Does anyone have favorite Click Start Computer Games their preschooler enjoys that you find particularly eductational? My son loves the Thomas the Train one and I'd like to get him another cartridge for his birthday. We also have the Nemo game but it doesn't seem challenging enough for him so he gets bored. Although the Nemo game does have some great games to help teach the key board. He just figured out how to use the click start game completely on his own (he's almost 3) and is loving the Thomas games that involves using the mouse to click on crates with letters to finish spelling words. I like that the Thomas game has where he has to find letters to complete words by knowing how to spell them (for instance it has the h and a and asks him to find the crate with the letter that will spell the word "hat". Thus, he has to know what letter sounds like a t sound and then has to use the mouse to click on the crate and move it (building his reading skills, ability to follow directions, and fine motor skills). At first I was torn with whether playing computer games so early was a good idea, but I've enjoyed watching him follow complex instructions, patiently wait for the next instruction, use the mouse by himself, and, on top of it all, he's been doing really good with spelling words. I sit by him and interact with him while he's playing and am going to have to start figuring out how to set limits on the game. But for now the game seems to have an enormous amount of value for a child who is very motivated to learn and loves being challenged. He's a very active child so having some downtime where he's not running all over the place actually seems to be good in his case. I'd just like to know what other click start cartridges are worth getting.
I like Jump Start - it has great games for all ages, and also Reader Rabbit. I bought mine on Ebay - Cheap! The kids still like them a lot.
I like both of these as other sites for my 3-year old....
http://www.bozthebear.com/fun/activities.asp
http://www.learningpage.com/free_pages/home/fall_fun2.html
It isn't a click start computer game, but have you tried www.starfall.com? It has different levels of reading activities. My 4 year old and all of my friends' kids love the website (we are all teachers). You will have to navigate to the site, but once you are in, the mouse is all they need and they can navigate the site pretty easily.
we have the art one. it's good because it does a lot with letters and numbers and it also let's them be creative. good luck.
I had many of the same concerns that evaporated for many of the same reasons. It's a free website, and although it's *meant* for kindergarteners/first graders....it could NOT have been better designed for toddlers.
OH MY GOD.
It's not only amazing, but I've now known over 20 toddlers who've used the site. All were reading before their 4th bday. It's just so much fun for them!
I did...move away...after a time, while he was on it. Hurray a chance to do dishes! (Oh my, and who would ever have thought I'd be excited about that???) I also let him play for as long as he wanted. Sometimes that was upward of an hour...and once it was 40 minutes straight of "T! Tiger!!....GROOOOWWWWLLL!!!" followed by hilarious laughter. As much as my sons laughter still makes my heart sing, it was important that I had removed myself...because DARN if I hadn't had enough of that tiger! My son would have known that (either by my "here honey, let's do a different one!!" or body positions). Since he got to totally self direct, it was funny every time, and he got to do exactly as what interested HIM, not what he sensed I wanted, so he learned a lot more, a lot faster, and it was always a game.
In any event, enough of my gushing. If this site could "search" the phrase starfall, you'd find many other of my more extensive gushings (& hundreds of others' as well). Check it out yourself.
~z
My daughter likes Reader Rabbit and there is a Dora one that is cute too that she enjoys.....
My son is 4 and has really enjoyed the Toy Story one. It really pulled out a love for numbers and he counts more than he did before. I also teaches shapes. It's a little more difficult than Thomas. He likes Art Studio as well. Those are his top 2 (he also has Nemo and Thomas).
