THE TOP TEN TOT WEBSITES & APPS
WEBSITES AND APPS FOR YOUR TODDLER that have some great educational benefits too!
You probably know all the caveats about too much screen time for toddlers. However, that’s not to say that there isn’t a time and place for your tot to interact with technology. With these 10 educational websites for your kiddie, you can guarantee the most benefit from it.
Website #1 TAKALANI SESAME STREET
Sesame Street is a series that is globally recognised, but has been beautifully localised with Takalani Sesame. You can choose between English, Afrikaans, Isizulu, Sepedi and Tshivenda, and kids can learn a letter of the day and a word of the day. To play Sesame Street games that teach number and letter recognition or watch videos from the show, head to the international parent site. www.takalanisesame.co.za www.sesamestreet.org
Website #2 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LITTLE KIDS
This website is ideal for the five and under set. The site is bright, uncrowded and easy to navigate and has plenty of straightforward games that teach basic navigation skills. There are games, crafts, recipes, videos and, of course, loads of animal information. However, there’s no instructional voiceover, so parents will need to play alongside their younger children to help them explore. www.kids.nationalgeographic.com
Website #3 FISHER-PRICE GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
The makers of the iconic toy series have a very child friendly website offering online games, colouring pages and crafts for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. There’s a set of filters to help select age appropriate games that have cheerful voiceovers, music and easy navigation using basic mouse skills. All the games teach skills like ABCS, number and shape recognition, matching and counting. www.fisher-price.com/en-za/gamesandactivities/onlinegames
Website #4 UP TO TEN
This website offers a huge range of puzzles, coordination games and mazes. Early learning games and activities are the core focus, and there are more than 1 000 age appropriate games for preschoolers and children up to ten years old. Characters Boowa and Kwala have a huge reserve of games with options for older or younger kids and voiceovers to guide the activity. For kids who really love the site, there is a premium option. www.uptoten.com/
Website #5 NICKJNR
Whether you love or loathe the Nickelodeon brand, the Nickjnr website is specifically designed for preschoolers. This bright, cheerful site is anchored around Nickjnr’s most popular shows,
notably Bubble Guppies, Paw Patrol, Dora
and Friends and Team Umizoomi. Games like Spin Art are great for younger children developing mouse and basic navigation skills, and the navigation is all voiced, so preliterate kids can understand the instructions and progress through the activity. The enthusiastic American voiceover is likely to drive parents batty after a while, but your toddler probably won’t blink an eye. www.nickjr.com
Website #6 SPROUT
This preschooler site features games, videos, colouring pages and crafts and recipes suitable for younger children. It’s linked to an American TV channel, but many of the range of show characters in the games will be familiar to South African children – Angelina Ballerina to Sarah & Duck, Bob the Builder, Zou and Noddy, among others. The games have voiceovers for easy navigation by preliterate tots, and users can choose between easy and hard options. There are links on the site to send user generated pictures through to the TV channel, so a parent needs to be there to supervise interaction on the site. www.sproutonline.com
Website #7 KNOWLEDGE KIDS
This Canadian website is fun and simple, with easy navigation and a good range of games, videos and activities aimed at younger, preschool and nursery school aged children. Game voiceovers mean that even quite young children can manage to find their way through a game, and there are colouring pages for download. http://www.knowledgekids.ca/
Website #8 CBEEBIES
This site is linked to the popular Dstv channel and has a wide range of games based on the channel’s popular shows. The easy to navigate site also has downloadable colouring sheets, story time episodes of shows like Charlie &
Lola, Baby Jake, Numtums and 64 Zoo Lane, and songs from all the shows. The songs might just drive parents dilly, but your kids will love it and all the content on the site is perfect for tots, with voiceovers for easy instructions and navigation. www.cbeebies.com/za/
Website #9 DISNEY JNR
As with most of the children’s channels, Disney Jnr has a website that backs up its programming with games, activities, colouring and video content. Navigation is very easy, aided by a voiceover and there is a very broad range of games to choose from, featuring all the Disney characters your children already know and love. It’s geared towards toddlers and preschoolers and you can select options by brand (for example, Jungle
Junction) or category, like games. If your children already watch Disney Jnr this is a great option to introduce smaller kids to basic computer skills. www.disney.co.za/disney-junior
Website #10 FUNBRAIN JNR
This website offers educational games, stories for older children, printables and stickers. The games adjust to the child’s age and stickers are earned by playing games. The site is designed so that parents can sit with their children and play, or the children can explore on their own, and all the games develop early literacy, maths and problem solving skills. http://www.funbrainjr.com/