(a) http://www.lil-fingers.com/games/index.html

This is a colourful and interesting websites with the main tabs all arranged on the left side for navigations. The icons and pictures are considerably large enough to be easily clicked on. There are various sections that cater to the young children. This website serves to educate young children through interactive means of technology.

1. Stories
   Firstly, the wording that appear together with illustrations are big and easily comprehended by young children. Next, several stories are accompanied by voices to read the storyline as the child move from page to page. Listening plays a part here for young children. At the end of the story, a book of the similar topic is suggested for adults to consider buying if they wish to teach children more about that particular topic.
   
   
2. Games
   In this component, there are games that suit children of different age from 2 onwards. The number of 'baby icons' roughly represent the age that it is cater to. There are a wide range of different games which are interactive and encourage the usage of mouse with stimulating pictures and icons.
   
   
3. Colouring Pages
   Colouring pictures are available for printing. Although the website itself does not provide tools for children to colour the pictures online, that is a variety of pictures to select from.
   
   
4. Holidays
   Under this category, there are stories, games and links related to a certain festival. This come in handy when children want to learn about the holiday through the means of Technology aids. This is also useful for adults to get ideas of what to teach about the festival to young children.

Lastly, this website has also provided links to websites that are suitable for young children to explore on. Once children played several games and read a few stories from this website, they have a choice to other resources instead of stopping from there.

(b) http://www.nick.com/games/index.jhtml

This is an entertainment website that cater to young children. As the website has cartoons and shows that are found the nick channel, children can easily relate and understand the meaning of the pictures. This would allow easy navigation especially with large picture icons. There are icons on the top of the page as well as pop-up menu on the lefthand side. Also, with the icons appearing on every page, it is easy for children to explore as they can have direct link to another part of the site. The moving animations that appear on this website is also very appealing to young children. Similarly to the first website that I have recommended, there are several sections that children can explore from.

1. Games
   Under this section, there are different categories where children can choose from, for example, new games or game of the week. There are a wide ranges of games with different genre.
   
   
2. Shows/Movies
   The are games and information provided in relation to the listed shows. Children would encourage to read the information to learn more about the show/movie.
   
   
3. Sites
   Again, similarly to the first website, this website also provided links to other games for young children to explore and play with.

However, as the wording are relatively small, adults can guide children while they explore the website, teaching them what each icon would change the pages.

(a) Dora saves the farm
http://www.nickjr.com/games/dora-saves-the-farm.jhtml

“Dora saves the farm” is an interactive game that allows children to respond to Dora unlike having to watch it passively over the television.
It involves 3 activities within the game that helps children in their development.
1) Chicken Coop- This activity trains children in their eye-hand coordination as well as their spatial awareness when they are required to move the mouse left and right to control Dora in catching the eggs. At the end every level, the number of egg caught will be counted to the children which enhance their mathematical skills.

2) Pig Pen – This activity mainly targets at enhancing the counting skills of children when they are required to find the number of pigs as instructed by Dora. This requires them to count and hunt for the hidden pigs and digging them out of the mud at the same time. Once again, the number of pigs that the children had dug will be counted to them at the end of each level of the activity.

3) Barn – This activity differs from others whereby children are required to use their knowledge of science and listening skills to identify and spot the animal who creates the sound that is played in the background. The level of difficulty increases every round when the number of animals increase as well as the introduction of new animals.
Overall, this is an interesting game that is suitable for children from ages 3 to 6 years where it is also a suitable age to introduce children the use of Information Technology through their lessons.
Skills in children that are strengthened through this game are early mathematical skills such as counting, understanding math terms such as more than or less than and also concepts such as comparisons, shapes patterns and reasoning as well as language skills such as listening, comprehending, speech, reading and writing.
Other than that, clear instructions are provided throughout the game. Instructions and buttons are also verbalised after every activity for better understanding of the procedures of the game. The games are guided throughout with repeated instructions given to the child once the child pauses for some time.
Last but not least, lots of encouragement given for children who failed to perform up to the task as well as praises for children who were able to perform well in the game.


(b) Oscar’s Trash Collection
http://www.sesamestreet.org/game_player?p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_id=gamePlayer_WAR_sesameportlets4369&p_p_uid=6759e8da-163b-11dd-98c7-b9f43dcf5330&t=1225772022488&

In this game, children get to step into the world of Oscar where they will join him in the quest to sort out rubbish found in his home. Children will be required to sort items according to different attributes such as shapes, colours and patterns.

Through this game, children are provided with the opportunities to enhance their mathematical skills such as identifying similarities and differences in objects and sorting them with many different attributes to consider. Children will also get to improve their language skills through listening and comprehending instructions which also increases their vocabulary.

The game play itself is highly interactive as it involves everyday items/food that we tend to use/eat. If the child get an item wrong, all he/she has to do is to keep trying till he/she gets it right. This will simulate the child to keep trying and eventually remembering the certain item and what its purpose is used for.

