Kids Computer Games Recommendations

Fantastic Contraption is a wonderful physics based game children and adults will have fun playing.  It is a free game online to try (many levels) and if you enjoy it and want more it is only $10 for the full version.  Both of my children (ages 6 and 9) REALLY enjoyed playing this although my 6 year old did get a bit stumped and it was my pleasure to help her.

I recommend doing the tutorial so your child (and you) understand how the parts work.  The goal — simple – get the piece into the goal section by building a contraption that will do it.  Sometimes you need a vehicle looking device — other times your creativity and imagination needs to come into play to help you figure it out.  Press Start to see what your contraption will do and if it makes it to the goal area.  Didn’t work the first time?  No problem — you can move parts, delete and try again and again until you get it to work.

One of the best features of this game is there are definitely countless solutions for each board.  This really works kid’s imaginations and though both my children were playing it – it was fun to watch them move through the boards because not one of their designs were similar. There is also a forum available and a way to create your own boards and share.  This is more than just a game — there is a community here as well.

There are some ads on the site so I always warn about that but the ads all seemed kid friendly.  I told my children early on to not click on anything but the game they were playing so they stay on site and recommend you do the same.  This is a safer site but I have seen some children computer game sites that have very questionable ads featured.

I highly recommend Fantastic Contraption for children and for adults.  It is educational and will help children with logic and their imagination.  It is fun to play alone or to figure out together.  Another physics game I highly recommend is Magic Pen.  These games are fun and educational without your children even realizing they are learning. Please let me know if you come across any other physics and puzzle games — it is a genre my kids and I very much enjoy playing together.

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I have mentioned Jay is Games before as one of my favorite places to find out about kids computer games and games for all ages.  Most of their games listed are free flash games and some are downloads.  I wanted to showcase a few of my favorite point and click adventure games (NOT escape the room games) that are fun for the kids or your whole family to play.  The games I am mentioning all have a similar feel, are non violent and have beautiful graphics and sound to add to your experience.  Here are a few of my faves.  Would love to know what you think:

The Blue Beanie

Hosted by Jay is Games and created by Daphne Lim — this game is so pretty and the music so calming.  Help the little guy get his hat back.  Solve puzzles on each page to move further ahead.  If you need help there is a walkthrough here.  But I feel pretty confident you can do it. This is one of the prettiest games I have played and it is short… perfect for kids or adults.

Games By Amanita Design

I found out about this company through a game they created for the band Polyphonic Spree called The Quest for the Rest which has BEAUTIFUL graphics and music and is only a few screens.  My children LOVED playing it because they could finish it and the music was SO good.  I learned about some of their other games like Samorost 1 & Samorst 2 at Jay is Games (The first one a couple of years ago) and they are also beautifully rendered point and click adventure games (although a bit odd) . They are a little longer than The Blue Beanie and The Quest for the Rest and offer many point and click puzzles to figure out.  Amanita Design has a few others as well.   If you go to their site and click games you will find 5 games including these three that are all high quality as well as one point and click page called “Pantry” which is fun to click on, play music and explore.  This company is wonderful and I hope they continue making quality games like these.

Haluz & Haluz 2

My kids and I had GREAT fun figuring these games out together. Beautiful graphics, music and interesting puzzles make this fun to play for the whole family. The games are longer and require getting past puzzles on each page just like the previously mentioned.  A nice feature is you can save and load if you do not have the time to finish it in one try. The first picture will take you to Haluz 1 and the second Haluz 2.

It has been a pleasure sharing some of my family’s favorite free online point and click adventure games.  This is a great way to spend a little bit of time as a family and figure things out together or for you to relax and listen to some great music, watch some beautiful graphics and use your mind to figure out some cool puzzles at the same time.  As always, I am very grateful for Jay Is Games for their non stop work introducing games every day with reviews so that anyone can find something they like. If you ever get stuck — go to Jay is Games and eneter in the name of teh game — they have links to walkthroughs on almost all their games.

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Zula World is based on the TV Show The Zula Patrol and creates a new mold of a virtual environment for children online. It begins with a sign up approved by a parent’s email address. Then your child can design an avatar that is an alien and you will get a spaceship to travel in. Like other virtual sites, there are free and paid membership options, games and of course pets… but this has a different look and feel than the other sites I have been to.

