Question kids on computers??

Aaralyn loves to go on Nickjr, Disney Playhouse, PBSkids, PBSsprout and Noggin websites to play games and listen to music, watch videos, make pictures, and print them and other printouts for cutting, coloring or pasting.

The problem is she would sit there for hours if I let her (geez, where does she get that from, ok, I don't sit here for hours, I just pop on and off alllllll day )...

Anyway, I usually will let her play for max 1/2 hour at a time. Sometimes she gives in easy and sometimes it's a bit of an argument when it comes to quitting time.

Opinions please, do you guys think a 1/2 hours is too long? could I let her stay on longer? It is all pretty much education stuff and getting better with fine motor skills, but what becomes too much??

She doesn't have any other computer games yet, I know I should probably buy some but she plays on the computer at certain times during the week at school and the ones you buy are expensive!! she seems to be happy with the website games she does anyway as there is ALOT of variety...

So, whatchall think about all that

BTW, I do know how to type and speak grammatically correct, but sometimes it's more fun not too!

I don't see any problem with it, particularly if you know what site they are on and it's educational too. I'd rather that than seeing kids stuck in front of the TV watching cartoons all day

I tended to buy Jas more computer games that were educational, even from the Pingu type ones. She loved playing the games and there was a good variety for spelling, making up shapes, etc. I didn't mind her being on 30-60 minutes (but that wasn't every day I hasten to add). I would often sit with her so she could proudly show me what she was doing. As they got more difficult, you had to beat the clock or certain scores which was good for increasing difficulty.

I also have to check myself at times as we didn't have computers when I was at school so it's such a different thing now and kids are used to them.

I say if she's having fun and learning, that's good

i think that 1/2 hr is plenty altho the flitting between games and waiting for pages to load can take a while, so its up to you how you work it or have set times and see how she acts, or reward time for helping mummy at home gets an extra 10 minutes or something like that just dont allow to long as we all know how addictive the computer is

We let Vic on those sites also,we allow him about an hour as we have dial up and it takes ages to load up new sites pages etc,everything he playes is on our favourites list and it is all educational,we have also got him a DS and all the games he is going to have are also going to be games he can learn from like brain train etc.

i think that thats plenty of time if hse has maybe 2 30 minutes in a day where she can go online.

For me computer skills are absolutely essential for everybody these days. I don't see a problem with half an hour to an hour at a time. More than that is probably a bit much, but that said they probably watch more TV than that so I'd rather that they were on the computer as it is usually a little more constructive.

Flat out computer games are expensive but typically educational ones are normally cheaper, and as few people seem to buy them, they usually end up in the bargain bin at PC World or Game.

Maybe more computer time and less TV will stop my youngest daughter playing every roleplay type game with an American accent (bring back British made kids TV)!!!

just folow the comp rules like a 15 min break every half hour or so to grab a drink and let he stay on for as long as she like i dont see any harm if they educational hunni

glad she likes doing them

xxx

I think 30minutes at a time is plenty hun (according to me optician no-one should be infront of a computer for more than 20-30minutes at atime anyway)

I think it is great that she likes the computer and uses it (Joseph does sometimes but not very often).

In this day and age computers are a part of life and children should be encouraged to use them from an early age. There are 3 in my new nursery class and an interactive white board (which I am so excited about)

Try amazon for cheaper educational games hun. I got a few for Joseph from there in the new and used section. Early reading and phonics and a few Thomas ones aswell.

Charlotte loves the Cbeebies website.

She plays on my laptop but its only for about 1/2hr or so. I don't think its too long hun, like everyone else has said, a little more constructive than the TV.

My mum bought Charlotte a Vtech computer with a Dora the Explorer game, but she struggles with the controls a little then loses her patience LOL, so she finds the mouse a lot easier to use on the computer.

orc30 said:
For me computer skills are absolutely essential for everybody these days. I don't see a problem with half an hour to an hour at a time. More than that is probably a bit much, but that said they probably watch more TV than that so I'd rather that they were on the computer as it is usually a little more constructive.

Flat out computer games are expensive but typically educational ones are normally cheaper, and as few people seem to buy them, they usually end up in the bargain bin at PC World or Game.

Maybe more computer time and less TV will stop my youngest daughter playing every roleplay type game with an American accent (bring back British made kids TV)!!!

Aaralyn would much rather play games or do activities on the computer than watch tv anytime, so I guess that's a good thing! I may look into getting her some more education/fun games as well.

As far as the American programming on Brittish tv, I never thought about it but can see that could be frustrating when your children are watching educational programs for learning, yet they are not hearing it in their own accent. Do you guys have mostly only American programs for kids? I know there's a few you all have talked about that I've never heard of cbeebies for one.

On that subject, Aaralyn loves Charlie and Lola and I've heard her on several occasions "speaking" like them I love it!! LOL!

Tammy, here's the link to the Cbeebies website, Cbeebies Charlie and Lola are on there, in their section, you can watch stories and Charlotte loves the counting bugs game

Thank you Sarah!! I think I had book marked that a long time ago and then moved and forgot about it... I'm sure Aaralyn will be really excited to have a new site!! doubt she'll remember that one, it's been a while!

George often sits and plays on the laptop. He has his own mouse whic his larger and easier for him to use than my plug in one (hate laptop mousepads!). HE only goes on it when either myself or Ronnie is about and is never left unattended.

You can pick up really cheap pc games on ebay just remember to check the spec as they might be for older models and not run on your machine.

Charlotte actually used to have PC lessons once a week at nursery for an hour.
Seeming as like others have said computer skills are almost essential in every day life now i see no problem and there is a lot more educational stuff online then on tv LOL!
Charlotte also has a Wii and uses my DS both of which i find have a huge range of educational as well as fun games for them. She also has a leap frog hand held game system which she loves and all the games she has for that are mathematical, language, etc builders!
Charlotte also loves being creative andwill sit for HOURS at her craft table drawing, sticking, gluing, etc and as we dont have access to a garden she needs more to entertain her coz i cant drive to get the kids out to a park and theres isnt one near us as we are out in the middle of no where
during the summer hols she will be going into work with DF as i cant afford to take her into the play scheme where i work and she loves sitting in the office with MIL andtakes everything in!

my kids spend about an hour on the computer. not everyday though. catherine loves the cbeebies site, roary and my little pony. she always plays games. jami likes dressing up games at the minute. they really good fun actually LOL

Aaralyn was playing on cbeebies for a bit, she really liked it!! Thanks again for the link Sarah!

And, thanks for all the responses to this post! I feel better about the time that she does spend on here!

Summer likes to go on CBeebies, Stardoll and watches Lazy Town on Youtube, but she doesn't have a games console. We will let her play for a while then say "no more today" although she doesn't go on every day. If she is really naughty her punishment is to not be allowed on the computer for a any when from a day to a week depending on what she's done wrong. Denis isn't old enough to go on yet!