Could anyone give me good websites for a Kindergartner to get them interested in the computer and good educational (ok- game) experience. Example- websites that offer free games, etc. I am looking for very reputable websites. I thought there was a Disney website, but the only one I can find charges after 7 days. I know about webkins and we plan to give that for birthday in a few weeks. Any other sites?
Thank you.
Thank you everyone for the great websites. I never expected such a huge response. These will help tremendously. Thank you very much!!
Hi there, you can go to Barney.com its great lots of music tons of fun stuff but on its front page there are other links to like Thomas and friends or Angelina Ballerina!! Also try Sproutonline.com GOOD LUCK
I teach 2nd grade and have my non english speaking students use this website and my 2.5 yr old daughter. It teaches them the ABC and how to read.
www.starfall.com
I hope it works for you.
~J.
my 4 year old daughter absoutely loves pbskids.org. it is based off of the channel 8 cartoons. we added the site to "our favorites" and she can get there all on her own and the games are educational!! good luck!
primarygames.com
funbrain.com
mrnussbaum.com
Hi H.,
Here are the sites I let my 5 yr old visit. I added the links to the favorites on his log in for the computer and he doesnt even try to go to any other site.
http://disney.go.com/games/#/games/
www.kyrene.org/staff/kgrams/kindergarten/
www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/games/index.html
The website that my kinder loved was:
www.starfall.com
Also www.pbs.org is a good one.
And if you are interested in Christmas theme related ones there is always:
Hope this helps,
K. B.
I see you already have some great ideas from other moms! My kids have enjoyed www.millsberry.com. They can create their own "citizens" - pick their clothes, design their homes, have "yard sales" - and they can interact with other kids on the site, too. It's free and my kiddos have been addicted to it. There are a lot of ads on there, because it's owned by General Mills, but it's no worse than what you see on the kids' shows during the day.
www.starfall.com is terrific. It is also free. Also, another one is raz-kids.com - however, that requires a payment along with www.ixl.com. Both terrific sites that will carry past K.
I like the PBS kids website.
Hi H.! Take it from a teacher...try starfall.com (free phonics games for pre-k up through school-age kids), pbskids.org (links from all your kindergartener's favorite PBS shows including games and learning activities) and Funbrain.com (a good mix of math, reading, etc.) I recommend typing into Google "phonics games for kids" or something similar and you'd be amazed at what you find! Good luck!
Jen :)
pbskids.org has educational games - most are themed to go along with their children's programming
My son is also in kindergarten and the websites he loves and can play games on plus lots of other things are:
http://www.noggin.com/index.php?home=1
http://www.sesamestreet.org/home/
http://atv.disney.go.com/playhouse/index.html
Enjoy!
My 5 yr old loves www.noggin.com and nickjr.com. She's learned a lot from some of the games. They even have some that my 2 yr old can play. And they are free!
Neopets.com it's free and has age appropriate levels. Similar to webkins but you don't have to buy anything to get pets and play on the site.
Disney.com is free and has games and learning experiences. I know they have additional sites that you have to pay for.
www.yahooligans.com is yahoo for kids. not that educational but lots of stuff to do.
www.discoverykids.com is discover channel for kids
We go to www.starfall.com a lot, my son is only 2, so it may be too young for your child. Also pbs has a good one where they can play games w/ the characters from their shows. I went to a disney one once and didn't see anything about them charging...
Here you go this one is OUR FAVORITE!!!
My kids don't have webkins.. we limit this site to 2 minute sesions a day
HTH
M. :)
In a different vein. My son also likes these sites. Printable pages, calendars, educational tools...There are tons of these, Google "kids printable pages"
http://www.printactivities.com/
http://familyfun.go.com/printables/?CMP=KNC-FFGoog100705_...
We also like Starfall.com, as well as literactive.com.
Another favorite that is more fun than educational is uptoten.com. We us the free site and the kids would stay on there for hours, if I let them.
Checkout starfall.com
My sister in law was a teacher and used it in her classroom
http://www.thomasandfriends.com/usa/index.asp?origref=
If your son likes Thomas or Bob the Builder, he will like the games on this site. Not as educational as some of the others listed, but it has helped with logic development and computer skills.
