help w/ gamecube for 4 yr old
Laurie
Does anyone know a good game for the gamecube that is easy enough for
my 4 yr old to play alone.
He can only get so far on madagascar, starwars2, shamu, and we have a
couple mario bros. and he is so frustrated.
I can't get far either and my older son is not always around to help.
We have leapster and leappad, but he wants to do gamecube.
TIA
Laurie
my 4 yr old to play alone.
He can only get so far on madagascar, starwars2, shamu, and we have a
couple mario bros. and he is so frustrated.
I can't get far either and my older son is not always around to help.
We have leapster and leappad, but he wants to do gamecube.
TIA
Laurie
[email protected]
In a message dated 6/25/2007 5:02:22 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
seaglasshearts@... writes:
Does anyone know a good game for the gamecube that is easy enough for
my 4 yr old to play alone.
He can only get so far on madagascar, starwars2, shamu, and we have a
couple mario bros. and he is so frustrated.
I can't get far either and my older son is not always around to help.
We have leapster and leappad, but he wants to do gamecube.
TIA
Laurie
Laurie, we have a Super Nintendo game (old, lol) that is a Sesame Street
game with the Count - it's erm...downloaded onto XBox, actually, ahem ;) It's
really simple and easy, no great graphics, but helped Julian (4, 5 in Sept.)
feel better about trying. It's not an amazing game by ANY means, but it's
simple and fun and good to help the eye hand coordination. Julian is now really
pretty good at Super Mario 3...hey, what about Mario Kart? That was an earlier
game for him too, and he did quite well on the first few tracks. We also play
Burn Out, lol...which took some getting used to and letting go for me (it's a
car crashing game, that's the point to crash and stuff) But Mario Kart might
be a good one. Also, Tetris is fun if he enjoys puzzles. Dr. Mario is
similar to Tetris, so that's another option there, too.
I'm glad you asked, because we are looking for good games here, too.
Karen
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
seaglasshearts@... writes:
Does anyone know a good game for the gamecube that is easy enough for
my 4 yr old to play alone.
He can only get so far on madagascar, starwars2, shamu, and we have a
couple mario bros. and he is so frustrated.
I can't get far either and my older son is not always around to help.
We have leapster and leappad, but he wants to do gamecube.
TIA
Laurie
Laurie, we have a Super Nintendo game (old, lol) that is a Sesame Street
game with the Count - it's erm...downloaded onto XBox, actually, ahem ;) It's
really simple and easy, no great graphics, but helped Julian (4, 5 in Sept.)
feel better about trying. It's not an amazing game by ANY means, but it's
simple and fun and good to help the eye hand coordination. Julian is now really
pretty good at Super Mario 3...hey, what about Mario Kart? That was an earlier
game for him too, and he did quite well on the first few tracks. We also play
Burn Out, lol...which took some getting used to and letting go for me (it's a
car crashing game, that's the point to crash and stuff) But Mario Kart might
be a good one. Also, Tetris is fun if he enjoys puzzles. Dr. Mario is
similar to Tetris, so that's another option there, too.
I'm glad you asked, because we are looking for good games here, too.
Karen
************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Paul D. Fernhout
Laurie-
You could try "Animal Crossing", even though it is pitched at an older
audience:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Crossing
From there: "Animal Crossing is a social simulator that has been dubbed
a "communication game" by Nintendo. It is an open-ended game, where a
player can live a separate life with little preset plot or mandatory
tasks. There are, also, certain tasks which players can choose to
complete, and goals they can choose to achieve. The game is played out
in real-time - observing days, weeks, months, and even years - 29,
according to Nintendo- using the GameCube's internal clock. There are
many actual events and holidays spanning the year, including
Independence Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, among others. Other
regular activities such as early morning fitness classes and fishing
tournaments are included in the game as well. Some players purposely
adjust the clock to skip forward or backward in time, a practice known
as "time traveling." Other players use cheat codes."
Sounds very unschooling to me; I have not played it myself, though I saw
a kid (about seven) play it who liked it a lot.
One positive review on it as used by a four year old (although with the
parent helping too, why not try, you might like it too?):
http://rendergaming.blogspot.com/2004_10_01_archive.html
From there: "For the last six days, my wife, daughter, and I have been
completely hooked on the game. Animal Crossing's allure is hard to
describe. It's a game (if you can call it that) about simple
pleasures--collecting seashells, fishing, picking fruit, chatting with
your neighbors, et cetera. It has no conflict to speak of, no tension,
and no "save the universe"-type goal. It has no plot. It lacks the
godlike control system and complex customizations options of the Sims.
It's Hello-Kitty cute and you can play it for hours on end, every day.
Needless to say, the game's been a big hit. More on Animal Crossing
later. I have to go pry the controller from my wife's hands and force
her to eat, sleep, and bathe."
