If your kids are anything like mine, they love a fun online game! And much to my surprise…half of them are educational! I’m all about killing two birds with one stone; get the house clean AND get the kids doing something educational.
Here are some of the favorites around our house…
Crayola Creativity Central – Games, Card Designer, Coloring Pages, Craft Projects
Discovery Kids – Build a Volcano, Build a Rollercoaster, Quizzes, Puzzles, Take Shark Bites 101
Mini-Clip – For kids ages 5 +, my older boys love the games on this site!
Noggin – Lots of games from your favorite Noggin shows: Little Bill, Franklin, Max & Ruby, etc.
National Geographic Kids – Games, Videos, Stories, Puzzles, Geography and more!
Nick Jr. - All the games from Nick Jr.: Wonder Pets, Dora, Olivia, etc.
PBS Kids – Coloring, Games, Videos, and Music from Sesame Street, Caillou, Arthur, & more!
Playhouse Disney – Games, Online Episodes, Coloring, Music, Stories, etc.
Up-To-Ten – Award Winning Games, Coloring, Stories, Songs, Cards, etc.
Webkinz – Let your kids create a world for their “pet”, they will love it! Pet purchase required.
Granted, you don’t want to breed a computer/video game addict…so have some rules. At our house, video games and TV are only allowed after 4:00, provided all homeschooling and chores are done. Usually, my kids wind up finding something else they like to do before 4:00 and forget all about having permission, when the time comes. It’s great! There is lots of value, education, and entertainment that can come from the Internet and television…but rules have to be set. All things in moderation.
If the following video doesn’t scare you into controlling the amount of video/computer games that your kid plays, I don’t know what will! So, this dude’s mom canceled his “Warcraft” computer game subscription. Little bro caught his “freak out” on video and kindly posted it on YouTube for all of us to see! I must say, as sad as it is…I couldn’t help but laugh (and promise myself my kids will never get to this point)! See for yourself…
Am I crazy or did he try to stick a controller up his bum?? And, how fast did he get undressed?? Scary.
Back to a happier note…what fun (and educational) games do your kids like to play online?
Mariel
Owner & Author at Or so she says...
Mariel (mahr-eeee-elle) is a mother to six, wife to one. Loves homeschooling, golfing, cupcakes, traveling, cuddling, non-fiction books, gardening, James Taylor, family time, and a sexy wedge. This is her blog. Enjoy!
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Hi Mariel!
Happy Saturday SITSfest! Your site is so cute and helpful. Over the summer, we let the computer time get a bit out of hand. (Although I’m happy to say that when we restored reasonable limits when school started a couple weeks ago, their reaction didn’t resemble anything like the reaction on that video! Whew!!!)
I agree, moderation is key. My son had his media time banned this week and he’s found so many creative ways to use his time!
Um I think it’s a good thing his mom canceled war games…psycho! Anywho…. we like http://www.sesamestreet.org at our house too!
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Oh my gosh, that youtube vid is soooo funny, lol. Poor kid; I’m sure his entire school has seen it by now, haha.
That YouTube video, Wow. How old is that kid?
http://www.starfall.com is great for encouraging early readers.
Is that video FOR REAL?!?! I’m a little frightened.
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Can you imagine his reaction when he found out his little brother videotaped it?! For anyone who is interested in the effects of video games, there is a great post written at The Misfit Cygnet http://www.misfitcygnet.com/2010/12/the-question-of-deception-responsible-use-of-virtual-opiates/ Reading this article helped me to realize that there was a potential for behavior similar to what is in this video and that it had to be stopped right now.
When my kids are allowed to play on the computer they mainly go to coolmath4kids.com
To cut down on any chance of obsession they are allowed 30 minutes on Friday after school and another 30 minutes on Saturday.