Educational+Games+and+Activities

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For this activity, we're going to take a look a few online games and activities for young children, and evaluate them for their pedagogical soundness, interactivity, and other important characteristics. As early child educators, it's important to not only be aware of some of the activities available to children, but also understand what distinguishes online resources from being good (effective for instruction or learning) or bad (a waste of time). We will also look at some Web 2.0 tools that can be used by students to create fun, engaging project.

__**Directions**__


 * You must review / evaluate at least two resources.** In your review and evaluation, consider the following:
 * instructional design
 * pedagogical soundness
 * interactivity
 * navigation
 * age-appropriate (readability, difficulty)
 * visually appealing

Be sure to include what the students do and learn by using the resource. We will also grow the list of resources, by contributing additional web-based resources appropriate for preschool age children. For instance, there are an abundance of interactive online field trips. **Can you find any appropriate for preschool-aged children?**


 * 1) On this Wiki page, write a brief description of the two sites you review and your comments about it's overall effectiveness as a teaching/learning tool (note, not all sites are effective). Even if someone has already added comments or a description, you may modify or add to what's been written, even if you disagree with the evaluation. Also, since most of the sites below link to a general site with a variety of activities, **be sure to create links to specific games and activities that you have reviewed**. See the example below.
 * 2) After you've completed an evaluation of at least two sites and added some comments, continue to grow the list throughout the remainder of the course, by adding at least one new site that is age-appropriate and that you would recommend to other teachers. Note, do not add sites that are teacher-or-parent only sites. We'll use the **Educator Resources ** page to create that list.

//Note: please include your initials after each comment//

I found this site to have intructional design for children. It was also very interactive and the navigation would be easy for young children to explore on it. I agree that it is totally age-appropriate for the early childhood student. The site is very colorful which causes the children to choose to explore here because of the visual appeal.(MC) || (PB)
 * = ===**Web Address**=== ||= ===**Content Focus**=== ||= ===**Description and comments about the effectiveness of the resource; include some brief comments about what you like or don't like about the site, and why.**=== ||=  ||=   ||
 * [|Play and Learn Literacy Center] || Literacy and Math || This site offers games and activities in four different languages. Activities help to reinforce shape, letter and number recognition. Emergent readers will enjoy trying to spell simple words such as colors by using the [|Words-Colors tool]
 * [|Play and Learn Literacy Center] || Literacy and Math || This site offers games and activities in four different languages. Activities help to reinforce shape, letter and number recognition. Emergent readers will enjoy trying to spell simple words such as colors by using the [|Words-Colors tool]
 * play and learn literacy center || literacy and math || This is one of the websites that I have reviewed and I enjoyed it. This site offered several things. The site offered games and activities in four different languages. This site is good for a child who speaks another language. Now they can do activites and games in theri language of trhe languageue games and actibities are posted. It is also good for a child who is english spoked, but theri parents may wnat them to learn a second language. The activities on this web site helped to reinforce letters, numbers and shape recogniton. Theis is a good soite for children who are having trouble with shapes, letters, and numbers. Thsi web site is goof for children in a classroom sitting who are emergent readers wil have wonderful tiem trying to spell simple words because the letters come up colorful, while we use the work color tools(ST). ||
 * [|Starfall] || Literacy || This site provides games that are related to literacy. Children can become familiar with letters and identify sounds. These are all great factors in exploring Phonics and Phonemic Awarness. I would highly recommend this website for K-Readiness Children and above.

