BlogYYY
Sunday, November 9, 2008,11:51 PM
Websites recommended by Candice
(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.