Overview

Each location in ZulaWorld has a sign post where you can see what you can do there. There is also your notepad on the bottom of the screen you can check to find out. Your character can walk around from place to place or you can click on the map to travel further. There are planets to visit and there is lots to see. The game play is intuitive and be sure to watch the screens as they load to get clues and tips. I feel kids 5 and up can play but children that can read will definitely get around easier.

There is a lot to do for free and paid members. A paid membership is $5.99 for one month, $29.99 for 6 months and $49.99 for 1 year. As a paid member you get to do the missions and some games you don’t have access to as a free member. You also get to take your Fweebs (pets) out of hibernation. You also get to fly your spaceship to other planets and buy more things from an additional store for your spaceship. Either membership gets you a communicator where you can keep in touch with your friends online.

Different Activities

There are many different activities in Zula World. You can download screen savers, buddy icons and wallpaper in DONWLOADS .Here are a few of my favorites activities:

Sing-a-longs

Lots of songs to choose from with a bouncing ball over the lyrics while the video plays so your child can follow along. OR you can print out the lyrics from a pdf format.

Theater

Watch videos with the Zula Patrol characters.

Pets

Buy a cute little Fweeb to tkae care of — but don’t forget to buy the ice as well.

Games

There are a few games that are consistent at the places you visit at each Games location but there are also games among the environment to discover. Walk around and figure it out or check your notepad for things to do. Here are a few of my favorite games:

Recycling

This is a game in the environment — go to West Zulapolis and collect the garbage dropped. It gets put in your backpack and when you return it to the Recycling Center and put it in the correct bins you get a badge for the first one in each category; cans/bottles, food and trash.

Gorga Dive

Like hangman with a different (less violent) approach. You begin on a diving platform. Guess a letter right and you go up a level, guess one wrong you go down a level. The object is to guess the word before you fall into the water. Depending on how high you are — you will do different dives into the water upon completing the level.

Zeeter Says

Just like the good old fashioned game “Simon”. They begin easy – remember the colored buttons pressed in the order they present… get harder……

Find the Difference

A favorite in my household. Two pictures – notice the differences and click on them — can you find all of them?

Find the Pair

I like this one! They start off easy but get much harder as they add more shapes in different colors. This is a wonderful educational game that would teach children attention to detail and color/shape recognition.

Summary

There are more games and many more places to explore in Zula World. This is a brief overview of this new site and I do recommend it. I feel most children aged 5 and up would really enjoy this site. Enjoy this safe site with no ads, science themed with lots of cool games and fun music and characters! Thanks Zula World!

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If your child enjoys pets and animals the series of Pet Vet and Pet Pals computer games are for you. The games are available on the Nintendo Wii, DS or on the PC/Mac and can really give your child a good idea of what it is like to be a Veterinarian. Here is a brief overlook of each.

Pet Pals (Animal Doctor) For Ninento Wii

Recommended for ages 10+ due to mild blood. If your child (or you) has ever had any interest in being an animal vet or learning more about animals THIS is the game for you. You start in a waiting room with pet owners waiting to bring in their animals for you to look at and treat. In the waiting room you have the computer screen where you can go and play jigsaw puzzles, a memory match game, an animal trivia game or learn more about animals. You can hover over the patients in the waiting room to see the symptoms of each animal before you choose one to work on. The animals are all pets; dogs, cats, parrots, frogs, rabbits, and canaries are some of the animals you will see. When you choose one you are brought into the treatment room and have a certain amount of time to figure out what is wrong with and treat the animal. You get points for doing things right and you lose points for giving the wrong treatment. They have various tools you can use such as magnifying glass, syringe to take blood, stethoscope for vitals, etc. Each requires you knowing how to use the wii remote to control the tool. The more animals you treat successfully the more tools you will unlock and eventually you will be doing surgery on animals! There is also the recovery room which has activities such as feeding the animals and caring for them while they recover. Again, you will unlock more activities as you play. Pet Pals (Animal Doctor) is a very educational experience. You can play on easy or normal level. The easy level walks you through and even lets you ask for hints if you are not sure WHAT to do with the animal next.

The games on the computer in the waiting room as appropriate for younger kids as well but there is a lot of reading and some mild blood while you work on the animals so I would say ages 9 and up for the real vet work. If you have an animal lover in your home that wants to learn more about animals, their bodies and the kinds of illnesses they get – Pet Pals (Animal Doctor) is the game for you!

