Did You Say Free?

AveryZoe

May 27, 2010

Free Online Games For Kids and Kids At Heart

There are many reasons to get your kids involved with online games. Technology is such a part of our world today that being comfortable with computers at an early age puts kids at an advantage. Many people also want to share their love of gaming with their kids, or even just to give them something to occupy them for a few minutes while Mom and Dad get busy (on the chores). The problem is that gaming is often times expensive and many parents are unwilling to let their kids go forth into the mostly unprotected world that is the Internet (protection is important, just ask your health teacher). If you take the time to look though, there are tons of games out there for every age, from that 9-month old who wants to bang on your keyboard to your surly teenager who wants to bang on the drum all the day (if you started humming the Todd Rundgren song, you are officially old). Well, we at GoozerNation have done all the work for you. We have scoured the Internet to find free games that are both fun and safe for kids and at all age levels (you can play them too, if they'll give you a turn). Did we mention they are free?

FreeSide (15K) Any parent who has tried to get some computing time in while there's a little tike around knows that babies love to bang on keyboards (they especially like to delete 20-page unsaved articles). Sesame Street.org has got the game for you. Babies of all ages (particularly from about 9-months to 2-years) will go crazy for Peekaboo Elmo. The giggling red monster (or his friends Zoe and Big Bird) will hide and implore your little one to find him. A simple smash to any key on the keyboard will have Elmo popping up and yelling PEEKABOO at your delighted little angel. For the average adult this would get old after about 10 seconds or so, but rugrats love it. In fact, they are likely to crawl over to your high-priced computer and beg for Elmo at all hours of the day. You're welcome. The great thing about Sesame Street online is that it grows with your kids. There are several keyboard games that only require pushing any key for the toddlers, but as your kid grows they can play all kinds of educational games involving letters, numbers, learning Spanish, and even decking Elmo out in some hot winter fashion. Your mini-me not a fan of Elmo? Nickjr. and Sprout both have similar games featuring your tot's favorite characters.

Once your progeny reaches elementary school age, they will decide they are too cool for Elmo and Dora (at least when their friends are around). Then it's time to introduce Club Penguin. Schoolkids *heart* Club Penguin, and it is a great first introduction to an online social component. Kids pick a penguin, which they can then outfit with cool clothes, perform jobs, keep pets, and all-around mess around with. The penguins have their own igloo that kids can deck out any way they like, and there are all kinds of fun things to do like go dancing and solve mysteries. They can also interact with the other penguins, which are all real kids. Club Penguin is super-safe for kids. The chat is closely monitored and features a super-safe mode. This means that kids can only use pre-determined phrases such as "Hi!," "Want to play with me?" and, "Hey, baby! Is that a fish in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" (no, not really). Players can only use free chat with parent's approval. Club Penguin does have a subscription based premium membership that allows for more costumes and pets, but don't drink the koolaid. The game is absolutely fun and playable in free mode and they aren't really missing out on anything. We used this as an opportunity to discuss financial responsibility (and boy did our kids love that talk!).

Club Penguin becomes uncool somewhere around 5th grade (sad, sad, world) but there are some great free games for older kids too. Bonus--they are fun for adults to talk about too. You'll finally have something to talk about other than their punk friends! The long-time hands-down (thumbs-up) favorites in our house are Adventure Quest and Fantastic Contraption. Adventure Quest is an online RPG that does not allow for any chat (your 13-year old daughter can't give her phone number to the 40-year old pedophile pretending to be a cute football player--there's Facebook for that). While this is not a social game, it is fun and engaging and the social component really isn't missed. Choose your character and start battling some monsters. The format is much the same as any other RPG--battle enemies, complete quests, level up. The story is interesting, and especially appeals to boys about age 9 and up.

Fantastic Contraption has got to be one of the best games out there. Item A is on the left side of the screen. Item B (a box) is on the other side of the screen. Your task is to build anything that will get item A into item B (just like high school--ha!). There is no right answer, and players are limited only by their imagination. This simple game is surprisingly addictive, and don't tell your kids but it's educational. Aren't you sneaky--they think they are rotting their brains playing video games, and they were learning physics all along. Mwah-ha-ha-hah! (That's my evil scheming parent laugh--feel free to insert your own *here*).

So what are you waiting for? These games are a fun way to get your kids interested in technology, keep them busy for a few minutes, and give y'all something to talk about at the dinner table all at the same time. And did we mention they were free?

Discuss in the forum.