posted
My almost-three daughter watches videos on my computer. Does anyone have suggestions for computer games I can play while she does so? They need to be
a) Playable entirely, or almost so, with mouse (my left arm is around my daughter)
b) Playable in a window, and preferably not a very large one (so another window can show her video), and
c) Not be disturbing or violent, at least beyond an abstract or cartoon level.
I've been playing Lux (Risk) and solitaire, but it gets old.
(I'm using Windows XP. Thanks anyway, Mac people.)
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Nearly forgot about Popcap. Been a while. Thanks, Tom.
I love KOTOR dearly, but I wouldn't play it in front of my daughter. Too many humans and human-like people killed, not to mention scenes of torture. Bloodless, but still.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Blayne Bradley
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posted
get a second moniter and play any game by Paradox Interactive in the other.
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Um, you could look for some games with google. Myself, I enjoy looking up some old-school games once in a while...pong only uses the mouse. It's fun. Pac-man is fun too...just the arrow keys. Hope this helps some.
Posts: 63 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
try addictinggames.com it's got some violent games but its in list form so you can choose which games you want to play and exclude the ones you don't. It should keep you occupied for awhile.
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
The entire Myst series can be played almost entirely with the mouse, and can be found relatively cheaply. They're point and click puzzle games, but I like the story lines and the graphics are awesome.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Sterling, have you spoken with your pediatrician about your daughter watching videos on your computer? Ours has told us to keep Aerin away from the computer screen until 4 and nothing on the t.v. until age 2. It may just be because Aerin's a preemie, but you might want to check.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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When my son was that age, I played with him. And you know what, it was fun and memorable. Maybe you can find fun stuff to do together. Those giant Legos (Duplos) and wooden blocks are fun. We also told stories to each other, and I taught him to read at that age, writing little books for him to read to me (he was in charge of the illustrations).
You can take her into the kitchen and cook stuff together, too. Then she can help you wash up the bowls and wipe down the kitchen.
It sounds like you want to play parallel to her playing, minimizing any interactive play. I remember almost-three as being a fun time. I don't mean to sound preachy, it's just that what you are asking is foreign to my child-rearing experience.
Then again, I am old.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: When my son was that age, I played with him. And you know what, it was fun and memorable. Maybe you can find fun stuff to do together. Those giant Legos (Duplos) and wooden blocks are fun. We also told stories to each other, and I taught him to read at that age, writing little books for him to read to me (he was in charge of the illustrations).
You can take her into the kitchen and cook stuff together, too. Then she can help you wash up the bowls and wipe down the kitchen.
It sounds like you want to play parallel to her playing, minimizing any interactive play. I remember almost-three as being a fun time. I don't mean to sound preachy, it's just that what you are asking is foreign to my child-rearing experience.
Then again, I am old.
Yeah, I was a little concerned this topic might come off that way. Rest assured that my daughter spends lots of time dancing, singing, and playing outside, including with her parents. She's a little too much into the "I want to do this myself" thing to build blocks with her, but she does love having us draw and read to her.
But she also enjoys watching Sesame Street, Veggie Tales, and Baby Einstein, and during those still times I occasionally want to engage my brain on something a little more challenging. It's often the only time of day, aside from her nap, that I get to be *still*.
In short: This is addendum to the "good stuff", not how we spend the majority of our day. I understand and appreciate your concern.
quote:Originally posted by Mrs.M: Sterling, have you spoken with your pediatrician about your daughter watching videos on your computer? Ours has told us to keep Aerin away from the computer screen until 4 and nothing on the t.v. until age 2. It may just be because Aerin's a preemie, but you might want to check.
My daughter is nearly three. I tend to assume that watching videos on our computer is much equivalent to watching television; better, perhaps, since we directly control her input and there's less chance of her inadvertently seeing something we might not want.
Her parents both spend a fair amount of time on the computer. I suspect controlling her interest and access is going to be much easier than preventing it all together.
And I should clarify: she doesn't watch television at all. Neither do her parents. And it's an LCD screen, so in addition, there's zero radiation.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Cool, then. And as I said, I AM old. Why, when I was a kid, we didn't HAVE videos! Computers were mainly seen in the movies as great big things with lots of flashing lights and those weird reel-to-reel tape things where the reels never seemed to be turning in sync with each other. Touch-tone phones were like science fiction, and when you called up a business, a person answered the phone because there were no buttons to press. Our mothers used to tell us to go outside and play in the sun, because we still had an ozone layer to protect us, and the sun wasn't dangerous like it is nowadays. And we could "explore" in the woods without having to worry about getting Lyme disease. There WAS no Lyme disease!
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The recommendation I heard is no or very, very limited screen time until 2, and then limit screen time (screen time means anything on the computer, tv, or whatever) to 1 hour a day or less (preferably less.)
Do I always stick strictly to this? No. Do I try? Often.
An almost-three-year-old who watches an hour or so of videos on the computer some days doesn't seem like much of an issue to me, as long as it isn't for the parents.
(The issue, btw, has nothing to do with radiation, but is about brain development.)
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Actually, radiation never entered my mind (Aerin has had dozens of x-rays, so I don't worry about screens). I was thinking about her eyes (should have been more clear). Again, I don't know if what our pediatrician tells us is applicable to healthy term children, but we were told that looking at a computer screen isn't good for Aerin's eyes. Andrew does hold Aerin while he's at the computer, but he holds her so that she can't see the screen (most of the time). I'm very paranoid about Aerin's eyesight since she was diagnosed with Stage 1 ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) at 32 weeks. It resolved itself, but OCD Mom can't stop worrying.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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These flash games are all very simple, and super cute. Your daughter might want to play instead of watching her videos though Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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