Computer Games for under fives

Dub13

I just setup an old computer for my oldest and she loves it,I just have a Dora the explorer game I got free in a kids magazine.I am heading into the city during the week to pick out some more games/drawing program's for her,does anybody have any recamandations....?

KdjaCL

Early learning centre (on Henry Street near Marks n Sparks ) and anything within her age range.


But tbh Wordpad and make the letters big and alphabet and words is far more fun


Or Mahjong to see if shes a genius :0



kdjac

Nevyn

http://www.nickjr.com/
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/


The bear in the big blue house game was good, and Poh bear games have a
good varity and reapeated playiblity.

Also check out your local library, a lot of them have a kids games section
that you can borrow a game on your library card.
They usually have the reader rabbit series.

jordata

I have a 3yo and 4yo. They love the Jump Ahead games. I got them from Amazon. First there is Jump Ahead Toddlers to get used to the mouse etc. then I got a set of 3 for them Starting School, Starting Reading and Starting Maths (the most popular one with the 4yo). Also have DK Learning Ladder PreSchool. That is not as popular with the girls but it does seem to have some good features.

Dub13

Thanks for the replys.I popped into the Early learning centre yesterday and they dont have a very good range for the pc,some good dvds and vids but not much for the computer.

I am going to order the Jump Ahead games tonight as they seem to be just what I am looking for.

Thanks for the replys,keep the recamandations coming.

Hobbes

I got "Harry and the haunted house" demo for my niece (she was 4 at the time) and she loved the first page to bits. So I bought the whole program. On the second page a ghost goes "Boo" when you click on something and she started crying and refused to play the game again.

Dub13

Hobbes wrote:

On the second page a ghost goes "Boo" when you click on something and she started crying and refused to play the game again.

LOL....keep it for her 21st.

blueeyes

i have a 3 year old and we got him my first number and my first starting to read,got them at pc world. He loves the numbers one a lot,just seeing him holding the mouse and clicking away and he shouts out when he's got it right its funny to see and at the same time its great.

parsi

Reader Rabbit games are good and the kids love them - they can be a bit dicky on windows2000 though..

Wex1

Dora the explorer site on nick jnr has online colouring which my friends 5 year old adores!! also some simple matching games from memory.
For boys Tractor tom has some jigsaws that is great for practicing mouse control, you've got to drag and drop, click etc. my 3 and a half year old can master this.
And if you want to go down as far as 2, the tweenies site is really good for the small ones (most bbc kids sites are great) They sing with the words there for you to make an ejeet of yourself too! I'm a little teapot, row row row your boat and all the ususal.... These are all online, cause I don't let my kids put games on the Pc anymore (too many parasites in the past - uninstalled games and they took more than they should've off with them) anyway theres a PS2 upstairs for gaming!! but the online stuff is great!!

Victor

You may have to explain that the Lemmings don't actually die ....

Femelade

my daughter of 4 loves the barbie website, there's games that require thinking. she has that dora one too and loves it, also a little bill game and a rolie polie olie game, all very good.

Firewalkwithme

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

Nice selection of games here for the kiddies:

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/

KdjaCL

Have moved onto msft paint now, mouse control improving.

Mahjong Suite 2005 my kids addicted to it


kdjac

Khannie

www.yahooligans.com

Lots of good games in there. Mazes, etc.

ambro25

Your first port of call should be the underdogs' abandonware website , specifically their educational games section (categorized) .

They're all (more-or-less legitimate, rather more than less) free copies of full games, so if your kids don't like this game or that game, just download & install another. Or try them on different genres. Or... etc.

Fredo

Why would you buy a 5 year old child video games... 3-4 year old kids can learn, play, have fun without them, it think you will do your kid a favor by not introducing him/her too early to PC... Excercice, playing outside is much better than than having a child sitting in front of a game 2-3-4 hours a day. Why is there such a health problem in the US-> Xbox, PS2, PCs...
I'm a computer programmer myself and my kids who 5 and 3 have not been introducted to videa gaming that for the best.
XML.

Dub13

who said anything about 2-3-4 hours a day...I let her play for 30min max a couple of times a week.And its not games as such...its counting,coloring and the alphabet.

ambro25

Fredo wrote:

Why would you buy a 5 year old child video games... etc.

Well, that's eminently debatable - (i) there's video games and there's video games, and (ii) there's a margin between child development and child abandonment (as in - infront of the image box ).

Whilst I totally agree about the health issues which you have mentionned, and enticing little people to enjoy physical development, surely -as a parent- you will not object to a child using early development software (videogames, if you will, but not as we 30-somethings know them ), especially if the child shows interest in the medium.

I'm sure there's scores of studies pointing one way or the other with regard to the benefits vs disadvantages of exposing children to computers and acquiring ICT literacy very early on, but at the end of the day:
(i) witness the pervasion over the past 10 to 15 years of ICT in virutally any educational/professional activity (for better or worse, that is not the point)
(ii) depriving your child of access to ICT equipment and acquiring what are today (and defo tomorrow) arguably essential skills early on is not what I would call good parenting
(iii) and providing this access unsupervised/unbounded (in terms of content, e.g. 18+ 'GTA' games, or duration, e.g. letting the child use a PC/console over an hour on trot) is not what I would call good parenting either...

In the above context, as in any context involving parenting activity/tasks/requirements, I've yet to see anything that's just black and white

Wex1

Totally right Ambro, d'you know that ICTs are used specifically for working with children with learing disabilities to great effect.

Audio visual (and digital) enhancement of traditional learning methods is totally legit in a society that uses computers for almost everything (ATM's DVD players, and exposure to these at an early age (under controlled circumstances) will help them in later years.
Would you give a kid a copy of an adult novel, no but you would give them a picture or simple story book. Same thing with digital matter, its only a medium or communication channel, if you like.

the_syco

Thaedydal wrote:

The bear in the big blue house game was good, and Poh bear games have a good varity and reapeated playiblity.

Aye. The Pooh bear games are good. Annoyingly simple, but proberly good for that age set (was testing the game before I installed it on a kids PC). Also, there's a whole load "Dora" games.

=-=

I know a few 5 year olds who know how to turn on the PC, and get into MS Word... better than some 40 year olds. Give them the basics when they want to learn, and they'll be grand. Console's, on the other hand, should be kept away from the kid for awhile, tho.

Wex1

Totally agree, consoles have no educational value apart from joystick (or whatever they call it nowadays) control

My kids (and us older ones) love a site called Neave games, has pacman, space invaders, tetris, etc... nostalgic or what. At the moment they prefer this to the PS2, proving that all those advanced graphics with crap tactics aren't worth the €60 you shell out. Remember 10p arcade games?

PJG

I daughter has been using the reader rabbit and other such games since the age of 3 and really enjoys them. Learning to read, color, count etc. and use a PC a the same time.

I'd highly recommend them ..