[sparklemom]

do your children have any favorite places to play games for free online? dd1 is almost 8 and dd2 is 6. i'd like to find new resources for fun online activities and games. i know they're out there! where?? any suggestions?<br>
tia

 

[TattooedMama]

Well I have a list of ones I DON'T like, but that's not very helpful now is it? No seriously my ds (also 8) just came home from school this week with a new one that seems to be good. It's called Club Penguin (<a href="http://www.clubpenguin.com" target="_blank">www.clubpenguin.com</a>) and what I like about it is....<br>
1.) No advertising on the site at all, the account is free but you can upgrade to a paid account for like $3-5 a month if you want to.<br>
2.) It has "super-safe" mode so kids can't IM more than a pre-approved list of words. Which also hopefully means that a perv can't be IM'ing innapropriate things to your kid.<br>
Check it out today with your dc and let me know what you think.

 

[ChattyCat]

<a href="http://www.pbskids.org" target="_blank">www.pbskids.org</a> has lots of games that go with the programming. So, there's a Berenstein Bear area, Curious George, etc. Since, PBS has programming in the afternoons for older kids, I assume that there's stuff for them too. Also, <a href="http://www.sesamestreetworkshop.org" target="_blank">www.sesamestreetworkshop.org</a> might work for the 6yo, but probably not for the 8 yo.

 

[Jilian]

<a href="http://www.starfall.com" target="_blank">www.starfall.com</a> is a good site to help kids read or get ready for reading, it has different levels for different ages.<br><br><a href="http://www.sproutletsgrow.com" target="_blank">www.sproutletsgrow.com</a> and <a href="http://www.noggin.com" target="_blank">www.noggin.com</a> are ok too.

 

[MomToKandE]

starfall.com is one that they use in dd's first grade class.<br><br>
They've also been using sites at the US Mint. Her computer is dead right now but it I manage to get it back up I'll check her bookmark list.

 

[Dmitrizmom]

I'll admit that ds loves <a href="http://www.cartoonnetwork.com" target="_blank">www.cartoonnetwork.com</a> and <a href="http://www.looneytunes.warnerbrothers.com/web/games" target="_blank">www.looneytunes.warnerbrothers.com/web/games</a>

 

[JessicaS]

neopets.com is fun and you can turn off messaging and stuff

 

[Stinkerbell]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>TattooedMama</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7983413"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Well I have a list of ones I DON'T like, but that's not very helpful now is it? No seriously my ds (also 8) just came home from school this week with a new one that seems to be good. It's called Club Penguin (<a href="http://www.clubpenguin.com" target="_blank">www.clubpenguin.com</a>) and what I like about it is....<br>
1.) No advertising on the site at all, the account is free but you can upgrade to a paid account for like $3-5 a month if you want to.<br>
2.) It has "super-safe" mode so kids can't IM more than a pre-approved list of words. Which also hopefully means that a perv can't be IM'ing innapropriate things to your kid.<br>
Check it out today with your dc and let me know what you think.</div>
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</tr></table></div>
yes! we're all big fans of Club Penguin in my house. Safe, fun, innocent and yet allows them to interact with other friends. My son got a bunch of his friends to sign up.<br><br>
Now we pay for his membership monthly ($5/month) as his reward for his chore chart. The paid membership jsut lets them buy more items (fake) and upgrade silly things.<br><br>
We also have used Neopets.com when my oldest was younger.

 

[merpk]

Thanks for that clubpenguin link. It looks interesting.<br><br>
My nephew had been trying to get my DS#1 to sign up for webkinz.com, which we couldn't find because they didn't send us a link and we thought it was "webkids," but anyway, that one looked a little too ... dunno. Young, maybe.<br><br>
Am very stressed about all this chat/IM stuff for kids, even if it is in a "safe" kids space. It all seems too much too fast for kids who can barely remember to e-mail grandma&grandpa once a week, you know?

 

[teachma]

My son loves some of these:<br><br><a href="http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/" target="_blank">http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/</a>

 

[willibug]

I'll put in another vote for Club Penguin. DS 11 and DD 8 *love* this one at the moment!

 

[ombra*luna]

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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>teachma</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7986918"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">My son loves some of these:<br><br><a href="http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/" target="_blank">http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/</a></div>
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I just went there to check it out and tried the first one (Winterbells). That is hard! Most of the time I scored 10-30 although I did get 550 one time and 1050 another time. It seemed so random at stopping (game over). Back to check out another game - don't want to send ds there and have it be over his head!<br><br>
Wow some of those are totally addictive. Others, I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do.

 

[amnda527]

another vote for starfall! funbrain.com is a good one too. They have math and reading games, plus non-educational.

 

[Lisa Lubner]

I really like lego.com... hate hate hate cartoonnetwork, ultimatearcade, noggin, nickjr, and nick.com... the last three all link to each other and every time my son goes there he ends up downloading a bunch of stuff. ultimatearcade has some violent stuff i don't approve of and CN doesn't work and freezes my computer half the time.<br><br>
lovelovelove starfall though. and pbskids.org...

 

[merpk]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Lisa Lubner</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7991976"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I really like lego.com... hate hate hate cartoonnetwork, ultimatearcade, noggin, nickjr, and nick.com... the last three all link to each other and every time my son goes there he ends up downloading a bunch of stuff. ultimatearcade has some violent stuff i don't approve of and CN doesn't work and freezes my computer half the time.<br><br>
lovelovelove starfall though. and pbskids.org...</div>
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<br><br>
Totally agreed. DS#1 has been obsessing with Pokemon games, and has even been doing google searches for more Pokemon sites, and every time I see that "google" logo on the screen I totally stress. A lot of unpleasant stuff can show up on a google search even for something innocent. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"><br><br>
So I sent DS#1 off to clubpenguin tonight and he's very very happy there. Thank G!d. And the other kids are all jealous that they didn't get a turn on the computer tonight because of that site. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> This should keep 'em occupied for a while.<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Am wondering, though. They say the site is "safe" from predators, but how can anyone ever assure that?

 

[QuestionGal]

<a href="http://www.coolmath4kids.com/" target="_blank">http://www.coolmath4kids.com/</a>

 

[Thalia the Muse]

For very little kids, poisson rouge. For older ones -- my daughter loves this "board game" on the Lazytown site. Websudoku.com has some especially for kids (smaller diagrams, they can use colorful symbols instead of numbers).<br><br>
The games at Orisinal are very cute and inoffensive. I'm not coordinated enough for most of them, though!

 

[Kerlowyn]

DS2 loves <a href="http://www.uptoten.com/" target="_blank">http://www.uptoten.com/</a><br><br>
If you like RPG stuff, <a href="http://www.dragonfable.com/" target="_blank">http://www.dragonfable.com/</a> is a free one.

 

[MillingNome]

Depending on your dc's ages addictinggames.com is fun for wasting time. We like Kitten Cannon and Meal or No Meal. It's filled with ads, just to let you know...

 

[Thalia the Muse]

OK, off to check out Kitten Cannon ...<br><br>
EDIT: WOW! That is really not my sort of thing. I don't think I'd encourage my daughter to play that.