In general I think when a family plays media (TV or games) together,
some of the bad aspects of them go away. The previous review cited also
speaks highly of another game -- although clearly played together with
parent and child. From there: "A week or so ago I finished the Legend of
Zelda: The Windwaker, bringing an end to a truly sublime gaming
experience. Windwaker is one of those rare games that leaves you with a
deep affection for its characters and a real sense of accomplishment. My
experience with the game was made especially enjoyable by the fact that
my four-year old daughter, a true fairy tale devotee, was equally
entranced by its story and characters. Over the last couple of months,
we've had a lot of fun playing Windwaker together, and I believe that
Link, Tetra, Tingle, and the rest of the Windwaker cast have earned a
place in her imagination equal to that held by the Disney Princesses." A
link for that:
http://www.zelda.com/gcn/
The "Harvest Moon" series is also another possibility, though again
aimed at an older audience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_%28series%29
From there: "Most Harvest Moon games are permutations of a central
formula. The game generally takes place over a set period of time
(generally 3 years), in which the player is charged with the task of
running a successful farm, getting married, having a child, and becoming
friends with the townsfolk. Most gameplay in the Harvest Moon games
consists of planting seeds to grow fruits and vegetables in the spring,
summer, and autumn, and collecting items, making home improvements, and
building personal relationships in the winter. A successful farmer must
weigh the cost, selling price, number of harvests, and growth times of
the various types of produce in order to pick the best product for each
of the seasons. The player must also balance their physical resources;
if players over-exert themselves, they might not have the energy to
perform needed activities, or might even get sick and miss a day of
farming."
I have played one of that series "Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland" on
the PS2 and liked it a lot and think a young child would also like it
(though I have not see a young child play it, or seen the specific
versions for the GameCube). You need to be able to read for some of
them, in which case, a parent or babysitter would need to play it with a
young child.
For pure addictive non-violent arcade action, "Super Bust-A-Move" is
nice, with very simple controls, but not sure if a four year old would
take to it (or should :-).
http://gamecube.gamezone.com/gamesell/p20849.htm
On the redeeming side, I do think that does teach some 2D problem
solving skills though. My wife liked it a lot.
I'd also suggest some of the Dancing Games like DDR could be worth while
for both your kids. They involve a mat where you have to make the right
dance moves.
http://www.ddrgame.com/
A review here recommending one version for age five and up, perhaps if
your youngest is near a birthday?
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/child/article/0,19840,1180502_3,00.html
"Best for young kids (5 and up) is Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix; it
follows the cartoon character Mario as he tries to retrieve his lost
Music Keys, which will restore peace — and rhythm — to the people of the
Mushroom Kingdom. Kids are challenged to dance in sync with a song as
the right moves flash on the screen."
In general, with the Nintendo Wii out,
http://wii.nintendo.com/
with its unusual controller which requires arm movement and encourages
getting off the couch to get a little exercise,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote
if your kids do play computer games, getting a Wii might be worth the
investment in the near future for the health of your kids overall if you
can possibly afford it (it also plays GameCube games and can use those
controllers). Your kids are literally going to spend hundreds to
thousands of hours with these games; so why not get them something that
keeps them physically active too? Most of the top titles seemed pitched
at older kids though (7+):
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-lists/Wii-Titles.html#RLists
They do come with some sports games that are supposed to be fun for the
whole family.
You might ask yourself why your four year old needs to play the games
alone? Could a deeper issue be not so much finding a good game, but
instead somehow finding more help with babysitting or perhaps an in-home
"mother's helper" (like a twelve year old neighbor starting out on a
babysitting career?) while you are off doing other things around the
house or just to get more time for yourself? Everyone needs such time;
if you just want the game as a babysitter, then there are other
alternatives -- some people get it at places like the YMCA which often
offer free childcare while parents use the facilities (though Y's cost
something monthly, typically $60 or so). If on the other hand, it's just
because you don't think video games are for you or you can't do certain
ones of them well (you mention that), one can see from the above links
that playing a game together can be quite enjoyable if it is the right
game for the two of you, and there are ones that bridge the gap between
four year old and adult.
As an adult, you don't have to be intimidated by many of these games. My
wife and I used to be, seeing young relatives buzzing around these
games, until we got a PS2 for ourselves while in our late thirties and
found it not that hard to learn how to use -- especially after we came
to understand every game has a unique use of most of the controls, and
learning that is part of the game. (I can't imagine us having the time
to play any of these games to conclusion as just a couple now, of
course; each typically takes thirty to forty hours or so.) Still, we
could see that some games require hand-eye coordination and speed which
seemed almost beyond us; those we too generally give up on, and we
learned to be more and more selective and read more and more reviews
before investing our *time* in a game. The ones I have listed are not in
that demanding category though. (Some others we like as adults, are
"Ico", and "A Dog's Life", though PS2 only, and not sure about for a
young kid. And then there is any sort of racing game, like Gran Turismo
(again for the PS2). There is also "Beyond Good and Evil", which we
played on the PS2 but is also available for the GameCube -- but it is
definitely for older kids -- you sneak around taking pictures of evil
doings related to a conspiracy, and it has a catchy soundtrack too.)