Enjoy this site. It is very child centered and geared. Nice and bright, which captivates the mind of young children quickly. I was most proud of how easy and clear eash areaa of lesson was for the children to engage in. During exploring the site i introduced it to my 10month old and she seemed to injoy the ABC section alot.JJ

Site was easy to access, illustrations were bright and clear, level was appropriate for pre-school to first graders. It provided a variety of activities in several areas of learning which could increase eye/hand coordination, vocabulary comprehension, phonemic awareness, sequencing and sorting, and number recognition. - DM || This site demonstrates a comprehensive teaching tool ideal for beginner readers. This learning method includes phonic activities designed to develop and strengthen reading skills. Site was child friendly and accessible.(RE) || (RG)
 * starfall || literacy || This site is wonderfuland ideal for preschoolers, kidergarten who are learning sound phones. It is an ae appropriate web site. It gives children an opprotunity to wxplpre phoncix. The games on this funa dn exciting website is closely related to literacy. Children will be able to reorginize letters while learning the sounds to go with the letters. I recommand teachersin the earlychildhood/ elementary feild to try this great web site (ST)
 * [|Sesame Street Games] || colors safety,art, shapes math rhymes, sounds, habitats,music&movement using body-movements, and sing along with Elmo.

Nutrition, safety, reading readiness, math, geography, hygiene, and life skills in addition to those listed above. (Van) || This was one of the web sites I viewed, The web cite is targeted young toddlers they learn about colors, parents learn about safety on the internet This offers activities and games. These activities offers the young toddlers in reinforcing shapes, art, math, Rhyming, sounds, learning about homes, body and movement through Music/movement and singing among other things. I recommend this cite for all parents because it offers recognition in all the areas. Sesame Street Games. (RG)

This is a site that I havent used since when I was in the classroom and was surprised at some of the changes. I can see where the animation and content of the site have improved, such as the programs upload much faster which is needed when dealing with often impatient younger children and the site seems to be better organized making it easier for parents to navigate. (i.e. you can search by Subject, [|Themes], or Character)This also helps teachers to pinpoint specific actiities that may tie into their lesson plan. I think that most of the activities are age appropriate, challenge children and cover many of the developmental domains. The only thing that I didnt care for was that I had a hard time finding books to play (there used to be)and I didnt see any games for creating art, just coloring sheets. I really liked how all the activities offer extension tips for the parents that promote parent/child interaction.(Van) || areas.The children in grades K-3 will be able to use this site effectively.(DAC) || matching aew the skills focused on in this website. || I really liked veiwing this site.The storybook was intteractive and in two different languages.Letter recognition was displayed reading was involved,and spelling of three letter words.This site is developmentally appropriate for preschoolers.(DAC) This site, and its book, is and has always been an all time faorite of the philadelphia school district. This is great for children because it uses ywo different languages. With this interactive storybook, children are learning to learm, spell and recognize new and unfamilar words. This site to me is appropraite for preschoolers and up. JJ || Wasnt to fond of this site for younger children, it has waty to much clicking work for them to do. JJ ||
 * [|Fun Place to Learn]/ Primary Games || Matching and identify things that are the same or different. || This website name truely speaks for itself.After viewing this site I believe young children can benefit from this site.The materials are designed to help the children learn in several
