My son is turning 3 of Sunday!! He gets to work on computers a couple times a month at school. We have a laptop and I was wondering the best way to make it toddler friendly. Have you found maybe seperate keyboards and mouse that can connect to your computer? I looked at target, and they only had ones that connected to your TV. I am still up for that, but I think he would rather be able to play on the actual computer and that is what he is asking to do. We have let him play around on Noggin's site, but everytime you click outside of the game it dissapears and we want to find a way for him to play without having to worry about him closing out of stuff all the time. What has workded best for all of you?
We also have the Fisher Price Easy Link system and it's wonderful! My 3 year old loves navigating the sites and likes having the 'power' to chose what games to play. It's nice becuase it has a timer, so we set it for 30 mins and when the bell goes off, she knows computer time is over (in order to extend playing time, a password must be entered). It's a good system.
~J.
M.:
I'm not sure who makes it but I've seen in passing a keyboard that's made for toddlers that hooks up to your computer - I remember seeing Elmo on it (which I knew my daughter would love) but I just haven't looked into it yet.
There's also a couple different toddler laptops that teaches them things.
I'd try Toys R Us for both of these.
Good luck.
Hello M.,
I have three kids, 7, 5, and 3, my oldest is the computer wiz, he's been playing on and using computers since he was almost 2 yrs. I've never bought him a toy computer, what I did was help him on mine at first, at tax time I usually upgrade my computer to avoid something happening while money is tight, so when I upgrade I pass down, now my middle child's computer isn't working anymore, but they both share my HP I bought about 4 years ago, my youngest really isn't into computers at all right now but when it came to games for the other ones there are soooo many. My advice with games is look online to see if there is a way you can buy the play house disney games, or the noggin games, when they are in full screen it's harder for them to click out of them, also, you will have to really work with him to teach him what he can and can't do, they really love to explore when they are that age, but if he's showing interest now he'll be easy to teach. I have a couple of memberships at a couple of websites, I pay about $17 a month for, (Shockwave.com, and Bigfishgames.com) they have a plethera of games that are great for kids, and fun too, not as much learning though. Another great idea is e-bay, if you look under children's pc games, you'll be able to find a multitude of learning games for children of all ages, mine liked the preschool games, and Freddy the Fish. I know it can seem scary at first, and you don't want him to mess up your computer, so try finding him a cheap one, there are so many now that are under $500, go to a pawn shop, he doesn't have to have the best computer, but letting him learn on one is going to be the best thing for him, my 7 year old teaches other people how to use computers, it's the new age, and the best way for him to learn is from you. I hope this helps, I know it's long, but for some reason I have a problem giving short answers, lol. Take care, and good luck.
Candi :o)
My daughter LOVED Nick Jr.'s site the only way to get outta this page once you open it is to click the x basically lol I will send the link maybe your little guy will enjoy it as much as my daughter did. They have a wide variety things to do on it also from preschool games to music to clips of shows to games that grow with age. :) Hope yall like it!
http://www.nickjr.com/playtime/shows/dora/stories/dora_sp...=
N.
Try Alpha Baby-I don't have the link, but you can google it and I believe it's completely free. a few sites that are good kid-friendly sites are playhousedisney.com, pbskids.org, nickjr.com, and you already know about noggin. Also I want to mention that I am giving away free child ID kits to local moms on this site. It's just a card you can keep info, current photo, and fingerprints in, so you have all the info you need incase the unthinkable happens. If you're interested email me here or at ____@____.com and let me know
We have the Fisher Price Easy Link system. It's great!Ther eis one with PBS characters and another with Disney. All the characters work on either one. They come with 3 characters and you can purchase additional ones seperately. http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Easy-Link-Internet-Lau... You hook it up to your computer, set the character in the front slot and it takes them to that site only. They can not go anywhere else and can not use your computer. You have to enter a password to get back to your desktop so all is safe. There is also a free down load called ALPHA Baby. I have used this for a few years now. My 1 year old and 4 year old love it. When they type letters, numbers or shapes come up on the screen, if they click and drag their fingers on the pad then stars appear. They can press any key on the keyboard, multiple keys at one time, and it will not lock up your computer nor can they affect your desk top, can not get on the internets, etc.
Our kids are always on the computer (Age 6 and 3. They play: starfall, noggin, pbs kids, sesame streeet, playhouse disney and a few others that I can't remember at the moment. In the past we purchased a keyboard that fits over the keyboard and came with a CD. We also have the leapster computer that plugs in the tv. It has a mouse and keyboard too. Good luck!
Our 2 year old adapted really well to my laptop with a touch pad. What does your son use at school? I let my son get on www.playhousedisney.com and also www.starfall.com for the letters. Now he knows how to get around, use the back button, and can get places faster than I could!
S.
Hi,
Instead of him being on the internet get programs that you can download onto your computer for him,there are tons of programs out there.My kids love to play the learning ones.
Hope this helps.
K. J
