What about the kids?

Are trading card games like Magic good for kids versus the accepted “good” choices like reading a novel?

I play with my own children. Tonight, my son slayed us all casting [[Aggressive Biomancy]] with x=5 on a [[Restless Reef]]. My daughter didn’t give a shit because she had made seven extra moogles with [[Summon: Good King Mog XII]]. We talked a lot afterwards about how the game might have gone differently if one of us had played more reactively and held up our instant-speed removal. My daughter wants a moogle plushie over another copy of [[Swords to Plowshares]].

However, they could’ve been reading novels (which they enjoy and do on the regular) this entire time that we could’ve talked about later as well. Is playing commander with my kids a waste of time relative to talking to them about what they’re reading? Does this somehow add value, or am I better off letting them read a book?