Zoo Vet (Endangered Animals) For Nintendo DS

Recommended for ages 10+ due to mild blood. Similar to the Zoo Vet Pets game for Wii above but this is with Endangered Species. This game includes 30 newly written medical cases contributed by veterinarians practicing throughout the world. You will care for gorillas, elephants, penguins, polar bears, komodo dragons and more. This game takes advantage of the stylus by letting you use it as a tool for making precise incisions. As with Zoo Pets as you successfully complete caring for animals the missions will get harder and you will unlock more instruments.

There are also 6 different mini games, played on the office computer, where players can interact with the animals in their natural habitats. For example in one game you blow into the DS microphone to remove fleas from the animal. If you have someone in your family that enjoys learning more about animals and helping them I highly recommend Zoo Vet (Endangered Animals).

Pet Pals New Leash on Life (For PC or MAC)

This is a sequel for Pet Pals Animal Doctor and is very good. From amazon:

Pet Pals: New Leash on Life continues Legacy’s tradition of creating award-winning educational games designed for aspiring vets of all ages. Players can take part in each animal’s story and control their fate, providing rich and realistic gameplay. There are more than 30 animal cases created by practicing veterinarians from around the world showcasing 15+ different breeds of dogs, cats, rabbits and birds as well as exotic animals like iguanas and chinchillas. Players will encounter emergency situations with audio and visual feedback with a daily task system and weekly game-time that is new to Pet Pals.

I love that after the pets are healthy you can train them and teach them new tricks so they are more likely to be adopted. I also thought the interface was easier with the mouse than with a wii remote and on a bigger screen than the DS. I recommend all these games for ages 10 and up or possibly 9 if your child is a strong reader and loves animals. Any younger and they might not comprehend some of the more advanced procedures. This game offers over 30 animal cases from non urgent such as a drooling rabbit to emergency care for a kitten that swallows string. Beautiful graphics and intuitive interaction make it even more fun to play.

I feel these games offer a wonderful look inside the life of a Vet and also show just how important pet adoption is. If you, or anyone in your family has a deep interest in animals these games from Legacy Interactive are the games for you.

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I LOVE finding kid’s computer game sites like Zoopz! There are NO ADS, it is FREE, the graphics and music are very cute and with a tagline like: “Games that Make You Think” — it is right up my alley for a review AND to share with my own children. Zoopz has a collection of games that work your creativity and/or logical mind. I feel this site is good for age 5 and up and would be enjoyed by MANY different ages. I HIGHLY recommend visiting Zoopz and following are a few of my favorites from the site:

INCH WORM & INCH WORM 2

Yeah, I DO LOVE maze games – these are my favorite games on the site! This one is very cute and starts off REALLY easy and adds challenges as you proceed. There are 24 levels in Inch Worm 1 and 24 more mazes for you you solve in Inch Worm 2. You can use the keyboard OR the mouse to play with game which makes it even more accessible for different aged children. My kids saw this game on my screen this morning and both (ages 6 and 9) wanted to play and asked that I show them this site later on after school so they can solve them separately. I have no doubt this would keep kids and adults entertained until all 48 levels were complete. This game is wonderful for developing logical thinking and problem solving.

FROG JUMPIN’

Remember the Game Hi-Q? Those pegs on a board — jump one at a time to leave as few as possible and IDEALLY ONE in the center hole? That is this game BUT the REALLY nice part is they start you off very easy and show you patterns. As you get to learn the patterns you can apply that to later levels and also for any future Hi-Q playing you might do. This game is GREAT for developing logical thinking. With cute frogs and music it also holds interest longer than if a child was just sitting playing the game. YES — I can finally learn how to leave one in the center hole!

MAZE CRAZE

This game is great for logic and creativity. Make your own mazes or solve some of the ones Zoopz provides. The object is to get the circle and the 2 x’s to meet. You do that by changing and adding to the maze using the pieces on the right of the screen. This game requires logical thinking and problem solving. The best thing is you can play the maze games to get a feel for them and then create your own. This game also allows for one or two player game play. LOTS of fun!