http://snarfed.org/space/Beyond%20Good%20&%20Evil%20soundtrack
Despite liking console games and the occasional good DVD movie
ourselves, we're still keeping our almost four year old away from TV,
console games, and most of computers (we say TVs are an older form of
computers which don't work that well, and only sneak some DVDs
occasionally on a laptop when he is asleep. :-). Our child does have at
his occasional request perhaps a half-hour of computer time once per
week or so with a parent driving a web browser. This is mostly looking
at Google images for pictures of things (excavators or firetrucks usually),
http://images.google.com/images?q=excavators
http://images.google.com/images?q=firetrucks
These heavy machinery accidents (no one hurt) are fun for a moment too:
http://humour.200ok.com.au/image_misc-bad-days.html
A big current interest is "Bagger 288", which is probably the largest
mobile excavator in the world:
http://images.google.com/images?q=bagger%20288
(You can see in a few images what happened when a full size bulldozer
gets in its way. :-)
Another good web site is Google maps,
http://maps.google.com/maps
where we zoom around to our house or some other places we know (use the
satellite view or hybrid view). These are all ways of our young child
seeing the real world through using the computer as a sort of telescope.
These activities would not have been easily possible even just a few
years ago. Our child also plays some of the "Bob The Builder" online
games and looks sometimes at the "Thomas The Tank Engine" sites. We
bought books for some of the standard kid shows including Dora the
Explorer, too; doesn't know they are on TV. :-) So, if you have
broadband internet, and are willing to do the driving, there is a lot a
young kid might want to look at just using Google Images, Google Maps,
and a few selected sites, like:
http://www.bobthebuilder.com
http://www.thomasandfriends.com
Since both parents program computers at home, it would be too hard and
confusing to not let our child use computers at all too (otherwise I
might consider it :-), but we still don't really encourage it. My wife
had also written him a very simple drawing program when he was two which
he played with for fifteen minutes at a time once every couple of weeks
way back then (mostly drawing colored lines and placing letters randomly
on the screen); the key idea being for him to get a sense of what his
parents do and that software could be changed and customized. When he is
a little older, I'll be tempted to drag out an old Commodore 64 or
VIC-20 (if anything still works) and put a Forth cartridge on it and let
him learn to program his own things. :-)
http://akaimbatman.intelligentblogger.com/wordpress/archives/42
But if that old hardware doesn't work, apparently GNU/Linux has been
ported to the GameCube, so that could be another possibility: :-)
http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page
(but that is probably not a good idea to try for non-programmers. :-)
http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/Screenshots
We based this decision to not do much with media at a young age (and
then, only with fairly slow moving media) on, among other things, the
research by Dimitri Christakis
http://research.seattlechildrens.org/about/feat_research/harnessing_technology_for_the_benefit_of_children.asp
on how rapidly moving discontinuous images in media may rewire the brain
at a young age (baby through toddler) to crave such constant high levels
of visual stimulation. See for example newspaper articles on his work:
http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/healthscience/articles/20040411.htm
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/05/Worldandnation/Toddlers__TV_habits_m.shtml
One can read the research results one of two ways. Rapid images at an
early age are bad (because it is blocks out other more important play
and interferes with usual brain growth), as exemplified by this quote
from the USA Today article: "Every added hour of watching TV increased a
child's odds of having attention problems by about 10%".
Or, you can interpret the findings that early media exposure is good,
because it leads to a new sort of intelligence, a "homo sapiens medias"
if you will :-) as exemplified by this quote from the same article: "The
change isn't necessarily bad, Los Angeles media psychologist Stuart
Fischoff says. As media exposure grows, "these kids could be expressing
'the new brain.' They could be an advance guard that suggests we may
need new ways of teaching children exposed to a lot of media stimulation.""
Personally, we'll let someone else's kids be the guinea pigs. :-)
We have chosen to go down one path in regard to early media; the reality
is most people are choosing the other (or slipping into it unawares).
Even if the "new brain" becomes dominant, we think there will be some
value for our child in being in the US minority wired the old way. :-)
Either way, one can't equate the implications of watching, say, the best
thing on TV IMHO, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood,
http://www.fci.org/MRN.asp
which is slow paced with few scene changes per minute and has great
content on emotional self-understanding presented in a caring way, to
fast paced media (games or TV) with changes of scene and viewpoint every
few seconds often revolving around violent solutions to conflicts. TV,
especially children's TV, is not the same sort of thing most current
parents experienced when growing up. Only time will tell what the full
implications are (if any). Same too with video games as they get more
and more realistic. By the way, you can often get older video games like
PacMan etc. as either stand-alone TV plugin devices
"Atari Flashback"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback_2
or as retro game collections for newer consoles (PS2 example:)
http://www.mobygames.com/game/arcades-greatest-hits-the-atari-collection-2
or sometimes even as complete remakes, like PacMan for GameCube:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/reviews/gamecube/pacman_vs/
So if there are any games you liked as a teenager, you might be able to
find them and share them with your child.