Other than that, instructions to where the items are supposed to be placed are very clear and concise, making sure that children will not be confused on the item placements. As the game progresses, it gets tougher and tougher and this requires children to do more in-depth thinking before placing the items on the correct shelve. An example of one of the tough stages would be to differentiate between summer and winter wear. This would enable the child to be more familiar with what to wear during the different seasons of the year. Another example would be what items belong to the kitchen and the toilet. This is essential as the kitchen and toilet are both areas which are frequently used and it relates to the lives of children.

Lastly, parental tips are provided in the game to allow parental involvement in the children’s learning by conducting follow up activities for children based on the tips given.

(a) http://www.disneychannel-asia.com/DisneyChannel/playhouse/friends/tiggerandpooh/menu.html

Reasons for introducing this website for children:
1. Catered to preschoolers and does not have any language that is inappropriate
2. It has 4 different categories that children can explore with – Games, Activities, Music and Stories.
3. Each of the 4 categories are interactive and makes use if the keyboard and mouse.
4. Children have to pay attention to what the characters are saying in order to complete the activities.
5. In the category of Games, children learn to utilize their matching skills as they get to match characters with their shadows.

• The game is challenging as the children compete against a certain time span, however, they are not pressurized to make their decisions quickly and the game encourages children to try their best with words like, “That’s the way!”
• It has 3 different levels; each is a little more complicated than the previous one. As such, children are challenged to pay more attention to the shadows as they alter the details less and less.
  

6. In Activities, children have different choices of pictures that they can print out and colour.

• They have a choice of printing the pre-coloured one than the black and white one to copy, or, just the black and white one which they can design on their own.

7. Music, children learn to count from 1 to 10 in an exciting method as Winnie the Pooh guides them along.

• They get to listen to new songs as they colour different pictures and every time a new colour is added, Pooh sings a new paragraph of the song.

8. When children click on the stories icon, Pooh tells them a story that happened in Hundred Acre Wood and children participate in it by helping Pooh collect the items that he needs for the story.

• It helps train children’s concentration as they have to pay close attention to Pooh and what he says.
• Also, children have to solve the hints given to them if they want to locate the correct item.
  

9. It is simple for young children to navigate around the website as instructions are very clear with large action buttons and every time the mouse goes over a button, Pooh explains where it leads to.
10. Overall, we recommend this website as we feel that while children have fun playing the games, they also learn new things from it and at the same time, increase their attention span as they listen to the characters.

(b) http://www.barney.com/uk/

1. Almost every preschooler knows who Barney is and this website actually allows children to interact and have fun with Barney.
2. It is divided into 4 main sections – Games, Music, Video and Parents.
3. In the Games section:

• Children get a chance to learn about the different festivals in the world and play games that have to do with the festivals. For example, in the Festivals of Light in India, children play a memory game in which they copy the sequence in which the lamps flicker.
• Also, coloring, counting and even shapes are introduced to children in the variety of games provided.
• With so many games, children will not only have fun, but also, benefit intellectually as well.
  

4. Music

• 2 activities are provided in the Music section, children get a choice between watching videos about beats or actions and adding sound effects to familiar songs.
• In the videos, Barney and friends uses clapping to move to music, this encourages children to follow their dance steps as the song is very catchy and fun.
• In Riff’s MUSIC EVERYWHERE Game, children can choose from familiar songs like, Wheels on the Bus and Old MacDonald, and add a variety of sound effects when the song is played.
• Barney clearly explains the different categories of sounds provided and how children can add the sounds to the song.
  

5. Videos and Parents Category

• Videos on the website allow children that do not feel like playing games to watch snippets of Barney and friends singing and dancing to familiar songs like, I Love You.
• Also, the videos posted encourage children to move about and exercise along with the characters.
• Parents also get involved with children’s learning as they can print out pictures and stories from the website for children to be engaged in.
• With the stories, some simple activities are introduced, that parent can do with their children, without having to spend a lot of money or effort.
  

6. All in all, this website is not only interactive and fun, but, also educational and child-friendly.
7. Parents do not have to worry about any technical errors that may occur as the website is easy to navigate around and the videos and sound were very clear.

testing

Grace, Jasmin & Candice
Three simple girls that took up the Early Childhood Education Course in Ngee Ann Polytechnics.
Our aim is to be able to understand more about young children.
Please feel free to read our blog and post any thoughts at the chatbox!



Coming from different schools, we all went through at least 10 years of government education. We are brought together based solely on our interest in learning about young children.


Grace : grace@np.edu.sg
Jasmin : jasmin@np.edu.sg
Candice : candice@np.edu.sg

November 2008



[grace 1]
[grace 2]
[jasmin 1]
[jasmin 2]
[candice 1]
[candice 2]
[yahoo for children]



[ k a w a i i ]

Grace.Jasmin.Candice
We are a group of students currently studying in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. With a passion for educating young children, we have come up with a number of websites that we feel are suitable for young children. Please read our posts as we will also give you a breakdown on the recommended websites and the games and activities that they offer.


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Welcome to our blog! We have researched and found several great websites and games that cater to young children. Please take your time to look through our recommendations~

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