car. My child asks so many questions, and it's hard to answer them all, and some are difficult to answer, right? Like, "Sparrows land on power lines, so why don't they get electrocuted?" (laughs). At times like that, I say,"Let's ask Gemini." Adults get tired when bombarded with questions, but AI doesn't get tired. It will keep up with a child's questions as much as they want.
Parent D:I tend to use difficult words, soI ask Gemini, "Explain this in words a 4-year-old can understand."
—I see. It sounds like Gemini is integrated into your daily lives. Are there any other things you feel have become more convenient using Gemini?
Parent A: Going out. When planning family outings, I used to ask Gemini every week for "recommended places to play" or "what kind of physical activities I should have them do at age 4." Previously, I used a paid concierge service that would suggest and book outings, but I've replaced those with Gemini.
Now, I think it's faster to set the annual schedule all at once...I input information like "I want to raise my child with this philosophy" and "these are their current interests," and have it create a 52-week weekend plan to build an annual schedule.
Parent C:Being able to plan for a whole year is really great.
Parent A:Because it always rains on the days you planned to play outside (laughs).If you have Gemini create a Plan B for bad weather, you can spend your weekends without panic or waste.
D: I totally get that! Even if I try to plan our weekend on Friday, I can't get reservations or the weather turns bad... so we end up at the same old park or children's center. Searching just gives you generic recommendations, but this is great because it gives me pinpoint recommendations that suit my child.
A: Exactly. When I add requests like 'I also want to visit my grandparents' or 'I want them to help with chores,' it properly incorporates them into the annual schedule.
B: We also make full use of Gemini for outings. When my son, who is obsessed with skiing, suddenly said, 'I want to go tomorrow, Saturday,' I would look up sites that list 'day-trip ski resorts accessible from Kanto,' but I wouldn't know which one is closest to our home without checking them one by one.
At times like that, if I give Gemini the URL of that site and ask it to 'sort them by distance from my house,' it checks everything on Google Maps and sorts them by proximity. This is incredibly useful.
[B's usage example]
https://gemini.google.com/share/dd17aefea812
D: You can do that with YouTube too, right? It would be convenient if you could specify a video URL and ask it to 'list the places introduced,' or have it look up information on playgrounds and how to get there from home.
[Usage example]
https://g.co/gemini/share/b46d388bec54
B: It's much more efficient than looking things up one by one. For example, when three families go out together, Gemini quickly answered my request to find the 'closest playground from three different locations.'
Solve 'running out of play ideas' with Gemini! Practical techniques from moms and dads
- The theme this time is exactly 'let's use Gemini for play.' If you have any other recommended ways to use it in play scenarios, please let us know.
D: If it's every day, first it's coming up with 'pretend play ideas'! My daughter loves pretend play, and all the blocks and puzzles in the house become props for it. However, we've already played out most patterns, so when I asked Gemini, 'Do you have any new ideas for pretend play?', it immediately suggested things like 'post office' or 'greengrocer.'
You can find these by searching, but Gemini gives me a lot of ideas on the spot, which expands my own thinking and helps me quickly decide, 'Shall we try this method?' which is a huge help.
Also, since she recently started getting interested in numbers, I asked for 'games we can play easily inside and outside the house.' Then, I was moved when it immediately suggested things like 'count the stairs one by one' or 'count the leaves and stones at the park.'
A: That's great! Also, I use Gemini for drawing. When we decided, 'This year is the Year of the Snake, so let's draw a snake,' my child said, 'I want to draw a pink and purple snake!', so we used an image generated by Gemini as a model.
B: Gemini can create things that aren't in picture books, too.
D: It can also create imaginary creatures, so I had it draw an illustration of a unicorn that my daughter likes.
B: For image generation, making picture books is also recommended. Have it create a story with your child's name in it. When I read that to them at night, they were so happy.
C: It could also be used for reading practice. Even for a child who doesn't read books much, if it's a book where they appear...
B: They'll definitely read it. It's good to base it on a story your child likes. For example, if they like adventure stories, say 'make it an adventure story.'
C: That's a really great idea. I'll try it at my house too!
B: Also, you can use it for card games like Karuta. My child likes board games and Karuta, but I'm forced to play endlessly... so lately, I've been having Gemini read the Karuta cards (laughs).
C: You can do that?
B: I use the screen recognition feature of Google AI Studio; when I show the Karuta reading card to the camera, Gemini recognizes the text and reads it aloud. It's exciting to have it read not only in Japanese but also in English or Spanish, and I think it also serves as a little bit of language study.
C: It seems like it could be a trigger for them to get interested in other languages too.It's interesting to draw Gemini into the play as a participant.
Use it starting today! Practical examples of 'Gemini × Play'
From the 'Gemini × Play' ideas that came up during our talk, I've summarized some prompt examples that you can all use. Please feel free to arrange them to suit your child.
Have Gemini create an annual schedule for outings
I want to go out with my 4-year-old on weekends; can you create a plan for the whole year?
The child's information and parent's preferences are as follows.
*Please include detailed information such as the child's age, gender, hobbies, likes, and what the parent wants the child to experience.
Example: 'I want them to experience seasonal traditions and events,' 'Please include plans for rainy days,' 'I also want them to experience helping with housework like cooking and deep cleaning,' 'My maternal grandparents live nearby, so I want to value family interaction,' 'They get bored if they do the same thing repeatedly, so I want them to try various things.'
Since there are 52 weeks in a year, please create a plan for all 52 weeks, explain the key points of the parenting strategy (the thinking behind it and why it should be done that way), and summarize it in a table.
Get ideas for pretend play
My daughter loves pretend play, but we've played shopkeeper and doctor so much that we've run out of ideas. Please think of new pretend play ideas.
Get ideas for games using numbers
My daughter, who is [age] years old, has started to become interested in numbers. What are some games we can play easily inside and outside the house?
Have Gemini create a picture book featuring your child
Create a story where [Child's Name] is the protagonist. I'd like an adventure story where they travel around the world, meet various people, defeat evil monsters, and finally discover a treasure. Set it up so the protagonist can use various kinds of magic. Make it an easy-to-understand story that a 5-year-old can enjoy. Also, draw illustrations that match the story.
Have Gemini answer your child's questions
Why don't sparrows get electrocuted when they land on power lines? Explain it so that a first-grade elementary school student can understand.
Gemini supports what your child 'wants to do'
In interviews with parents, many ideas for ways to play came up. This is just a small example of how to play, and depending on how you use it, Gemini seems likely to bring even more new possibilities to playing with children.
Gemini might gently give a push to those 'I want to try' feelings that you had given up on due to time or method constraints. Through dialogue with Gemini, unexpected creativity may bloom from children's small curiosities.
We hope you will feel free to try the free'Gemini app' at home.
We hope that your encounter with Gemini will enrich your precious time as parents and children and become a step toward expanding the possibilities for your children's future.
Next time, with the theme of 'Gemini × Learning', we will introduce practical examples of using Gemini for daily learning, as well as support for PTA activities and preparation for school meetings, which are also useful for parents. From learning tips useful even for preschoolers to overcoming stumbling blocks in elementary school math, how will Gemini support you? Look forward to the next article!