However, between TV and games, I would think the games might be somewhat
less of an issue because the kid is somewhat in control of the scene
changes in an interactive way and kid games tend to be continuous
scrolling of some sort like by traveling somehow (which the brain is set
up to deal with already). Also, unlike TV, most games tend to be
self-limiting, since kids only stay in an enjoyable sense of "flow":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
as long as their growing skills match the growing challenge level -- and
at some point most games run out of ever increasing challenges and so
start to become become boring (online games like WoW being somewhat of
an exception since they better reflect the real world of endless variety
of new social relationships and such.)
It's easier to essentially completely restrict media at a young age with
an only child, such as ours, especially if the parents also don't watch
TV or play games much anymore. If a younger kid sees an older kid (or
parent) in the family using the TV or a computer game, I'm sure it is
hard to say "wait till you are older". If I were getting my child a
console game at age four (who knows, sooner or later I'm sure we will),
it would be at first something like one of those I listed. From what I
have read of various consoles (we have only a PS2, in storage), the
GameCube seems like the best choice for young children, although I think
the Wii make sense too, and it plays GameCube games, so it is now IMHO
the ideal entry console for families who chose to introduce computer
games and don't already have a console. (We long ago gave up on PC games
as we had endless install problems and they messed up the configurations
for other important programs, plus we moved to GNU/Linux and the Mac.)
At an older age, you can also provide them with some help to write their
own games, and there are a variety of software packages for that
(another long topic, barely touched on above). And if my child was
watching TV (and sooner or later, we will), I would pick stuff like Mr.
Rogers' Neighborhood purchased on DVD at first, as well as old time kids
shows (1960s/1970s-ish Green Acres, Mr. Ed, Thunderbirds, etc. which are
slower paced and generally available on DVD; plus I would not mind
seeing them again). If we had broadcast cable (we don't), I would get a
Tivo-like device and program it to collect such shows. And in an ideal
world, we would play the games and watch the TV together and also have
great on-call in-house childcare (but good help is always hard to find. :-)
All the best in finding the right solutions for your child and family.
--Paul Fernhout
Laurie wrote:
You could try "Animal Crossing", even though it is pitched at an older
audience:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Crossing
From there: "Animal Crossing is a social simulator that has been dubbed
a "communication game" by Nintendo. It is an open-ended game, where a
player can live a separate life with little preset plot or mandatory
tasks. There are, also, certain tasks which players can choose to
complete, and goals they can choose to achieve. The game is played out
in real-time - observing days, weeks, months, and even years - 29,
according to Nintendo- using the GameCube's internal clock. There are
many actual events and holidays spanning the year, including
Independence Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, among others. Other
regular activities such as early morning fitness classes and fishing
tournaments are included in the game as well. Some players purposely
adjust the clock to skip forward or backward in time, a practice known
as "time traveling." Other players use cheat codes."
Sounds very unschooling to me; I have not played it myself, though I saw
a kid (about seven) play it who liked it a lot.
One positive review on it as used by a four year old (although with the
parent helping too, why not try, you might like it too?):
http://rendergaming.blogspot.com/2004_10_01_archive.html
From there: "For the last six days, my wife, daughter, and I have been
completely hooked on the game. Animal Crossing's allure is hard to
describe. It's a game (if you can call it that) about simple
pleasures--collecting seashells, fishing, picking fruit, chatting with
your neighbors, et cetera. It has no conflict to speak of, no tension,
and no "save the universe"-type goal. It has no plot. It lacks the
godlike control system and complex customizations options of the Sims.
It's Hello-Kitty cute and you can play it for hours on end, every day.
Needless to say, the game's been a big hit. More on Animal Crossing
later. I have to go pry the controller from my wife's hands and force
her to eat, sleep, and bathe."
