I didn’t have internet when I was a child. My children, however, have never known life without the internet. I office out of my home, so we’ve always had internet in the house. Both of my kids watched us play games on the computer and check things on the internet. They started engaging the online world for themselves when they were only four.
After my daughter learned to read, their use of the internet definitely increased. My four-year-old son will yell to his sister, “Come read this for me!” and she will dutifully translate for him. In fact, I think he will start reading early because he wants to read the internet for himself.
Now, I don’t just let my children visit anywhere or google anything for themselves. They have specific sites they know they can access. I thought I’d share some of these with you (and ask you to do the same).
Christi has her iGoogle homepage come up when you open Internet Explorer on her computer. My daughter pulls up the iGoogle homepage to check the weather. Then she dresses accordingly. You have to install the weather plugin, but it’s pretty cool to teach your kids how to check the weather for you.
If your kids watch any PBS Kids shows, they will love this site. There are so many games here that relate to the shows and characters they love. Most of the games have some educational value, so you don’t have to feel like a bad parent if they are playing PBS Kids while you finish cleaning up the kitchen or doing your hair. PBS Kids focuses on a much lower reading level, so even my son enjoys this site.
If you’re kids like Handy Manny, they will love this site. They can play with all their friends (and they see them as friends) they see on TV. This site requires a bit more reading, so you might have to help them at first.
If you’re kids like Dora and Diego, this is the site for them. My son loves Noggin.com. The fact that he can’t read doesn’t seem to bother him. This site is also pretty educational.
PBS Kids, Playhouse Disney, and Noggin are all free sites. There are a couple of paid sites that my seven-year-old daughter loves.
You have to purchase one of the ubiquitous Webkinz to access the games on this site. Your Webkinz becomes your character in the site. As you play games, you earn money to buy your digital Webkinz stuff. If you have a friend who has a Webkinz, you can be online friends and chat and play together. Don’t worry though, the there is no ‘free chat’ in this game. The chats consist of drop down menus with things they can check. Webkinz is really good about protecting your child from unsavory characters.
Downside is that you have to purchase one new Webkinz per year to maintain your membership. Grandparents love the standard Christmas gift though.
Littlest Petshop is similar to Webkinz. I think it is a little older. My daughter doesn’t seem to get on this site as much as Webkinz, but that may be just because she has more Webkinz. I’ll have to ask her about it.
So what sites do your kids love?
