I’ve been trying to find cool, yet creative gadgets for my daughter Lola Daisy to play with on the Internet. She’ll soon be 9 years old. She has a new MacMini, so her computer is even faster than mine (how did that happen?). So far she’s been using it for Wikipedia (school projects) and some games she found on the French Disney Channel (ugh) and PBS Kids (better).
I’ve made up a quick list of stuff that she might like, while still being a bit hipper than standard cookie-cutter kid-formatting. If anyone else can give me some suggestions I’m all ears.
*Note: I’ll setup a webcam on her computer. I’ve got enough lying around.
Bonjour Douglas,
j’en ai un bon sous la main,
ça va la changer de vos trucs en flash-intellos:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»>
http://www.zanorg.com/prodperso/punk.htm
one of the flash classics is orisinal
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
The graphics are always lovely and his games always involve creative interactions, which could be good for educating coordination (although I think that much of them can be difficult for a child to play).
if she has a webcam, she could enjoy distorting her image or just painting it through
http://www.webcamtastic.com/
And she’ll sure enjoy playing arkanoid through it.
http://cam.playdo.com/
which brings me to a thought I’ve had for some time about children and computers…
I think it is really positive for children to learn soon some of the logic and kinds of interactions they provide, but all in all, interacting with a computer involves most of the time being sat in front of a screen, and I doubt it to be a good activity for children.
That’s the reason why i’d go for tools involving other kinds of interaction, such as some of your great projects (i’ve just discovered smash it and others and really like them) or those which involve computer vision or physical interaction in a funny way (you mention mindstorms, i think also of http://www.logiblocs.com…).
I don’t have children though, so this is just a prospective thought :)
p.s: i’ve just discovered your blog via generator.x and i really like it. Nice job!
Best!
Yesss….
Thanks Jesús. Webcamtastic is fun. Good old fashioned Goo, just updated for the web. Actually, in the past we’ve made a bunch of silly video mirrors with Danny Rozin’s TrackThemColors, but being able to send the emails allows her to send silly stuff to her Grandparents, etc.
Playdo was fun, too. She liked the Eyekanoid. We don’t have a Playstation (EyeToy), as we’re more into Gamecube/Gameboy/NES-style fun, so she had yet to discover those types of games.
I agree about computers and kids, and Lola doesn’t spend all that much time in front of her computer. I only bought it now because she’s starting to get at that level in school where it’s going to be essential pretty soon. So she’ll be ready for the curve. I resisted up until this point. It’s a bit of a fight for the television, as my wife doesn’t seem to think it’s as much of a scourge as I do, but other than that she’s mostly outside running around, or out taking Theatre classes or riding horses (she’s pretty obsessed). So she’s a normal little girl. I’m just trying to open some doors on the side through literature, cinema, games (puzzles, cards, videogames), etc.
Original Comments:
Pierre-erick
Bonjour Douglas,
j’en ai un bon sous la main,
ça va la changer de vos trucs en flash-intellos:
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»>
http://www.zanorg.com/prodperso/punk.htm
jesús gollonet
one of the flash classics is orisinal
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
The graphics are always lovely and his games always involve creative interactions, which could be good for educating coordination (although I think that much of them can be difficult for a child to play).
if she has a webcam, she could enjoy distorting her image or just painting it through
http://www.webcamtastic.com/
And she’ll sure enjoy playing arkanoid through it.
http://cam.playdo.com/
which brings me to a thought I’ve had for some time about children and computers…
I think it is really positive for children to learn soon some of the logic and kinds of interactions they provide, but all in all, interacting with a computer involves most of the time being sat in front of a screen, and I doubt it to be a good activity for children.
That’s the reason why i’d go for tools involving other kinds of interaction, such as some of your great projects (i’ve just discovered smash it and others and really like them) or those which involve computer vision or physical interaction in a funny way (you mention mindstorms, i think also of http://www.logiblocs.com…).
I don’t have children though, so this is just a prospective thought :)
p.s: i’ve just discovered your blog via generator.x and i really like it. Nice job!
Best!
Douglas Edric Stanley
Yesss….
Thanks Jesús. Webcamtastic is fun. Good old fashioned Goo, just updated for the web. Actually, in the past we’ve made a bunch of silly video mirrors with Danny Rozin’s TrackThemColors, but being able to send the emails allows her to send silly stuff to her Grandparents, etc.
Playdo was fun, too. She liked the Eyekanoid. We don’t have a Playstation (EyeToy), as we’re more into Gamecube/Gameboy/NES-style fun, so she had yet to discover those types of games.
I agree about computers and kids, and Lola doesn’t spend all that much time in front of her computer. I only bought it now because she’s starting to get at that level in school where it’s going to be essential pretty soon. So she’ll be ready for the curve. I resisted up until this point. It’s a bit of a fight for the television, as my wife doesn’t seem to think it’s as much of a scourge as I do, but other than that she’s mostly outside running around, or out taking Theatre classes or riding horses (she’s pretty obsessed). So she’s a normal little girl. I’m just trying to open some doors on the side through literature, cinema, games (puzzles, cards, videogames), etc.