In general I think when a family plays media (TV or games) together,
some of the bad aspects of them go away. The previous review cited also
speaks highly of another game -- although clearly played together with
parent and child. From there: "A week or so ago I finished the Legend of
Zelda: The Windwaker, bringing an end to a truly sublime gaming
experience. Windwaker is one of those rare games that leaves you with a
deep affection for its characters and a real sense of accomplishment. My
experience with the game was made especially enjoyable by the fact that
my four-year old daughter, a true fairy tale devotee, was equally
entranced by its story and characters. Over the last couple of months,
we've had a lot of fun playing Windwaker together, and I believe that
Link, Tetra, Tingle, and the rest of the Windwaker cast have earned a
place in her imagination equal to that held by the Disney Princesses." A
link for that:
http://www.zelda.com/gcn/
The "Harvest Moon" series is also another possibility, though again
aimed at an older audience.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_%28series%29
From there: "Most Harvest Moon games are permutations of a central
formula. The game generally takes place over a set period of time
(generally 3 years), in which the player is charged with the task of
running a successful farm, getting married, having a child, and becoming
friends with the townsfolk. Most gameplay in the Harvest Moon games
consists of planting seeds to grow fruits and vegetables in the spring,
summer, and autumn, and collecting items, making home improvements, and
building personal relationships in the winter. A successful farmer must
weigh the cost, selling price, number of harvests, and growth times of
the various types of produce in order to pick the best product for each
of the seasons. The player must also balance their physical resources;
if players over-exert themselves, they might not have the energy to
perform needed activities, or might even get sick and miss a day of
farming."
I have played one of that series "Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland" on
the PS2 and liked it a lot and think a young child would also like it
(though I have not see a young child play it, or seen the specific
versions for the GameCube). You need to be able to read for some of
them, in which case, a parent or babysitter would need to play it with a
young child.
For pure addictive non-violent arcade action, "Super Bust-A-Move" is
nice, with very simple controls, but not sure if a four year old would
take to it (or should :-).
http://gamecube.gamezone.com/gamesell/p20849.htm
On the redeeming side, I do think that does teach some 2D problem
solving skills though. My wife liked it a lot.
I'd also suggest some of the Dancing Games like DDR could be worth while
for both your kids. They involve a mat where you have to make the right
dance moves.
http://www.ddrgame.com/
A review here recommending one version for age five and up, perhaps if
your youngest is near a birthday?
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/child/article/0,19840,1180502_3,00.html
"Best for young kids (5 and up) is Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix; it
follows the cartoon character Mario as he tries to retrieve his lost
Music Keys, which will restore peace — and rhythm — to the people of the
Mushroom Kingdom. Kids are challenged to dance in sync with a song as
the right moves flash on the screen."
In general, with the Nintendo Wii out,
http://wii.nintendo.com/
with its unusual controller which requires arm movement and encourages
getting off the couch to get a little exercise,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Remote
if your kids do play computer games, getting a Wii might be worth the
investment in the near future for the health of your kids overall if you
can possibly afford it (it also plays GameCube games and can use those
controllers). Your kids are literally going to spend hundreds to
thousands of hours with these games; so why not get them something that
keeps them physically active too? Most of the top titles seemed pitched
at older kids though (7+):
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-lists/Wii-Titles.html#RLists
They do come with some sports games that are supposed to be fun for the
whole family.
You might ask yourself why your four year old needs to play the games
alone? Could a deeper issue be not so much finding a good game, but
instead somehow finding more help with babysitting or perhaps an in-home
"mother's helper" (like a twelve year old neighbor starting out on a
babysitting career?) while you are off doing other things around the
house or just to get more time for yourself? Everyone needs such time;
if you just want the game as a babysitter, then there are other
alternatives -- some people get it at places like the YMCA which often
offer free childcare while parents use the facilities (though Y's cost
something monthly, typically $60 or so). If on the other hand, it's just
because you don't think video games are for you or you can't do certain
ones of them well (you mention that), one can see from the above links
that playing a game together can be quite enjoyable if it is the right
game for the two of you, and there are ones that bridge the gap between
four year old and adult.
As an adult, you don't have to be intimidated by many of these games. My
wife and I used to be, seeing young relatives buzzing around these
games, until we got a PS2 for ourselves while in our late thirties and
found it not that hard to learn how to use -- especially after we came
to understand every game has a unique use of most of the controls, and
learning that is part of the game. (I can't imagine us having the time
to play any of these games to conclusion as just a couple now, of
course; each typically takes thirty to forty hours or so.) Still, we
could see that some games require hand-eye coordination and speed which
seemed almost beyond us; those we too generally give up on, and we
learned to be more and more selective and read more and more reviews
before investing our *time* in a game. The ones I have listed are not in
that demanding category though. (Some others we like as adults, are
"Ico", and "A Dog's Life", though PS2 only, and not sure about for a
young kid. And then there is any sort of racing game, like Gran Turismo
(again for the PS2). There is also "Beyond Good and Evil", which we
played on the PS2 but is also available for the GameCube -- but it is
definitely for older kids -- you sneak around taking pictures of evil
doings related to a conspiracy, and it has a catchy soundtrack too.)
