Kids Computer Games Recommendations

Kids Computer Games Classic Favorites Ages 5-8 (Oh yeah and some social sites for this age as well)!

“Kids Computer Games Classic Favorites Ages 5-8 (Oh yeah and some social sites for this age as well)!”

I have been playing kids computer games with my 8 year old son since he was 2. I had him on my lap as I was excitedly showing him all the games I found for him. As mentioned in a previous blog post I had a bunch of experiences teaching children computer games and was so happy to be showing him my favorites. Now he is quite the expert.

He loves adventure (logical thinking) games and yes, he is getting addicted to the social platform gaming sites for kids such as Club Penguin and Nicktropolis. I feel as long as you limit the time to ALL computer games and make sure they are playing learning games as well — some of the purely fun gaming sites are fine. They are free to join but you will need to set your child’s settings to ensure as much safety as possible. The sites are owned by Disney and Nickelodeon so you can bet they are taking every precaution to make them safe but you can set things such as “can only use pre-set messages” so no one can freely chat with them and age so they are only shown suitable content. Warning — there are limits to how much you can do in Club Penguin WITHOUT paying the $6/month fee so if you sign them up — be prepared for some whining after they lose interest in the first sites offered. “But soandso are Full Members mom!” I will go into these sites in more detail when I do on free sites but felt they were so dominant now it was essential to at least MENTION them.

OK — onto old classics. If you click my blog on Preschool links you will see I linked to Kid Pix which is good for this age as well. My son uses this to make cards for all his friends and pictures for mommy (WHY didn’t I buy that stock in Hewlett Packard instead of spending all our money on ink cartridges!)

I LOVE the I SPY games. These are GREAT for all ages (I have seen adults lose several hours involved in them). My son has played these since he was 4 and still enjoys them. Based on the I SPY books they have a little poem at the bottom of the screen and hidden objects in the picture for you to find. There are different platforms for them and some involve mini adventures for you to solve along the way which holds their interest longer. For example in I SPY Fantasy you can either find magical ingredients to silence the dragon and free the princess (for each I SPY page you solve you receive an ingredient) then face the final puzzle, you can collect star crystals to power up the rocket or you can explore under the water and try to find the treasure chest by putting together the pages the mermaid has lost from her book. Brilliant graphics, sound and you use lots of brain power. I also recommend I Spy Treasure Hunt or I Spy Spooky Mansion.

Wizmo’s Workshop is an awesome learning game that is often overlooked for almost all ages up until 9 as well. For the younger ones they might need some help with a few of the games. You are trying to win minigames to get parts of inventions Wizmo is trying to put together. You also get funny prizes and trophys for your “room” for winning games. A beautiful game and lots of fun . This one holds the interest from archery games, concentration type games, pattern games and even reading games…. An all time favorite in our home.

Ok — time to get sentimental….. The night I met my husband he introduced me to The Incredible Machine and I still credit that game with ONE of the many reasons I fell so hard for him. They have many updated versions now and help with logic and definitely get the imagination going. It will have you laughing as it gives you a task and leaves it up to you to use the parts in your inventory to create a machine to “Do the job”. It could be getting the mouse to the piece of cheese without the cat eating him or exploding all of the balloons…. You can use pulleys, ropes, hamsters running in cages and so many other wonderful “parts” to get your machine to work. Again, fun for ANY age although it might be frustrating for those under 5 without parents’ supervision.

Onto my favorite genre… Adventure Games. Wow do I love these and still play the grown up versions. I long for the days of the ones filled with humor for adults as well but it seems those are few and far between. So — I can play along with my kids and laugh right alongside them. They following are all from the same company but they are geared towards different ages. In all of them there are GREAT animations, songs, inventory items to pick up and use and wonderful characters.
—- Putt Putt is for kids ages 3-6 and is a car traveling with his dog sidekick. My favorites are Putt Putt Saves the Zoo and Putt Putt Joins The Circus. Although some of the others are
easier for first time adventurers.
—- Freddi Fish is a girl fish traveling with her sidekick Luther the little fish and is for ages
4-7. My favorite is Freddi Fish: Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse.
—- Pajama Sam is a little boy who is in his PJ’s solving his adventures. Ages 5-8. My
favorite of this series is Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When it’s Dark Outside
— Spy Fox is a Fox who is a Spy and uses lots of cool spy gadgets to solve mysteries.
Requires a little more thinking outside the box and is probably better for the seasoned
adventurer. Ages 6-9 and my favorite is Spy Fox: Dry Cereal

That’s it for now…. I know I’m missing a few but these will bring you and your child HOURS of enjoyment and laughs and they’ll learn while playing! I will do Part 2 for this age in the Educational Game Genre soon.

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