 * [|KinderWeb] || Good pedagogical approaches to early learning. Persistence, reasoning and problem solving, imagination, creativity and invention are expressed in all the activities that are presented ont this web site. (SS) || This web site should be one of many that are selected when introducing kindergarten readiness skills to Pre-K. Its easy to comprehend and I enjoyed reviewing the activities, such as animal match. It allows a teacher to see how a child may see a lion by selecting parts and putting them together. Shapes and colors could be viewed as a circle activity for older toddlers. All they have to do is select which one is correct. Readability is good and navigation is easy. I would introduce this program to my staff first and then my children. (SS) ||
 * [|Scholastic (Clifford) Interactive Storybooks] || Reading,phonics,math,thinking,and
 * [|Little Animals Activity Center] || Literacy,Math, Games,Phonemic Awareness (SS) || I enjoyed the site so much my preschool is using it. The site is visually appealing as well as the activities being age appropriate. Navigation was well design for beginners as well as children who have been expose to technology. I would not recommend Count Hott or Puzzlesnuff to preschoolers because the activities seem to be design for children five years of age or older. (SS) ||
 * [|PBS Kids Games] || math, science. recognition of shapes, colors and computering painting. || PBS Kids was one of the websites I viewed. This site is targeted to Pre-Kindergarten. The animations are clear and inviting. The acivities of learning are on point with a pre-k student is starting to get familiar with them. The content focus is math, science, recognition of shapes, colors and computer painting: which is excellent for eye-hand-coordination. The cite was very interactive and for young children this constitutes a great web tool for learning. []. (RG) ||
 * [|Math][|Math Cats] || math,inroduction to geometry(F.H.) || This math site is definetly for children ages 8 to 12. The navigation is a little tricky. Although it has alot of information on it, I would think that you would have to be mathematecally inclined or like math to really enjoy the games. The crafts looked like they were fun (made by other students) avaliable that seem easy to recreate. If I was a teacher with students being introduced to geometry, I would require them to play on this web site because they could learn vocablary and play games that would prepare them for geometry.(F.H.) ||
 * [|eekOworld] ||  || Site provided easy access combining animation with real life. Many opportunities for exploration and discovery. Appropriate for pre-school through second grade. DM ||
 * [|Kindergarten Science] ||  || Site involved too much searching. Items were not readily available. Not child friendly. DM
 * [|Kids Page Learning Games] || Literacy, music, math, problem solving, science, holiday, word search on page 1 0f 7 || I liked this website there were many different games offered. I learned from the music match game. I think this site is more for school age children rather than preschool age. I will make this link available to my school age children. I like the variety, and the many areas covered. (Anna Mae) ||
 * [|StoryPlace] || Literay,Science and Math || What a wonderful website! Story Place offers activities that are related to such topics as: animals, colors, shapes, music and much more. It also provides parents with at home activities. I really enjoyed reviewing,Who am I and What color is it? These two components offers children the chance to identify: colors, shapes and counting. Overall, I am please to note that these activities are in English and Spanish. (PB) ||
 * [|Up to Ten] || Interactive games/activities that build: cognitive development, critical thinking, art, science, language,and music skills.(Van) || Although this site offered a bevy of activities for children, I didn't feel that this was a site for younger children unless they were supervised closely by an adult. The sites home page was a big tip off that this wasnt a child friendly site because it was crammed and hard to navigate. Some of the games like [|Siwa and her puppets] were good ideas but unless the child has well developed hand/eye coordination and computer skills they will become quickly frustrated with the game. ( I even became frustrated!) The one thing i did enjoy after finally wading through the site was that on their educational games section they show you the [|skills your child will develop] from the activity and at the top of the page you can choose what language you want to use.(Van) ||
 * [|Wumpas World] || Matching, eye,hand coordination.F.H.

