Most of us grew up without having a television set at home. We didn't hear about computers until about 15 years ago. New gadgets are thrown at us everyday, and we do our best to keep up, but it's a struggle.
On the other hand, our kids-the technology natives-have been exposed to technology since birth and seem to master the working of the most complicated cell phone or the X-box in no time.
Little wonder then that they also spend a lot more time on the Internet.
The Internet for Kids
The Internet can be a wonderful place for kids to learn new things and have fun at the same time. It also has its pitfalls, but there are ways to safeguard your tots. However, let's start on the bright side and look at some of the exciting places waiting to be discovered by your child.
Toddlers (Ages 1-3)
Toddlers love nursery rhymes, colouring pages, and listening to music. For all this and more, visit the following sites:
- Mother Goose Pages: This website has a collection of nursery rhymes, with tips on how to share them with children of different ages.
- Playhouse Disney: This Disney site contains sections for much loved cartoon characters such as Winnie the Pooh and friends, Stanley, Roly Poly Ollie, Jojo's Circus, Mickey Mouse, etc. Each section has games revolving around concepts such as alphabet and number recognition, stories to listen to, music, etc.
- Fisher Price: This website has games and activities arranged by age. You can get your toddler to play games on alphabet and number recognition, or let him colour online.
Preschoolers and Kindergartners (Ages 4-7)
Children this age love playing games, learning new concepts, and having their own little adventures. Check out the following sites:
Nick Jr: Nick Jr caters to preschoolers with basic skills such as counting and identifying shapes, as well as more complex ones such as rescuing dogs, completing jigsaw puzzles, etc. The site has sections for most shows aired on the Nick Jr channel in India, such as Dora the Explorer, Diego, LazyTown, etc. The site is easy to navigate for children of this age group-in a couple of days they should be comfortable navigating between shows and selecting which game they want to play next! The audio directions at every step help too. In fact, my daughter who sometimes plays a Dora the Explorer game with Spanish instructions has even picked up a few phrases of Spanish.
Seussville: Introduce your child to the world of Dr. Seuss and his characters by visiting this site. It has games, information about Dr. Seuss books, and much more.
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