http://snarfed.org/space/Beyond%20Good%20&%20Evil%20soundtrack
Despite liking console games and the occasional good DVD movie
ourselves, we're still keeping our almost four year old away from TV,
console games, and most of computers (we say TVs are an older form of
computers which don't work that well, and only sneak some DVDs
occasionally on a laptop when he is asleep. :-). Our child does have at
his occasional request perhaps a half-hour of computer time once per
week or so with a parent driving a web browser. This is mostly looking
at Google images for pictures of things (excavators or firetrucks usually),
http://images.google.com/images?q=excavators
http://images.google.com/images?q=firetrucks
These heavy machinery accidents (no one hurt) are fun for a moment too:
http://humour.200ok.com.au/image_misc-bad-days.html
A big current interest is "Bagger 288", which is probably the largest
mobile excavator in the world:
http://images.google.com/images?q=bagger%20288
(You can see in a few images what happened when a full size bulldozer
gets in its way. :-)
Another good web site is Google maps,
http://maps.google.com/maps
where we zoom around to our house or some other places we know (use the
satellite view or hybrid view). These are all ways of our young child
seeing the real world through using the computer as a sort of telescope.
These activities would not have been easily possible even just a few
years ago. Our child also plays some of the "Bob The Builder" online
games and looks sometimes at the "Thomas The Tank Engine" sites. We
bought books for some of the standard kid shows including Dora the
Explorer, too; doesn't know they are on TV. :-) So, if you have
broadband internet, and are willing to do the driving, there is a lot a
young kid might want to look at just using Google Images, Google Maps,
and a few selected sites, like:
http://www.bobthebuilder.com
http://www.thomasandfriends.com
Since both parents program computers at home, it would be too hard and
confusing to not let our child use computers at all too (otherwise I
might consider it :-), but we still don't really encourage it. My wife
had also written him a very simple drawing program when he was two which
he played with for fifteen minutes at a time once every couple of weeks
way back then (mostly drawing colored lines and placing letters randomly
on the screen); the key idea being for him to get a sense of what his
parents do and that software could be changed and customized. When he is
a little older, I'll be tempted to drag out an old Commodore 64 or
VIC-20 (if anything still works) and put a Forth cartridge on it and let
him learn to program his own things. :-)
http://akaimbatman.intelligentblogger.com/wordpress/archives/42
But if that old hardware doesn't work, apparently GNU/Linux has been
ported to the GameCube, so that could be another possibility: :-)
http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page
(but that is probably not a good idea to try for non-programmers. :-)
http://www.gc-linux.org/wiki/Screenshots
We based this decision to not do much with media at a young age (and
then, only with fairly slow moving media) on, among other things, the
research by Dimitri Christakis
http://research.seattlechildrens.org/about/feat_research/harnessing_technology_for_the_benefit_of_children.asp
on how rapidly moving discontinuous images in media may rewire the brain
at a young age (baby through toddler) to crave such constant high levels
of visual stimulation. See for example newspaper articles on his work:
http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/healthscience/articles/20040411.htm
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/05/Worldandnation/Toddlers__TV_habits_m.shtml
One can read the research results one of two ways. Rapid images at an
early age are bad (because it is blocks out other more important play
and interferes with usual brain growth), as exemplified by this quote
from the USA Today article: "Every added hour of watching TV increased a
child's odds of having attention problems by about 10%".
Or, you can interpret the findings that early media exposure is good,
because it leads to a new sort of intelligence, a "homo sapiens medias"
if you will :-) as exemplified by this quote from the same article: "The
change isn't necessarily bad, Los Angeles media psychologist Stuart
Fischoff says. As media exposure grows, "these kids could be expressing
'the new brain.' They could be an advance guard that suggests we may
need new ways of teaching children exposed to a lot of media stimulation.""
Personally, we'll let someone else's kids be the guinea pigs. :-)
We have chosen to go down one path in regard to early media; the reality
is most people are choosing the other (or slipping into it unawares).
Even if the "new brain" becomes dominant, we think there will be some
value for our child in being in the US minority wired the old way. :-)
Either way, one can't equate the implications of watching, say, the best
thing on TV IMHO, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood,
http://www.fci.org/MRN.asp
which is slow paced with few scene changes per minute and has great
content on emotional self-understanding presented in a caring way, to
fast paced media (games or TV) with changes of scene and viewpoint every
few seconds often revolving around violent solutions to conflicts. TV,
especially children's TV, is not the same sort of thing most current
parents experienced when growing up. Only time will tell what the full
implications are (if any). Same too with video games as they get more
and more realistic. By the way, you can often get older video games like
PacMan etc. as either stand-alone TV plugin devices
"Atari Flashback"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback_2
or as retro game collections for newer consoles (PS2 example:)
http://www.mobygames.com/game/arcades-greatest-hits-the-atari-collection-2
or sometimes even as complete remakes, like PacMan for GameCube:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/reviews/gamecube/pacman_vs/
So if there are any games you liked as a teenager, you might be able to
find them and share them with your child.
