Who isn’t concerned about cyberstalking and internet safety for children and teens these days? As a parent, it’s best to err on the side of caution, if you are unfamiliar or have ethical, religious or moral concerns about internet usage for kids. It’s tempting to say no to it all because we lack the time to check out sites and see what they are seeing.
But the fact is that most all kids want to and do play online games at least somewhere in their life. And the more we as parents say not to, the more kids by nature will want to try. Also, we want our kids to develop their own intuitive good sense. We want them to do all things safely and responsibly. And computer usage, as a given in our world is a place where we need to teach ‘safe and sensible’ procedures.
And with summer here and school out, if you have a computer, your kids will want to play games on. They will also have the time to play.
If you allow internet gaming for your children, I’ve compiled a list of sites that you can feel comfortable for your to access. As a teacher, I have reviewed and explored many online gaming sites for students. I’ve also researched which sites that public schools have declared safe for students to access in their free time.
These sites offer board games, adventure games, bowling, miniature golf, arcade games, and some RPGs (role-play games). There are word games, puzzle games, mahjong games, Soduku games, racing and sports games, multi-player games and flash games. These sites have no real violence, profanity or obscenity. Most don’t even require a user name or password. Kids as old as high school enjoy them.
I’ve grouped them by age. All would include any child old enough to play the game. Tween indicates about 10-12 year olds. And teen is 13 years old and up.
www.addictinggames.com (Teen) This site features some more off-beat, cynical, mildly risque games in which kids can play silly, smart-alecky games and feel like they are getting away with something. There are celebrity mock-ups and some mildly off-color games that I would rate as PG-13. Features games like: Celebrity Smackdown’ Fishing for Girls’ and ‘Dress Paris in Jail.
Actually the more popular games are pretty basic launch games, golf games, etc. Kitten Cannon, for example, where you launch kittens at objects is very poplular, sanitized and goofy. These games are sponsored by companies and products.
www.miniclip.com (All ages) This one is used by teachers when they allow students free time on the computer as a reward. It has a very large selection of games.
www.candystand.com (All ages) This is better for upper elementary ages. It includes basic bowling, golf, launch, chase and arcade games. They are sponsored by products and vendors of the Lifesavers and Wrigley company.
www.kidswb.com (All ages) This is an offshoot of Warner Bros. and features games based on their cartoons. Look for Scooby Doo, Fairly Odd Parents, Krypto the SuperDog, Johnny Phantom, Tom and Jerry, Batman, Xiaolin Showdown, etc.
www.realarcade.com (tween and teen) Features the popular game Bejewelled 2, Diner Dash, and Zuma. To play the non-gambling games kids need only click on the icon. For the gambling games, a user id and password is required as well as a credit card.
I wish you and yours happy and safe gaming!
