Kids & Computer Games?
Susan
What's your take on kids and computer games? I've seen a bunch of games
out there that are on the educational side -- do young kids get that the
educational games are teaching them things? Do they like this stuff
anyway? Or do they default to the shoot-em-up video game type software
no matter what you do?
I'm asking b/c my nephews (6 & 4) love to play on the computer, but I'm
wondering if I'm wasting my money buying them educational games.
Although I did find an amazing deal -- something called "reading galaxy"
for $5 (on sqc.com if you're interested). Sounded interesting to me, but
I'd love some feedback on what types of software your kids like (if any)
before spending any money (call me cheap, but...).
My daughter Chloe is only 4 months old, so I don't have to worry about
her yet, but I would love to be the "hip" aunt who buys her nephews stuff
that they love!
Thanks for the help!
Susan
** you can reach me at chloealthea at Excite dot com **
mommyof2
learn through playing hte games so its not like sitting there doing
homework. Especially the Jump Start series...those are great.
kristi
Karin Dietterich
Susan <chloe...@excitedotcom.xx> wrote:
>Hi all -
>
>What's your take on kids and computer games? I've seen a bunch of games
>out there that are on the educational side -- do young kids get that the
>educational games are teaching them things? Do they like this stuff
>anyway? Or do they default to the shoot-em-up video game type software
>no matter what you do?
Well, having just spent a week with two 11 year-olds and their 13 year-old
cousin, I can tell you that the most popular game they played was
SimCity2000. My son has numerous computer games, the majority involve
driving race cars or flying airplanes. He also has Math Blaster at the
Pre-Algebra and Algebra levels. He knows those are educational, but he loves
math. He also has a Nintendo with mostly sports-based games. He spends
more time building cities in SimCity2000 than with any other game. I think
it's one of the oldest games that he owns. It disappears occasionally, but he
always goes back to it. I've heard this from other parents as well.
When he was younger we had Treasure Math Storm and one of the Carmen
Sandiego games. He loved them both. I don't know if he "got" that they
were educational. I don't think the kids care if the game is fun.
Karin, Mom to David (8/31/85)
--
Karin Dietterich k...@teleport.com
I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing
sound they make as they go flying by.
Lisa A. Hye
loves the JumpStart games. She also likes the Disney Storeybooks and Chicka
Chicka Boom Boom. Chicka Chicka is an excellent alphabet teacher!!!
Lisa
Mom to Kelsey (2)
--
Visit my website...
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/9283/
Brett Carver
> What's your take on kids and computer games?
Hit or miss. Really.
You'll get a game you think they'll love, and they'll play it for five
minutes and never go back. And something you think is stupid, or too
old for them (like SimCity 2000 for a 5-year old) they'll play with for
hours and hours. A few things to keep in mind:
1. Take advantage of the various web sites that do game reviews. You
can eliminate some of the real bombs that way.
2. Personally, MOST of the games we buy are used. If the kid(s) hate
it, it's a lot easier to take if you spent $10 than if you spent $30.
3. The games our kids like the most are the ones we also play (SC2000,
WarCraft II, Descent, etc). Realize that young kids don't play the
game (as in to win) they play WITH the game. They might not understand
the game (like building a self-sustaining city), but they have fun.
4. Often, the difference between a game that is played and one that is
ignored is having the cheat codes. The ability to be invinsible makes
Descent tons of fun (as oppose to getting killed 30 seconds into it).
5. Finally, don't ignore the freeware/shareware games. It takes time to
go thru the massive number of choices, but there's some good stuff out
there if you're willing to look for it.
--
Brett Carver
(707) 577-4344
br...@sr.hp.com
Karl & Sharyn Rice
Yeah, the Jumpstart Series keeps my stepson occupied for hours. He also
likes his little vtech computer type thing that I bought him last summer. He
is 7 so he was 6 when he got started with it all. My stepdaughter who is 10
you can't get her interested in anything that looks like it might be the
slightest bit educational but Travis he is ready to go.
Sharyn
>
>
Barbara MacRae
>Hi all -
>
>What's your take on kids and computer games? I've seen a bunch of games
>out there that are on the educational side -- do young kids get that the
>educational games are teaching them things? Do they like this stuff
>anyway? Or do they default to the shoot-em-up video game type software
>no matter what you do?
My daughter is five now, she's been into the computer since
she was two. She has quite a collection of cd-roms, and
I have no problem with her playing them. She much prefers
them to TV, and she's learned a lot from them. I try,
whenever possible, to sort of pay attention to what she's
doing, talk about the particular game she's doing or
look at hte art project she'll have going, whatever, I just
lik eto be involved. But she's pretty independent with them.
