Computer games for toddlers

Games for Toddlers - Playhouse Disney

2009-12-13T08:16:00.001-06:00

Online computer games for toddlers - Playhouse Disney

Starting off with the basics: Does your toddler enjoy watching playhouse disney? If so, they will almost certainly enjoy hanging out at playhouse disney online. All of your toddler's favorites are online with free computer games for toddlers, activities, stories and music. Just visit the website and click your favorite character at the top and off you go.

Since my child loved all of them, I picked Mickey for this review. Basically all of the characters have the same type games modified for that show.

Main menu:

The activities offered are as follows for each character button at the top:

Games
Activities
Music
Stories

Mickey's games include:

choo choo express - This is a 'pattern' game. Your toddler will be picking the needed track color which completes the pattern.
Goofy's wild shoe round-up - Goofy the cowboy will lasso shoes in this computer game. Your toddler will need to use the mouse to click only matching pairs of wild shoes to win points
Donald's gone gooey fishing - in this game, you toddler will use the up and down arrows to help donald catch gooey fish and avoid the dreaded eraser fish.
Mousekespotter - Mickey uses the mousekespotter to spy three colored shapes. You toddler will have to find the one that matches our color and shape clues
Mystery picture count up - A cute disney clip is hidden by four panels. In this game, Mickey asks your toddler to click the square with x number of dots on it. When done correctly, the panel is removed.
Minnie's skating symphony - a side scrolling game using the arrow keys to help minnie capture her wayward musical notes. (parent bonus: She does 'the running man' at the end which is funny as heck to see)
Donald's froggy quest - an easy clickable adventure game where your toddler can help donald-turned-froggy get to the princess. He or she will click on lilly pads, bridge pieces and animals to help Donald on his way. My 7 year old took over my laptop to play this one while I was trying to get the following screen grab. Disney sure knows what they are doing when it comes to inviting kids of all ages.

Mickey's Activities:

Mickey's Treasure Hunt - this computer game teaches following directions. Your toddler will follow Mickey's directions to find the treasure
Watch a Clip - just what it sounds like.. Watch a clip of a cartoon online
Goofy's silly slide - Your toddler will pick the pieces of the slide to create crazy shapes and the clubhouse gang gets to ride.
Mickey's animal video parade - in this game, you select the animals and transitions and watch a clip-parade about the animals you selected.
print and color - print out your own disney coloring sheets

Mickey's Music: Pluto's musical maze - a pacman-esque game that teaches musical instruments and sounds

Mickey's Stories:

Donald and the beanstalk - Donald has lost boo-boo chicken and needs your help to get him back
Oh Toodles! - Watch how toodles helps the clubhouse on different stories

Pros -

free
TONS of activities
familiar characters with consistant voices
watch disney clips online

Cons -

seldom updated (if ever) with new material
A toddler can easily click on something outside the small game window and 'get lost' when the browser takes them somewhere else

My opinion: This computer game for toddlers website is a lot of fun but the danger of clicking off the games may require supervision while you child plays. That a shame since the games are geared perfectly to the toddler age. Other than that, the site is wonderful and the activities are great.

Toddler games - Winnie the Pooh Preschool

2009-12-04T14:49:00.001-06:00

Winnie the Pooh preschool

Starting off with the basics: It's Eeyore's birthday and the hundred acre woods gang is throwing a surprise party. Unfortunately, some of the members can make it until you help them finish their tasks in this computer game for toddlers that is illustrated in the style of the original Winnie the Pooh books and movies. Your young one will need some very good mouse skills for this game.
Main menu:

The activities offered are as follows:

Piglet's house - paint (color) pictures
Kanga's house - Letters in alphabet soup
sorting items at the box pile
Rabbit's house - needs help counting and labeling numbers of veggies
Tigger's house - put together a musical contraption
Owl's house - matching pictures
Pooh speaks into a tree and hears the word back in spanish or french

Pros -

TONS of clickable surprises and animations
familiar characters that stay true to the original

Cons –

The narration was unbearable until I realized the escape key skips it.
Heavy usage of mouse skills

My opinion: This computer game for toddlers is a lot of fun but is maybe meant for extremely close to school or kindergarten age.