PBSkids.com is awesome b/c it is educational but also fun b/c it utilizes the kids' favorite PBS shows like Word Girl, Sesame Street, Arther, etc. Good luck!
playhousedisney.com
pbs
starfall.com- teachers actually use this at the schools for intervention and my 3 year old has learned to point and click and is learning on her own!
We use PBS,Nick for kids,Noggin,and the BBC kids page to name a few. Also Starfall is a great readindig site for preschool & up. You can get links to other sites from these sites.I started by googleing "kids sites"
My daughter loves a website called www.starfall.com - it is a phonic alphabet site. My daughter turns 3 in October and will spend forever on the site if I let her.
The site is set up in stages - there is the alphabet letter section - each letter takes you through a series of words and etc for that letter. Then there are short words/stories (such as AM/AN); short videos for grouping letters and sounds; then longer stories. It is designed to be worked through however the child wants - but ideally from learning the phonics of each letter to reading the stories.
Best of all - it's free.
PBS. Kids.org has some good games, video etc.
We found a browser that you can download called KidZui. It is absolutley the best!! http://www.kidzui.com
Its age appropriate for the specific age you enter. And each child gets there own log-in id. All games and sites are approved and safe for kids. There are links to tons of game, picture and video sites for kids to see. We love it and its all my kids use when they are wanting to play online. :)
Oh, and you also get a weekly update in your email to see what and where you child is browsing too. :)
Hi H.!
When my daughter was younger, I used to go to Nickjr.com, which is for nickelodeon. I know they started charging for games too, but there are still some that are free. Also try pbskids.com, which will allow you to get access to Sesame Street and shows that are on that channel. I've bought cd's in the past too from stores like walmart or target that are designed for kids in certain age groups and that worked well with her. My son who is now almost 3 has been getting online and using the computer too and my daughter has helped that out a lot. Sometimes the kids' teachers can also give you website info. Hope that helps!
A.
My son loves the Playhouse Disney website and Veggie Tales.
http://atv.disney.go.com/playhouse and bigidea.com
Try www.pbskids.org. They have some great fun and educational games for kids- most are based on the PBS kids programming. My 3YO loves them though he's really not ready for a lot of them. Good luck!
I looked through the responses from the other moms and I hope I didn't repost any of the same suggested websites.
Below are just a few of the websites that we have (saved in our favorites) for our kids that I know our 5yo enjoys.
Have fun!
~D.
http://www.bookpop.com/bookpop.html
http://www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/index.asp
http://www.storylineonline.net/
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Games/
http://www.do2learn.com/games/learningames.htm
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/cgsite/
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=gamesLand...
http://www.priorywoods.middlesbrough.sch.uk/kidsonly/inde...
http://www.hasbro.com/tonka/default.cfm?page=funstuff
http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/home_2.htm
http://www.whitsend.org/
http://www.bigideafun.com/
http://www.crayola.com/index.cfm
http://kids.discovery.com/
http://www.raz-kids.com/main/BookRoomMenu
try www.funbrain.com
Just a cute one for letter and number practice - Starfall.com
One of the best websites that I know of for kids is PBSkids.org
A great one that we use and we actually learned about it from my daughters kindergarten teacher is Starfall.com.It is the actual site they used for computer classes to help teach them computers and get them interested in them. It is great and fun and educational all at the same time. All of our kids love to play on this site. Hope that helps.
We like www.pbskids.org, www.sproutonline.com and www.noggin.com for my 4 year old...she loves them! And they are free.
starfall.com is a great website. It goes through the letters, reading and all kinds of other stuff. it also has pages you print out. Hope this helps.
Besides Starfall these are additional sites that are my daughter favorites
http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=gamesLand...
http://www.nickjr.com/playtime/index.jhtml
I have been an educator for many years, and am currently a teacher of first graders. From my experience, and that of many studies, exposure to video games, tv, computer, and the like for young children is not recommended. Their brains and bodies are still developing and need to walk, run, skip, play imaginatively, be outdoors, ride bicycles, etc. The visual focus that it requires for young eyes to take in all of those pixels is not appropriate for young children's development, either. Google some sites by typing in "studies showing effects of computers on young children." Be creative and loving and find other things for your young child to do!
