Recommended Websites for kids
Being a parent of young toddlers I am constantly on the look out for interactive games for my boys.With the rise of multimedia, there are many online resources which can help enhance a child’s learning experience.
What constitutes of a fun and educational interactive children’s website?
There are many kids’ websites having violent games and little educational value. To me for a child to benefit from surfing the website while independently or assisted surfing he should be able to
- Learn a new song or activity I.e.: Unfolding matching cards.
- Listen to story and read along.
- Learn how to co-ordinate and move the mouse to click on the desired part of the screen.
- Follow the instructions given in the program and play along.
Here are some websites which I have shared and explored with my elder boy Ryan.
They are rated on interactivity, ease in navigations and choice of activities available in each site.
PBS Kids
There are interactive games, songs and colouring pages from Clifford, Barney, Arthur and Dragon Tales to name a few. All these characters are wildly popular with toddlers as their cartoon shows are shown on the television in the afternoons.
Recommended Age: 2 yrs +
Rating: 5 Stars
Starfall
This website is where my son learned phonetically how to read his alphabets. It is a top notch website which teaches a child how to read. There are read-aloud books and interactive games based on the different alphabets. Both uppercase and lowercase alphabets are emphasized and taught.
Recommended Age: 1 yrs +
Rating: 5 Stars
UpToTen.com
100 over games for kids individually rated for their age suitability and popularity. An excellent stop for a variety of actives to keep your child occupied and supplement their learning.
Recommended Age: 1yr+
Rating: 5 Stars
Nick Jr
There is a selection of crafts, games and songs from Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues, Wonder Pets, Ruby & Max and many others.
Recommended Age: 2yrs +
Rating: 4 Stars
Sesame Street
An all time favourite program which I grew up with during my childhood. One can revisit Oscar the grouch, Ernie and Bert or even Big Bert in the various interactive games available at that site. Art & Music actives also help to build your child’s interest in these areas.
Recommended Age: 2yrs +
Rating: 4 Stars
GameGoo
The Goos in the site bring you through a variety of activities from matching similar words, finding opposites to going on a trail.Note: This website is more suitable for kids who already have already mastered the alphabets.
Recommended Age: 3yrs +
Rating: 4 Stars
Ready Set Learn
Games, Music and puzzles from Toddler world, Paz Place, Hi-5, Magic School bus are just some of the characters featured on this website.
Recommended Age: 2 yrs+
Rating: 4 Stars
Pauly’s Playhouse
Pauly has a good selection of interactive games which teaches A-B-Cs, Counting, parts of the body, animal sounds and even jigsaw puzzles.
Recommended Age: 1yr +
Rating: 4 Stars
Little Critter
For fans of Little Critter, their official website where you can get colouring pages, interactive games, interactive read and play and lots more.
Recommended Age: 2 yrs+
Rating: 3 Stars
Fun with Spot
From the books of the famous children writer Eric Hill. There are books to read, Videos, Cds and games.
You can send a postcard from Spot to your best friend.
Recommended Age: 1yr +
Rating: 2 Stars
Dr Seuss
If you are fans of the classic “Cat in the Hat” by Dr Seuss you would like the ‘click and play’ or ‘print and play’ selection that there is in their playground. However the number of games at this site is quite limited. There is more links on their existing products – Books, Videos, Cds and how to purchase them. The site can be used as an introduction to your child on the Dr Seuss series of books.
Recommended Age: 2yrs +
Rating: 2 Stars