Toddler Game - Fisher Price Toddler

2009-12-04T14:24:00.003-06:00

Fisher Price Toddler

Starting off with the basics: A puppy is our guide to the main menu here. Multiple levels allow increased difficulty so this computer game for toddlers will last from the early years until school. Additionally, this game can be controlled with a mouse or by waiting until the selection you want animates and hitting a key. This allows the very young to get enjoyment and see cause and effect even if they are too young to understand the point of the game.

Main menu:

The activities offered are as follows:

Bubble blowing
Over-under-side with animals and a box
shapes
ABCs
numbers with a balloon clown (my toddler LOVED this one)
Body parts with a washcloth (click my chin to wash it)
help the girl through the maze
Sing-along country songs
Animal sounds in the animal parade
Play telephone and talk about jobs

Pros -

My kid LOVED some of these games during the "button whacking" young toddler days

Cons –

the animations are a bit too cutesy

My opinion: This computer game for toddlers is a lot of fun and you can dial-up the challenge for when your kids get bored. Younger toddlers will like this game but older ones may find the graphics a bit cute.

Toddler games - Stanley Wild for Sharks

2009-12-03T03:36:00.001-06:00

Stanley Wild for Sharks

Starting off with the basics: Stanley's friend is coming over to work on a school project about sharks but Stanley has a problem he needs your help to fix. This computer game for toddlers can only be driven by clicking the mouse so great mouse skills are needed.

Main Menu: Stanley has to travel all over his house looking for pieces of his model shark and Lester's shark cards to return to him.

The activities offered are various. They include a "search and find", a "drive your shark", a "simon" type pattern repeating game with dolphins and many others.

Pros – Awesome game for older toddlers or kidergartners since the story is very engaging

Cons – heavy mouse skills required and sometimes, it isn't very clear what you should be clicking on.

My opinion: This computer game for toddlers is more entertaining than educational. Children would use this as more of a pc computer game than an enrichment experience. And that is if your little one is computer savvy enough to keep from getting frustrated.

Toddler games - Reader Rabbit Learn to Read

2009-12-03T03:24:00.002-06:00

Reader Rabbit Learn to Read

Starting off with the basics: Reader Rabbit and his friend the female mouse are off on another learning adventure. This computer game for toddlers can only be driven by clicking the mouse so some mouse skills are needed. Apart from that though, the game has 5 levels on every mini game activities.

Main menu:

The activities offered are as follows:

• Music labler – Drag the letters in to complete the word and make some music

• Books – Read books with Reader Rabbit

• Sorter Magic - *poof* -- words appear and you drag them to the appropriate category. Eg. His should be in the _is category.

• Songs – sing songs with reader rabbit
• Bubble Blend – two snakes blow syllable sounds which combine to make words

• Costume Creator – Recognize words to open the closet and create costumes for your friends
• The Great Race – animated learning race
• Letters and Sounds – learning your letters and your sounds.

Pros –
5 difficulty levels

Cons –
Games are somewhat repetitive

My opinion: The games are fairly fun and you can dial-up the challenge for when your kids get bored. Your 4 year old might play this and enjoy it but would tire of it quickly.

Toddler Games - Jump Start Toddler

2009-12-02T23:27:00.002-06:00

Jump Start Toddler or as my daughter called it - Ducky

Starting off with the basics: DeeDee Duck is visiting her Grandma. While she is there, she might as well explore and learn about shapes, numbers, letters, counting and more.

Another of my kid's favorite computer games for toddlers. The game can be driven either by clicking on the item you want, holding the mouse pointer over it or waiting on that section to animate and hitting any key. This lets multiple skill levels have access to the games. Just smacking any old key will get you playing.

Additionally, every activity has a level one (for key smacking toddlers) or a level 2 for more challenging play. Level one on the counting level lets you pick a number and it shows you that many animals. Level 2 makes you count the animals and hit only that number. The corrections are gentle such as "you chose 8. I don't think there are that many so lets try again".

Main menu:

The activities offered are as follows:

Chipy's Tree-house - Make and match shapes to make toys - 2 levels of play
Grandma's flower garden - help the butterfly change the flowers color on level 1, click on the flower that is the same as the butterfly on level 2

Lilly pond – get shown X number of animals on level one and count the animals on level 2

Picture play time in Grandma's House – coloring book fun

ABC mice at the toadstools – get shown a for apple, b for ball on level 1, select which starting letter on level 2

Music at the waterfall – click the 4 sets of instruments to change the music (fun)
Peekaboo friends in the woods – clear butterflies with the mouse on level 1

and match babies and mamas on level 2

Pros - as far as computer games for toddlers, this one has it all. Multiple levels, cute characters, multiple inputs for different ages, nice music and clickable animated surprises.