However, between TV and games, I would think the games might be somewhat
less of an issue because the kid is somewhat in control of the scene
changes in an interactive way and kid games tend to be continuous
scrolling of some sort like by traveling somehow (which the brain is set
up to deal with already). Also, unlike TV, most games tend to be
self-limiting, since kids only stay in an enjoyable sense of "flow":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
as long as their growing skills match the growing challenge level -- and
at some point most games run out of ever increasing challenges and so
start to become become boring (online games like WoW being somewhat of
an exception since they better reflect the real world of endless variety
of new social relationships and such.)
It's easier to essentially completely restrict media at a young age with
an only child, such as ours, especially if the parents also don't watch
TV or play games much anymore. If a younger kid sees an older kid (or
parent) in the family using the TV or a computer game, I'm sure it is
hard to say "wait till you are older". If I were getting my child a
console game at age four (who knows, sooner or later I'm sure we will),
it would be at first something like one of those I listed. From what I
have read of various consoles (we have only a PS2, in storage), the
GameCube seems like the best choice for young children, although I think
the Wii make sense too, and it plays GameCube games, so it is now IMHO
the ideal entry console for families who chose to introduce computer
games and don't already have a console. (We long ago gave up on PC games
as we had endless install problems and they messed up the configurations
for other important programs, plus we moved to GNU/Linux and the Mac.)
At an older age, you can also provide them with some help to write their
own games, and there are a variety of software packages for that
(another long topic, barely touched on above). And if my child was
watching TV (and sooner or later, we will), I would pick stuff like Mr.
Rogers' Neighborhood purchased on DVD at first, as well as old time kids
shows (1960s/1970s-ish Green Acres, Mr. Ed, Thunderbirds, etc. which are
slower paced and generally available on DVD; plus I would not mind
seeing them again). If we had broadcast cable (we don't), I would get a
Tivo-like device and program it to collect such shows. And in an ideal
world, we would play the games and watch the TV together and also have
great on-call in-house childcare (but good help is always hard to find. :-)
All the best in finding the right solutions for your child and family.
--Paul Fernhout
Laurie wrote:
> Does anyone know a good game for the gamecube that is easy enough for
> my 4 yr old to play alone.
> He can only get so far on madagascar, starwars2, shamu, and we have a
> couple mario bros. and he is so frustrated.
> I can't get far either and my older son is not always around to help.
> We have leapster and leappad, but he wants to do gamecube.
> TIA
> Laurie
Lisa
My son who will be 6 soon has been playing game cube games since about
3 1/2 or 4... his favorites are things like Sonic (Hedgehog) ...I have
always been amazed at how well he can play these games. I don't know
if he has a particular talent for video games or not but he loves
Sonic... he also loves Star Wars Legos , Mario Bros (the one where
they race) and the regular Star Wars ones. He plays more elaborate
games these days but he stills loves the Sonic games... there are lots
of them Sonic Heroes, Sonic X etc. You pick your character and he
zips around town on a skateboard type thing... it moves way too fast
for my old brain but he enjoys it and I think it's pretty forgiving
since he's been good at it since he was very little.
Lisa Blocker
-
3 1/2 or 4... his favorites are things like Sonic (Hedgehog) ...I have
always been amazed at how well he can play these games. I don't know
if he has a particular talent for video games or not but he loves
Sonic... he also loves Star Wars Legos , Mario Bros (the one where
they race) and the regular Star Wars ones. He plays more elaborate
games these days but he stills loves the Sonic games... there are lots
of them Sonic Heroes, Sonic X etc. You pick your character and he
zips around town on a skateboard type thing... it moves way too fast
for my old brain but he enjoys it and I think it's pretty forgiving
since he's been good at it since he was very little.
Lisa Blocker
-
Kathleen Gehrke
--- In [email protected], "Laurie"
<seaglasshearts@...> wrote:
Kathleen
<seaglasshearts@...> wrote:
>for
> Does anyone know a good game for the gamecube that is easy enough
> my 4 yr old to play alone.a
> He can only get so far on madagascar, starwars2, shamu, and we have
> couple mario bros. and he is so frustrated.ANIMAL CROSSING>>>It is great!
> I can't get far either and my older son is not always around to help.
> We have leapster and leappad, but he wants to do gamecube.
> TIA
> Laurie
>
Kathleen
Laurie
Thanks everyone for their respones.
And Paul for your in depth response with lots of ideas.
He is almost 5 and it is his choice to want to play.
Like everything around the house, toys, games, books, trampoline, bike
the kids do something for a while and gravitate to the next thing, in
an hour, a day, a week.
This week it is the gamecube. His older brother and his friends play,
his older sister plays.
Last week it was Pokemon cards with his older brother.
Who knows what it will be the next week.
When I wrote the post he was so upset and discouraged that he wasn't
able to play as well as they do. I was online so I posted the request.
We ended up going to the store and getting "Cars". He is so far very
happy with it and has played several times.
(and a neighbor has volunteered Dora when he is ready to switch and try
another game.)
I'll be looking for animal crossing, it sounds fun for all of us.
