Website Review: PBS Kids Games

Kids love technology. There is something about their little 21st century brains that understands tech, can integrate gadgets, and can learn effectively through the computer. I have found technological based learning to be an effective tool in helping my children and my students learn.

The problem is, too many games for the popular gaming consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, or XBox 360 are too mature and not educational enough for little ones. PBSkids.org and the PBS Kids Games found there are a great tool that is both educational and age appropriate. Many of the games are targeted to specific age groups and academic contents. By letting your kids play PBS Kids Games, you are satisfying their need for technology and your need to educate.

General Note:
I always reccomend that parents preview every site before a child visits it to make sure that they are comfortable with the content. When possible, employ parent controls to limit when and where your kids can journey online.

Also, PBSkids.org and the PBS Kids Games require a high speed internet connection and the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player, and the Shockwave Player for your computer system.

The Games

PBS Kids Games are broken up into three primary age groups. There are games for very young (Toddler - 3) children such as Teletubbies, Seaseme Street, and Mr. Rogers. There are games for Pre-Kinder and Kindergarten aged kids which include Reading Rainbow, Caillou, and Arthur. Finally, there are games for emerging readers and early readers including Between the Lions, WordGirl and CyberChase.

Each age group's games are specifically targeted to age appropriate skills, and they do a good job of that. The young child games focus more on watching and listening with some basic matching skills, color recognition and patterns. The skills are embedded into shows that the children know and love and therefore they are engaging and educational. For the Pre-k group, the games focus on concept grouping (grouping semantically instead of just matching), number sense, and pre-reading skills like letter recognition and rhyming. The older kids games are the most engaging. They focus on phonics, math, trivia, and science concepts. In my opinion, it is with these more advanced games that PBS Kids Games really shine.

The Standout Games:

My daughter really began to be excited by computer learning when she turned five. It was in kindergarten that she finally was able to put her phonemic awareness and phonic skills to the test and begin reading. When I showed her the PBS Kids Games, she was ecstatic. Not only did she get to practice her reading, but she was able to reengage with the shows that she had begun to miss due to her school attendance. Her three favorite games were and are: WordGirl's Power Words, Between the Lions' Chicken Stacker, and CyberChase Squares.

WordGirls Power Words:
Why my daughter likes it: She likes it because it makes her laugh. The premise of this PBS Kids Game is simple. You "play" a series comic style, animated adventure stories. Every few lines you are faced with a dilemma and you must choose the word that that will solve the situation. The stories are campy and funny. They definitely make a new reader laugh.

Why I like it: It makes my daughter laugh. It is also very full of rich vocabulary. The player must choose the right word in context. When a word is chosen, even if it is wrong, the consequence plays out. this is great at both vocabulary building and cause and effect.

Between the Lions' Chicken Stacker
Why my daughter likes it: It is a challenging skill type game, and it reminds her of the games I play (like Tetris). To play this game, you must stack chickens (it makes her laugh too). The chickens have words on their stomachs and the player must stack the chickens based on a phonic skill our sound pattern. For example, you could be asked to match all of the chickens that have the long (a) sound. When you stack the necessary chickens, you win.

Why I like it: My daughter doesn't know it, but this PBS Kids Game is teaching her some very complex skills including keyboard and mouse skills, part-to-whole patterns, phonemic awareness, and number sense. For a silly chicken stack-a-thon, this game is educationally sound.

CyberChase Squares:
Why my daughter likes it: As she matured, CyberChase became her favorite PBS Kids show. It features more advance math and science, engaging characters, as well as a sense of humor. She gets to engage with her show pretty deeply in this game. Imagine the game show Hollywood Squares, but with some socially redeeming value. There is a grid of CyberChase Characters and you are asked to find the non-examples of the category that the host of the game presents. She really likes the format and the characters.

Why I like it: Did you read before when I said you have to find the non-example? That is a critical thinking skill that many adults lack. PBS Kids is not pulling any punches with the academics here. The best part is, my daughter loves doing it and she is good at it. When she aces levels on this game, I am actually proud of her.

Conclusion:
Regardless of the age or academic ability of your children, there is something for you at PBSKids.org. The games are engaging, entertaining, and educational. Parents can feel safe that their children will not stumble into something questionable, and kids can have fun. What more can you ask for in a children's website?