Cons –

The music is oddly non-rhyming and irritatingly catchy too (picky?)

My opinion: The Games are a lot of fun and you can dial-up the challenge for when your kids get bored. younger and older toddlers will love this game.

Toddler games - Reader Rabbit Toddler

2009-12-02T16:22:00.002-06:00

Reader Rabbit Toddler

Starting off with the basics: This game begins with Reader Rabbit’s friend jumping into a book during a visit with him. The action is centered around this small mouse as she explores the magical world that books can take you to.

The game can be driven either by clicking on the item you want or placing the mouse cursor over the item. Either way, you need some mouse skills.

Main menu:

The activities offered are as follows:

Stage – Singing with reader rabbit
Colors – coloring book
Castle – pop the bubbles with the mouse and free the critters (shown below)
Shape clouds – Group the shapes to move up the clouds
Woods – Use a flashlight (mouse) to reveal who is hiding in the woods (shown below)
Boxes – click the boxes until the same character is in all 3 for a song (shown below)
Flower and mushroom – music with 3 instrument groups
Train – ABC train – match the letters to unlock a picture in the train cars
Elephant – help match the baby animal sound to it’s parent (shown below)

Pros -

pleasing music
the singing with reader rabbit game (the stage) only has maybe 9 songs but it is great to watch reader rabbit act them out
animated surprises

Cons –

The main character is kind of quiet and doesn’t engage much
Great mouse skills needed

My opinion: The Games are challenging but not a whole lot of fun so once you see all the animations, you might get bored. A very good computer game for older toddlers but it might not last long.

Toddler games – Jumpstart baby

2009-12-02T15:01:00.006-06:00

Let me start with our favorite computer game for toddlers - Jumpstart baby.

I know this game has “baby” in the title but my child enjoyed this game all the way up to kindergarten. Once she was old enough to figure out the mouse, it added a whole new level of play. Instead of having to wait for the correct selection to highlight and hitting a key, she was able to operate the program and pull up what she wanted when she wanted it.

Starting off with the basics: This game begins with Teddy waking up and getting ready for the day's fun. When he is up, he tells the child to pick something fun to do from the mobile. Shown below, one of the items on the mobile is rotating. The reason is that the game can be driven entirely by hitting any key on the keyboard when the item you want rotates or by using the mouse to click on exactly what you want.

The activities offered are as follows:

Jacket – Dress up teddy
Train – Sorting colors
Horn – Music with 4 instruments
Star – Connect the dots to reveal the picture
Puzzle – Build the puzzle to reveal the picture
Teddy’s hide and seek – Look for Teddy in all sorts of locations – shown below
Crayon – Color pictures with Teddy’s help
Sheep – Animal sounds on the farm (My kid’s favorite) – shown below

Pros -

pleasing music
friendly critters
animated surprises
gentle correction
play with the keyboard (for babies) or the mouse for toddlers

Con -

The connect the stars game was a little bit frustrating to my daughter since 3 starts would turn into a complicated picture. The stars didn't seem to match up with the picture very well.

My opinion: All in all, a very good computer game for very young toddlers and those with learning disabilities, or as entertainment for an older toddler that just wants to mess around.

Computer games for toddlers

2009-12-02T14:17:00.002-06:00

In reviewing and helping play with computer games for toddlers, I have developed a lot of experience in what children like and what they don't like. My daughter and I have spent hours playing every pc computer game we could get our hands on when she was younger which gave me a strong sense of what type I should stay away from.

When it comes to toddlers, they are a fickle bunch and choosing which computer games will be fun as well as educational becomes extremely important. In addition to being fun and educational, a good game has to be the right mix of easy and challenging to keep the children learning without becoming frustrated. As you can see, computer games for toddlers have to pass a lot of hurdles to be usable. Much more than your standard pc computer game for teens.

This blog will review and make comments on the most popular computer games for toddlers as well as introduce some little known games and website that show promise. Almost all of these games will be available to buy online from amazon.com so look for the direct link on each page to purchase or read other reviews.