I have been looking for a DDR game--- any advice on where to get it?
and the best mat to get??
Thanks
And Paul for your in depth response with lots of ideas.
He is almost 5 and it is his choice to want to play.
Like everything around the house, toys, games, books, trampoline, bike
the kids do something for a while and gravitate to the next thing, in
an hour, a day, a week.
This week it is the gamecube. His older brother and his friends play,
his older sister plays.
Last week it was Pokemon cards with his older brother.
Who knows what it will be the next week.
When I wrote the post he was so upset and discouraged that he wasn't
able to play as well as they do. I was online so I posted the request.
We ended up going to the store and getting "Cars". He is so far very
happy with it and has played several times.
(and a neighbor has volunteered Dora when he is ready to switch and try
another game.)
I'll be looking for animal crossing, it sounds fun for all of us.
I have been looking for a DDR game--- any advice on where to get it?
and the best mat to get??
Thanks
> Laurie
>
Julie
Hi -
I'm new to this group - found it from another unschooling group friend -
My son has a Mario DDR game - and we all love it!
I got it at GameStop and it was the best price around - but that was last
year at Christmas -
It was around $50
Julie
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Laurie
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 4:36 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: help w/ gamecube for 4 yr old
Thanks everyone for their respones.
And Paul for your in depth response with lots of ideas.
He is almost 5 and it is his choice to want to play.
Like everything around the house, toys, games, books, trampoline, bike
the kids do something for a while and gravitate to the next thing, in
an hour, a day, a week.
This week it is the gamecube. His older brother and his friends play,
his older sister plays.
Last week it was Pokemon cards with his older brother.
Who knows what it will be the next week.
When I wrote the post he was so upset and discouraged that he wasn't
able to play as well as they do. I was online so I posted the request.
We ended up going to the store and getting "Cars". He is so far very
happy with it and has played several times.
(and a neighbor has volunteered Dora when he is ready to switch and try
another game.)
I'll be looking for animal crossing, it sounds fun for all of us.
I have been looking for a DDR game--- any advice on where to get it?
and the best mat to get??
Thanks
I'm new to this group - found it from another unschooling group friend -
My son has a Mario DDR game - and we all love it!
I got it at GameStop and it was the best price around - but that was last
year at Christmas -
It was around $50
Julie
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Laurie
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 4:36 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: help w/ gamecube for 4 yr old
Thanks everyone for their respones.
And Paul for your in depth response with lots of ideas.
He is almost 5 and it is his choice to want to play.
Like everything around the house, toys, games, books, trampoline, bike
the kids do something for a while and gravitate to the next thing, in
an hour, a day, a week.
This week it is the gamecube. His older brother and his friends play,
his older sister plays.
Last week it was Pokemon cards with his older brother.
Who knows what it will be the next week.
When I wrote the post he was so upset and discouraged that he wasn't
able to play as well as they do. I was online so I posted the request.
We ended up going to the store and getting "Cars". He is so far very
happy with it and has played several times.
(and a neighbor has volunteered Dora when he is ready to switch and try
another game.)
I'll be looking for animal crossing, it sounds fun for all of us.
I have been looking for a DDR game--- any advice on where to get it?
and the best mat to get??
Thanks
> Laurie[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
woodhaven_farm
We don't have a gamecube, but I do have a young son and a nintendo
system.
Ds is 4.5, but is more on par with a "typically developing" 18 month
old. He gets frustrated with the leapster and the vsmile (both of
which he could not wait to get). He really wants a game system. We
went to the store and he just feel in love with the dslite.
So we bought it, and a bunch of games(many gba so he only has to deal
with one screen but man does he love that stylus). He does ok with
Cars (he is crazy about everything cars). He played dora briefly but
has trouble with the coordination of jumping and moving forward at
the same time.We also have franklin which was ok, and several others,
but hands down his favorite is monster trucks.
He loves driving those trucks!
Wendy
system.
Ds is 4.5, but is more on par with a "typically developing" 18 month
old. He gets frustrated with the leapster and the vsmile (both of
which he could not wait to get). He really wants a game system. We
went to the store and he just feel in love with the dslite.
So we bought it, and a bunch of games(many gba so he only has to deal
with one screen but man does he love that stylus). He does ok with
Cars (he is crazy about everything cars). He played dora briefly but
has trouble with the coordination of jumping and moving forward at
the same time.We also have franklin which was ok, and several others,
but hands down his favorite is monster trucks.
He loves driving those trucks!
Wendy
> We ended up going to the store and getting "Cars". He is so farvery
> happy with it and has played several times.try
> (and a neighbor has volunteered Dora when he is ready to switch and
> another game.)
> I'll be looking for animal crossing, it sounds fun for all of us.
>
> I have been looking for a DDR game--- any advice on where to get it?
> and the best mat to get??
> Thanks
>
> > Laurie
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>