INK BLOBS

Ink Blobs is a very different art program that is easy for kids to get the hang of. Click on the word BLOBS to get the different screens of shapes you can use. Click on the color to change the color. Hold down the mouse button while putting a shape in place to enlarge it. You can rotate as well. Click on the word INK to draw the shapes with your mouse. Print out the ones you want to keep or just keep going to new pages to create more. An Art program all ages would have fun playing with.

MANY DOTS

There are many ways to use many dots which is a cool art program. If you choose a circle you get almost a “Lite Brite” type board and can click anywhere on the screen to add color. Click a few times to scroll through the different colors. If you click on the square it is almost like a banner template that you can decorate similarly. Click on the triangle and it appears as shown. You can click on the lightbulb for ideas or on the 3 numbers to get different looks. This is very fun to play with and if your child makes something they really like there is always the print option.

There are a few more games on Zoopz that I did not review that are also fun. The ones listed at first play were my favorites. With no ads, for FREE and the ability to play many different learning and creative games and I think Zoopz is a kid’s computer game site WELL worth the visit.

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I was so happy to find the San Francisco Symphony site that offers kid’s online games to teach them A LOT about music. There are a few different activities where your child can learn more about reading music, instruments, rhythm, tempo and more.

San Francisco Symphony’s message and purpose is clear from their About Us page:

“We love music and are committed to music education, within our community and beyond. This website, in conjunction with our live performances, provides a great way for people of all ages to hear, learn, and have fun with music.

Consider this site your premier web destination for learning about music — that’s why it’s here! And, if you’d like to share this site with others, send them a postcard.”

I DO like this site and instead of just sending a postcard I thought telling other parents about it through my site would spread the word even further.

Instruments of the Orchestra

This is a WONDERFUL activity where children can learn a lot about all the different instruments in the orchestra, what they sound like, what their purpose is and where they sit in a big orchestra.

Click on one of the different categories of the orchestra; strings, percussion, woodwinds or brass and be taken into an area where you can pick the instrument you want to learn more about. This is illustrated here after I picked “Strings”:

Once you click on an instrument like I did you can see the instrument from different angles, zoom in AND hear what it sounds like. It also tells you a lot about the instrument. I have looked at many music sites and this is the one I feel you can truly get a good feel of music broken down into easily understandable steps. Due to the fact that there is reading I would say school aged children would get the most out of this site but it is certainly good for all ages from 5 – 105.

THE MUSIC LAB

The Music Lab offers many different activities as follows:

Basics — Learn about written music including the staff, notes and more

Tempo — Speed it up or slow it down and watch the drummer play

Rhythm — Hear patterns that make music move

Pitch — Play around with the sounds

Harmony – Mix it up with the Harmonizer

Symbols – Make it louder, softer

Instrumentation — Decide which instruments will play

Performalator — Play a tune or two

Composerizer — Make Your Own Tune

RADIO

Click on the radio to listen to different songs that fit into categories or to learn more about music in general. Lots of choices and your children will learn about music by visiting this section.

Send a Postcard

Send a postcard to another parent o r child to tell them about this wonderful site. You get to pick which one and customize it with a message.

I love the San Francisco Symphony site and if you are lucky enough to live in that area be sure to check out the section where they let you know about upcoming events. This is a quality site where children can learn about music for FREE. Pass this one on to friends and enjoy!

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Super Secret is one of the top sites I have seen for kids ages 8-16 online. I love innovative computer games/sites for kids and from the graphics to the idea behind it — this one delivers. The goal – to age from age 10 to age 16. How do you age? Play games, find “secrets”, help Super Secret characters with mini adventures. The games are varied from skill to plain fun and there are many of them. Yes, you can buy and take care of pets too (the biggest collection of pets I have seen yet online) and design your dorm room and apartment when you are old enough to get one.

The interface is very easy to use and this is a SAFE site with NO ADS (my favorite kind of kid’s computer site). There is reading and figuring out involved and just plain fun. Add friends to be able to chat with them and if you see anyone doing or saying anything you don’t like it is easy to report them or make it so you don’t see them online anymore.

You begin as a ten year old and you pick an avatar. As you play you can get “spenders” to customize your avatar’s hair, clothes, background, etc. Every game you play gives you “Spenders” and Age Points. You need to get a certain amount of age points to reach the next age and with each age comes more places to visit and things to do. For example when you turn eleven you are able to buy a pet. Turn 12 you can get your own dorm room. Turn 15 and your “spenders” earn interest like a bank account. One of the features I really like is AS you are playing a game you see how many spenders and age points you have earned and can opt to “cash out” at any time or keep playing for more.

