These days, children are learning computer skills younger and younger. My little one first started showing an interest in the computer when she was just over a year old! If you have a toddler who begs to use the computer, you may have tried finding regular online games for kids. But the usual games geared towards preschoolers can be too difficult for smaller children! Here is a list of some fun games just for the littlest computer geeks in your family.
The Fisher-Price website has a whole bunch of games geared towards infants and toddlers. The infant games are very simple, and only require a child to tap at random keys at a keyboard in order to produce fun sounds and images. Hayden absolutely loved these games when I first started letting her use the computer! She still prefers them over the toddler games on the site. The toddler games begin to introduce ABC’s, numbers, music, etc.
A site called Kneebouncers has quite a few games perfect for young toddlers. Most of the games only require children to tap random keys in order to make things happen. For instance, by tapping keys in one game, kids watch bubbles float onto the screen, and then pop, revealing funny characters inside! In another game, pressing keys makes characters bounce onto the screen. Releasing the keys makes them fall back out of site.
Toddletoons has lots of very simple games made just for toddlers. These aren’t as professionally-made as games on some of the other sites, and they don’t work at all with a Firefox browser, but they’re pretty cool! I like the Bubble game and the Hats game.
Nick Jr. has a few toddler-oriented games. You can go to the “Game Finder” to search by age. The choices only go as low as ages 2-3, but some games in this age group are easy enough for tiny tots. Remember to click on “Playtime”, not “Arcade,” because the Arcade charges you for access to the games.
Once your toddler starts to understand the mouse, you can introduce her to some more difficult games. For instants, BabyTV has games that begin teaching children about matching shapes, making guesses, and creating art using the computer. In order to play these games, the child needs to understand how to move the mouse. However, for kids who don’t understand the mouse yet, you could simply have them point, and move the mouse for them!
Another game that uses mouse skills is Fun With Spot. The games here ask children to click on certain things. For instance, children can click through a story that asks them to find spot by clicking in certain places… similar to a “lift-the-flaps” book. For another game, children have to use the mouse to select things Spot will need to bring to certain places, such as the beach or the snow.
And finally, Hayden’s current favorite site for games.. Sesame Street! Sesame Street has about 18 games just for toddlers. I found them by going to the Sesame Street games page, and entering the word “toddler” into the search bar on that page. Some of the games require a child to tap randomly on the keyboard to make images appear. Others are rally just sing-alongs, where a character sings a favorite song and the child can do the movements along with the character.
So, the next time your toddler is trying to touch your computer, why not let him have a try? The easy toddler games I’ve shown you are a great way to start introducing computer skills at a young age!