We don't have anything that qualifies as a "shoot-em-up",
she wants the educational stuff. A lot of it, of course,
is educatinal disguised as pure entertainment, like the
Humongous titles (Putt-Putt, Freddie Fish, etc.), she
adores those. Disney has some good titles, Magic Artist
is a big fave around here. She also loves the Fisher Price
games, especially Pirate Ship.
>
>I'm asking b/c my nephews (6 & 4) love to play on the computer, but I'm
>wondering if I'm wasting my money buying them educational games.
Get any of the titles I've mentioned above, they're sure
to please. There's also a line called 'Blasters', they
have Science Blaster, Math Blaster, Reading Blaster,
I don't know hat else, those are great and the six-yr
old would probably love them. They might be a *little* old
for the four-yr old, but maybe not.
>Although I did find an amazing deal -- something called "reading galaxy"
>for $5 (on sqc.com if you're interested). Sounded interesting to me, but
>I'd love some feedback on what types of software your kids like (if any)
>before spending any money (call me cheap, but...).
I'm not familiar with that one, but hey, for $5, you
can take the risk. %^)
-Barb, mama to Olivia 12/14/93, & Ruby 7/28/98
Dorothy Sacks
Barbara MacRae wrote in message ...
>In article <MPG.116ebf5d9...@news.cybernautics.com>
chloe...@excitedotcom.xx (Susan) writes:
>>Hi all -
>>
>>What's your take on kids and computer games? I've seen a bunch of games
>>out there that are on the educational side -- do young kids get that the
>>educational games are teaching them things? Do they like this stuff
>>anyway? Or do they default to the shoot-em-up video game type software
>>no matter what you do?
>
>
young children, but remember to limit time with them. Young children need
lots of physical activity and computer stations are not designed with them
in mind. NY times science section recently had an article on the fact that
computer work stations are now beginning to cause the same physical
stresses in young children as they did in adults before the ergonomics were
redesigned in the work place.
So, IMO, no harm is done by allowing kids to play with computers in
moderation, but it should be only one of a myriad of activities they
are involved with. It is better than TV or videos too because it is active
not passive, that is the child has to do something besides stare at the
screen.
And there are more and more good programs out there. - Reader Rabbit,
Jump Start, and some of the preschool art programs are fun.
Dorothy
Sarah A. Novak
they could use the "drill" on grammar and parts of speech (11, 9, & 8
year-olds). We also have "Logical Journey of the Zoombinis" which my
daughter played at school (and LOVED), so we got it for all of them.
As long as the game is fun, they'll play with it. I prefer that the
computer games they play have some "educational" value, although we
also have some Purple Moon and Lego software, which isn't quite as
focused on education. I'm not aware of any Nintendo or Play Station
games that are "educational" so we have refused to buy either for the
kids (and they HAVE asked for them).
In our house, we go through phases. A game will be really popular for
a while, then the kids go on to something else and just play the game
occasionally. Again, if it's a "learning" game, I don't mind if they
want to "play" on the computer because it's like studying, only fun.
Regards,
Sarah
--
"Poor dears, they can't help it. They haven't got logical minds."
Mrs. Goodacre, "Busman's Honeymoon"
ElusivHigh
>I'm not aware of any Nintendo or Play Station
>games that are "educational" so we have refused to buy either for the
>kids (and they HAVE asked for them).
That's something relatively knew in the market. About 2 weeks ago, Playstation
released Elmo's ABC's & 123's -- at the same time, Nintendo released a similar
thing in two seperate parts (I believe Reading and Math adventures)... but only
on the Color Game Boy System. I can't remember the name of the software
company, nor do I know offhand whether that particular company will be
releasing any more titles. *However* I do know that Playstation will be
continuing to release education titles -- and I am fairly confident that they
will be for a wider range of age groups. At one time, Nintendo had more titles
on the "coming" list for the Color Game Boy, but I don't know right now if
that's accurate or not. Nor do I know if the N64 is included in their future
plans for educational software.
There *have* been rumors that JumpStart will be starting to expand to the
Playstation, and I think if they do that, other companies (most notably The
Learning Company, and Humongous) will follow suit.
(BTW... I'm not a Sony Rep. I just sell software for a living, and very few of
the guys in my store know anything about educational software, so I try to keep
a little bit on top of things. :) )
Chris
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
I can't believe the things you'd say.
I can't believe... I can't believe the price... you pay.
Nothing can save you.
Justice is lost,
Justice is raped,
Justice is gone.
Pulling your strings,
Justice is DONE.
Sarah A. Novak
have.
Regards,
Sarah
--
"Poor dears, they can't help it. They haven't got logical minds."
Mrs. Goodacre, "Busman's Honeymoon"