The map is very easy to use. Explore to find hidden “secrets” and also to interact with Super Secret characters that will send you on missions for additional items, spenders and age points. The graphics are so pretty in this game and my two children were instantly immersed in the environment. My daughter is 6 and is a beginning reader and only had to ask for guidance a few times after I showed her how it worked. There is nothing inappropriate on this site and I would say kids as young as six can definitely “get it” and enjoy the games. My 9 year old son said this was one of his favorite sites and went and told 5 of his friends about it the next day.

Games

There are over 35 games and you can find them by exploring or by clicking on your “card stack”. Visit the arcade and talk to characters to get additional levels on games. As I said I LOVE that the games have how much you are earning as you play. I also love that the instructions and keys to use stay up as you play. No more going back and clicking on instructions. There are so many great games here and I will highlight a few.

Bloons:

I wrote about “More Bloons” here. In Super Secret they have Bloons, More Bloons and Bloons Defense. All three require skill and boy are they addicting. have the monkey shoot darts to pop balloons in Bloons and More Bloons – sounds easy, right? Bloons Defense is a strategic game and is one my son and I thoroughly enjoy.

Filler

Fill the screen with balls. The longer you hold the mouse down the bigger the ball but touch the balls flying around and you lose that ball. Fill up most of the screen without running out of balls and you will advance. This requires some skill, thinking ahead and swift mouse usage. Fun!

Two 3:

Aim at the numbers to bring them down to zero. Not hard when the numbers are 2 and 3, but what about when they get to 55? Good for math skills, thinking and reflexes.

There are TONS more games that are worth checking out. I recommend logging on and trying a few.

Interface:

You can easily find out how many spenders you have and how many points you need to reach the next age by hovering the mouse near your character on the left. Click on the bottom left map to find out the places you are able to go to.

This picture shows and apartment of a 15 year old. Go to certain locations/stores/people to buy things for your room, backgrounds, pet supplies, pets and more.

On the bottom you are able to buy gifts for “friends” and some of them could be practical jokes like a pie in the face, etc…. You are able to initiate chat with friends. You can look at what secrets and inventory you have collected and also go to the complete game catalog. In your room it is easy to decorate and move furniture if you decide you want a different look.

Overall it is a very intuitive interface and one kids will find easy to use.

Paid versus Free membership

Like many of the social networking/gaming sites for kids there are 2 options for membership. For a free membership you still get to play games and explore but you won’t age beyond age 12. This still allows for lots of fun for your kids.

Paid Membership of Super Secret are for now introductory prices for early members at $4.95/month and $19.95/6 months. This will increase. With paid memberhsip you can reap the benefits of aging.

At 13 — There are MANY more options for your avatar and shopping

At 14 — Explore a Hidden World Cataluna

At 15 — Open an interest earning bank account

At 16 — which is coming soon you earn a driver’s license and buy your first car.

Soon they will also be releasing ages 17 and 18.

As with any paid membership site I suggest starting for free, seeing if your child (and you) enjoy it and taking it from there. With the introductory rate of less than $5 for a month I think it is well worth it.

Overall

I love Super Secret. It has all the things I love about a social network gaming site for kids; innovative ideas, graphics, skillful games in a SAFE environment. I recommend it highly and would love to hear some comments after your children have tried it out. Thanks to the creative team of Super Secret – you have produced a quality safe site for kids to be kids and have fun online.

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I have introduced Play First as a premier site for online and downloadable games.  I usually give brief reviews of several games like here in “Play First Games 2009” and here in “ Play First Games 2008“.  Today I want to spend time doing a thorough review of their game “Wandering Willows“.  It is a game in the simulation category that I feel many children would have fun playing. You can download and play the demo version for an hour first to see if your child likes it before deciding if you want to buy it as a full download.  I feel this game is good for ages 7 and up (providing the 7 year old is an average or above reader).

I LOVE games where you make your avatar first as do my children.  Decide what you want your character to look like and make sure your child does the tutorial to understand how everything works.  The tutorial is very thorough and takes you through the many experinces and tasks in Wandering Willows.