Music, art, matching. (MC) || This online program was difficult to navigate. I was not clear about what to do. When I was finally able to play the matching game,I thought that it was okay. I wouldn't recconmmend this. The games seem to be for preschoolers, although they would need adult supervision to show them how to navigate. F.H. I did not like this site, I was bored immediately, saw no educational benefit except memory, and not much fun. (Anna Mae) I found this site interesting, but not sure what to do. You have to click on an object and then it would go into an activity. The directions weren't very clear to me. Each area had a different activity which included music, art, or matching. It is good for a winter-themed activity to go along with your lesson about the cold season.(MC) || (RG) || This is a wonderful cite for families and children, it offers a lot to do such as, coloring, games, craft ideas, families and preschoolers can share togetherf, information on learning to ride a bike, how to create magical memories, ideas for camping. incouraging young children to learn to read, how to come up with ideas for having the best PJ party and a lot more. I love this site there are so much for the kids to learn. This is a wonderful website for teachers to get ideas and incooperate into their lesson plans. Sprout. (RG)
 * [|Sprout] || coloring,games, craft ideas, activities for families and prescholers share together, learn to ride bike,create magical memories, ideas for camping, literacy, creating a good PJ party.etc

I agree with(RG )concering this website.(DAC) This website, especially to me, is awesome. i cant get enough of its television channel. It offers great learning for the entire family to be interactive with one another, which is something educatores strive for. Keep it up Sprout. JJ This site was visually stimulating with colorful images to accompany. There are a variety of activities for both parent and child and my favorite one is called "game of the week". This week "Rhonda's Dress Up Fun" game allows children to assist characters to dress in clothing of their choice. This activity helps children develop their self help skills, while expressing creativity.(RE) || (PB) || In and outdoor activities, seasonal educational and nutrition. http//games:preschoolrocks.com || Preschool Rocks is the first and largest site on the internet dedicated to parents and preschoolers. It offers games and activitites in such developmental areas such as: language, social, fine and gross motor development. This is truly a great website for preschoolers and children of all age groups.(PB) ||
 * Preschool Rock.Com
 * Everything Preschool Early Childhood Education Made Easy (RG) || Great ideas for Teachers and lesson planning ( Excellent Resource for Teachers) CC || Teachers will have opportunitie to utilize this great tool as a guide to plan ahead. There are themes for all seasons, celebrations, holidays and more. It relates to math, literacy, language development and the world around us!! It is a NAEYC accredited program which is an extra plus! CC ||
 * [|Nickjr.](Van)

[|www.nickjr.com] || Hands on learning activities, educational games,and learning how to do new projects. (DAC) || This webite is geared towards young preschool children.It offers learning activities and games that are apropriate for young children to become actively involved.The animations are clear and inviting.There is an available opportunity for the parent to become involved with the child.The child can develop or increase their eye hand coordination skills.(DAC) || A hands-on literacy and math tool for young children || ===Helps early learners reinforce literacy and math skills. Presents itself like a preschool playground. (gives a little of everything. Teachers and parents can get ideas to enhance ideas. (SS)=== This allows children to build social development along with phonemic awareness.These early literacy and math skills are beneficial for the young learner. I believe thses activities help with preparation for Kindergarten and later on in life. Children will become great problem solvers and learn how to interact with peers in a preschool setting!! It offers creative ways to play, imagine, discover and learn.CC || ===**Candyland dora is a highly interactive gave that teaches color, counting, language arts, spanish and improve eye hand coordination. the game is age approapriate for 2 1/2 and up and you can easily navigate through it. The colors are very vibrate and kid friendly. this is a game that every kid would love . LI**===
 * ===kids.aol.com (SS)=== || ===Literacy and Math (SS)===

-language arts, math, social studies, science and a host of games that include these contents
 * Primary Games-Candyland Dora**

-music, eye hand coordination The game itself was cute for a 2yr old but to navigate to it was too long for that age. The game was very interactive by letting the child hit any duck to make it dance. this was great for eye hand coordination and it wil let the child recognize cause and effect. LI [|www.kidsknowit.com]- This is a site that prek- 8th grade would love to explore and learn. If they need help with homework or just to learn and play games. it is easy to navigate and explore. Some things they can learn and explore are astronomy, Biology, dinosaurs, geography, and gelology. Children will be amazed with what they can learn and give other websites that they can get more detail. LI
 * Up to ten - Duck Dance**

I explored a site called Cbeebies on the BBC. This site was child as well as adult friendly providing many resourses and links to follow for further help or information. They even had a site to help families better navigate through the various programs offered. Several of the ones that I explored provided opportunities for learning in all areas of development and even had a special link for those children with special needs. The games and programs included learning in Math, Science, Language and Literacy, Social Studies, personal/social development, etc. Once the child had chosen a particular areas, it was easy for them to navigate through it. DM

[|www.noggin.com] - Game- Dora La Casa de Dora Children can travel through the ever popular Dora the Explorer's Casa enhancing the following skills: Pretend Play, Problem Solving, Music for listening skills, and visual - spatial. This site will also teach basic Spanish words to children. I found the site very pleasing to the eyes with a lot of animation as you travel through each room. My grand children really like this site also and can easily control the mouse to get where they want to go. I liked this site very much and played a little longer than I should have myself. It is age - appropriate for children 4-6. JBC

