It is amazing that so much of information and materials of knowledge is there out on the internet that can be used by the kids whether it be for education or for entertainment. But these exist lying in isolated corners – sometimes they do not come up on top of the search results.
In fact, I have been searching and finding such thing for my daughter over the past few months. I therefore list below some of it.
Kidzui: http://www.kidzui.com/
This is a webbrowser for the kids. It uses the Kidzui website as its resource. It aggregates the various kid related activity into various categories. The access to various (third-party) sites through the browser is tested. So, the child will not be able to access other than the defined sites at will. The good thing is that there are so many games, information, learning activities all aggregated at one place. Kidzui also has plugin for firefox. There are two versions available – free and paid. Even the paid version is very reasonably priced.
The major difference between the paid and free version is that some of the ‘school’ related activities like ‘homework help’ etc cannot be accessed. These are again (third-party) sites providing useful information put at one place in a convenient manner. (One can offcourse access those site through normal browser, searching through google or other search engine). Some of them are really good with all sorts of multimedia effect and audio-visuals.
Update: I find that now Kidzui (called K2) shows lots of adverts.
Hiyah: http://www.hiyah.net
This is website containing lots of educational freewares – particularly rhymes among various others. This is all freeware, and I would really commend those who made those learning materials for the kids. However, the downloads are of huge size – 25+ MB would be fairly normal for this site.
Sebran : http://www.wartoft.nu/software/sebran/
and Mini Sebran: http://www.wartoft.nu/software/minisebran/
These are two excellent freeware for children. These consists of different kinds of educational games.
GCompris: http://gcompris.net/
This is a freeware, downloadable game for children. Infact it consists of collection of 100+ games (including chess!). It would keep your child occupied for long hours. There is both educational game and fun game.
Update: I find that now in newer versions of GCompris the free part is limited to nearly 50%, while the blocked games can be accessed on payment.
2+2: http://funnymathforkids.com/
This is a math game / quiz, and has a very user-friendly interface. Infact it is put in such a format that it forces the kid to think and makes that an enjoyable process, and helps kids with math skills.
K9 Web Protection: http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
No listing for children can be final without the issue of safe-browsing. Ever heard of ‘Net Nanny’? Then the best freeware for your kids (and also for your computer) is the K9 Web Protection Software – which is free for home use. It is a terrific filter, with lots of option. It is highly recommended for a safe and enjoyable web browsing experience.
I have off-course only mentioned a few – but useful, and which I have seen my daughter to like and use over other options. Apart from above there are various freeware downloadable colouring books that are available, which I am not listing here.
( I would be adding on this page whenever I find any useful kid related freeware. Website visitors are encouraged to add their own choices of online and offline kid related games and software on this page through comment option)
Very useful tips. Thanks.