When Wandering Willows begins you see that you have crashed your hot air balloon and need it fixed.  By talking with people and solving tasks you can get people to help you fix your balloon and be on your way.  Some of your tasks in Wandering Willows include; planting plants to help with tasks, talking with people and finding out what they need and helping them, using your pet to help you climb trees for fruits, dig for items and charm other animals, taking care of your pet, making recipes and sewing outfits upon request and more. 

One of the things I really enjoy about Wandering Willows is the interface. It is very intuitive and everything is readily available at a click.  They fit the map, tasks, animal health and inventory, recipe/sewing book, etc. all on the same page.  If you look at the picture to the left… you have the tasks on top that you can scroll through so you can see what each person wants.  If you were to touch the glass it would take you to the recipe and what ingredients you have and need to complete it.  The map has glowing stars so you know where to go next.  As you continue your animal gains strength and you can dig bigger piles and climb higher trees for different items.  The map also opens up new areas as you complete tasks. 

When you hover the mouse above the various characters it will tell you their likes, dislikes, what level of friendhsip you are at and what gift you will recieve when the next level of friendship is achieved.  Wandering Willows has a really cute sense of humor that children will enjoy.  I feel this game teaches logic skills, helps with math (you have many items you need to make and knowing how much money you have and need to spend is an important part of the game), helps with attention to detail (which tasks are completed – what does each character and your pet need) and much more.  It is educational but there is no way your child would think it was so — which is something I love to discover.

I really enjoyed playing Wandering Willows and sharing it with my children.  I think this is a game the whole family would get use and enjoyment out of. The full version is well worth buying if your child likes it as it is VERY comprehensive and will not be solved overnight. Thanks Play First for another quality game my household enjoys!

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I feel it’s safe to say most people have a warm spot in their heart’s for Dr. Seuss books. I grew up with them and it is wonderful to have my children grow up with them as well. Dr. Seuss computer games help children to read and learn thinking skills and the website I recently found Seussville University offers some games and activities that many preschoolers and early grade schoolers would enjoy.

COMPUTER GAMES

There are many Dr. Seuss computer games and I highly recommend them. Now that they are older you can find some for under $5.00 a piece at amazon and they are well worth a lot more than that.

In the following reading games you can either have the stories read to you or you can play along. It will still read the story to you in play mode but you can stop on every page to explore. If you play along you have mini games throughout and just about everything your child clicks on will do something. I have so many wonderful memories of laughing playing these with my own kids. If you get The ABC game — try and find the little yellow guy hidden throughout every page. So funny and will get the kids laughing and give them a task while they are learning!

The Cat in the Hat

Green Eggs and Ham

Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s

The other Dr. Seuss games are wonderful and I have mentioned them before. My favorite is:

Dr. Seuss’s Preschool Learning is a GREAT game. There are 10 mini-games to play that teach memory, math, sorting, reading, etc…. Emma Sue a little girl very much Dr. Seuss style has lost her mom. You are helping her to find her by gaining clues as to what she looks like every time you solve a few levels of each mini-games. Yertl the turtle is here along with some other favorite Dr. Seuss characters. Fun for all and the difficulty increases as your child gets better at the games.

Seussville University

I was happy to find Seussville University. Seussville University offers games/activities in each of 4 categories; Math, Reading, Reasoning and Science. I will tell you what is offered in each category and recommend my favorite games from this site.

Math

There are 4 printable activities for your preschooler/kindergarten child to work on math. “The number 2, Zowers in Showers, Practice your Addition and Connect the dots. There is one math game in this category; “Count the Zindows in the Windows“. This game is wonderful for color recognition and early counting. The instructions are written and it might say “count the yellow findows”….

Reading

The printable activities include; “The Letter B”, “Pup in Cup”, and “The Ball is small”. The reading game is “Help Mr. Brown Color Letters“. This game is great for letter recognition and early mouse skills.

Reasoning

There are three printable activities for this age; “Which one if different”, “Which Two are the Same”, and “Wet foot, Dry foot”. There are two games under this category; ” Which One Comes Next” and “The Cats Concentration Game“.

Science

In this category you can print out an activity page which is called “Mr. Brown Can HOO” OR you can play 2 Science related games. “Find the Animal that doesn’t Belong” is just as it sounds and is great for young children. The instructions are written so you will need to read them to your child. “The Lorax Save the Trees Game” helps kids develop mouse skills as they have to collect 10 seeds in a bucket that are being thrown. Afterward they get to plant ten seeds as they decorate a Seuss scene and watch the animals move in as the trees are planted.