[|www.funwithspot.com] This online game will allow children to use their imagination while creating colorful pictures to enjoy at a later time. The skills being enforced are: color recognition, problem solving, hand/eye coordination, sequencing, and language development. The sites animation is child appealing along with the visual content. As an adult playing the games, I thought they were cute however, I feel that this site is more conducive to children just being introduced to the computer. Age- appropriate for children new to the computer (4) yrs. JBC

[] ABCya! This site features kindergarten computer activities as well as games that contain large and easy-to-use navigation buttons and voice instructions. However, the first activity is an interactive tutorial that demonstrates on how to use the navigation buttons. The following activities include: learning the alphabet, recognizing upper and lowercase letters, categorizing, using the computer mouse, drawing, and counting numbers. These activities are great for children that are using the computer for the very first time. BJ

[|www.learn4good.com/games/kids/ladybugs.htm] This game for small children will keep your little ones racing against other ladybugs, wandering around garden mazes and helping ladybugs find their homes. These are challenging yet extremely fun activities to stimulate your child's thinking and color recognition skills, while at the same time, simply having fun. BJ

[|www.nickjr.com] This websight addresses math, language,art,cooking, social studies, movement and music areas of development in the young child. It is a delight to any preschooler that uses it and navigation is simple. It is appropriate for children as young as four years old through around eight years old.The sight is multicultural and diverse. It introduces children to the Spanish language. Once children get on this sight, it's hard to get them off. DLT

[|www.highlightskids.com] The areas of child development addressed are social studies, art, math, language, science and history. Highlightskids.com provides a colorful, fun, and unique approach to learning for childen ages five through eight. The navigation is simple and the user is motivated to explore this websight more and more. Children are encouraged to work independently or with a friend. This is definately a positive teaching tool. DLT

__[|http://www.kidzui.com]__ This website actually allows the parent to download games and videos onto their desktop. The site has games, videos, and alot of fun activities for children 3-12. Parents don't have to worry about inappropriate sites because you con put parent controls on them. The site actually send e-mails to parents once a month with all the places or games the child went on, (now that's great). Children can play spelling games, math games, science,history, or learn information about almost anything they want to know about. It is interactive and fun. I would reccommend this site to anyone with children that like to be on the computer. You can download the website for free, but you can also pay a membership fee to obtain more privileges.

[]
===This website is both visually stimulating and easily navigated. Children are instantly connected to familiar characters that encourage them to participate in age appropriate activities. One such activity accompany's D.W. on a trip to the supermarket where you help shop via audio clues. This teaching tool encourages food identification as well as nutritional value instilled.(RE)===

[|http://www.edHelper.com]- This website is fantastic for teacher planning and staff development. It offers a number of resources for the young learner as well as the not so young learner. Reading Comprehension, LIteracy, Math, Social Studies, Phonics, Writing and more are offered here. This a site that is beneficial for all Early Childhood Educators. CCampbell

[|The Mailbox] - I love this site, it has great resources since it's by teachers for other teachers. You can also sign up for free sample pages if you don't want the magazine.

__**Web 2.0 Resources**__
[|Glogster]

[|Blabberize]

[|Kerproof]

[|Voki]

I like the idea of using “wiki space” for updating parents or to interact with parents. An example most of us write up what we did today paper or poster listing our books and activities for the day. We could post this on the daycare wiki and parents who did not see the poster would be able to access it, also many times the parent s have someone else pick up the children. Parent survey could be conducted. It could be another way to interact with parents and families. (Anna Mae)
 * Wikis** - how do you think they can be used in early childhod settings?

I believe that the wiki can be used not just in the ec setting but also in the community as a resource for parents and their children. In the ed setting you can set up a site for your parents to use as a communication board and also allow teachers to post information and parents can post questions/comments for the suggestion box.. If your community group (such as neighborhood watch) wants to share block info it can be a very good way to share information without wasting time to track people down or waste paper with flyers people might not read.(Van)

In the classroom a wiki will be helpful for the parents to see what their child has learned so far and any trips or events that they are having. Parents can also put any notes for the teacher on there and the teacher can check it at the start of each day. (RG)