These games are from the University section of the site. If you go directly to Seussville you will find even more activities and games. I reviewed the preschool learning section but I highly recommend checking out the other things Seussville has to offer.

Dr. Seuss’s characters always entertain and the learning games are ones I feel most pre schoolers would have a lot of fun with.

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Kid Zui is an application you can download for free that allows your child to surf the internet and eliminates worry for the parents. They pre-screen EVERY site included and there are already millions to choose from. There are free and paid membership options and both include wonderful support and safety for your children.

Kid Zui has over a million pre-approved links, games, videos and photos. It also offers a whole new way for children to surf the internet. All sites have to be pre-approved to have your kids go to them or you have to add them to their approved list. Kid Zui also sends you an email as often as you like telling you what sites your kids have visited.

My son is 9 and has just discovered you tube, which as you probably know is not policed. We have strict rules in our house he is only allowed on it when an adult is around but that somehow wasn’t putting my mind at ease! At Kid Zui the kids will ONLY see SAFE and approved you tube videos through the Kid Zui browser.

Your child makes an avatar when they enter and have lots more options to add friends, share sites, change clothes and appearance and boy do they have tons of stuff to explore. There are 3 main sections; Web, Photos and Videos where they can go to search or choose from the many things listed.

They also have the ability to tag sites they like and share them with friends. You can also monitor who they add as friends and even take a friend off their account if you do not approve. This really puts internet use for kids in a whole other category – “SAFE”!

Children have the ability to find games, videos and pictures they never knew existed in a very safe environment. It is taking my children a little while to get used to the browser and where everything is and how to access “their old favorites” but it is well worth the time for me to sit down and explore with them. Funny thing was I was on my computer in the kitchen and my son on his in the living room and he told me he was frustrated he couldn’t get to something. I was able to login to my account as a parent and see that he was entering the name for a song not in the music section but in the photos search and I explained to him how to do it. I will know each and every site, click and search my kids make and that makes me feel safer.

My children are great kids that understand internet safety and I was still worried they would click and ad and somehow get off site to an unsafe environment. Parents can add sites to their children’s account as they see fit but the child will have to ask you first! This puts my mind at ease which is priceless and is why I just purchased a one month membership to try out the additional features.

What does the Paid Membership Include?

For $7.95 per month (and reduced rates if you sign up for more months at a time) you get even more features. I NEVER sign up for a new site upon first looking at it and broke that rule this time. While it is definitely worth it for the free membership some of the perks of the paid membership made me break out the credit card!

The MAIN thing that got me to sign up for a paid membership was they have a section called Homework helper where they have games/sites that are particularly good at helping with what the children are learning in school broken down by grade. My son is in fourth grade and while he is a good student — they have raised the bar quite a lot and he can use some extra help. Learning by playing a game will get a lot less complaints than sitting down and doing an hour more of math at the kitchen table.

Other things included are more backgrounds, options for dressing your avatar, more tags for games, adding favorite sites, creating your own channel with your own content, even more information on your children’s use shared with you, the ability to block individual websites.

OVERALL

Kid Zui is awesome and gets a glowing review from me for so many reasons. Safety being #1. I also love that it introduces them to age appropriate sites in a safe environment. They can get the feel of “surfing the web” with only child safe sites to go to. If a child gets to a game in a site that hasn’t been reviewed yet it sends a message to the team at Kid Zui that they want it reviewed for approval. My children can “surf the web” and find other sites, videos, pictures and games recommended by other children. I love that I can see EXACTLY where my kids are going on the internet and what they are searching for. At my children’s ages it is innocent but I know my son is heading towards the tween years fast and it is comforting to know I have this in place before he arrives!

While the paid membership offers a bit more the free version is just as safe and offers all the same sites in a wonderful platform. I highly recommending installing Kid Zui on your computer if you have kids at home that want to go onto the internet. Please send me comments on how you are finding Kid Zui.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Mimi at Mindful Mimi for recommending I check out Kid Zui! Thank you Mimi for thinking of me — this is a wonderful find as a mom AND for a recommendation! GREATLY appreciated!

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