Children educational Games\Software\Websites

[Kosmik]

Hi all,

My eldest is now four and I'd like to start introducing him more into tech. A great way is obviously via games etc on a PC. He's already been fooling around with touch screen tablets and phones and those games but I'm wanting to introduce him to proper basic computer use ie: mouse and keyboard. I tried when he was younger and he wasn't quite able to get the dexterity right but I think that is now resolved. Can folks share recommendations for websites, games or software. There are a lot of high cost and excessive options out there but I'm looking to go either low budget or online where available. I know Steam has a range of kids games and software by the one publisher and I've bought one on special to try out. My sister lent me her jumpstart series which she used for her child but that came out late 90's\early 2000's and has serious compatibility issues.

This is the one I'm trialing: http://store.steampowered.com/app/376770/

 

[konfab]

Minecraft is a pretty good starting point.
Plus there are a ridiculous amount of mods that add everything from programming to maths.

Another good place to look are the online dos games you can play in your browser.
Treasure Mountain

Treasure Mountain! is an educational adventure game whose objective is to find the hidden treasures and return them to the chest in the castle at the very top of the mountain.

How Things Work in Busytown

Richard Scarry's How Things Work in Busytown which received a 1994 North America-exclusive release from Novotrade and Simon & Schuster. Like the original game, it is intended for a pre-kindergarten through second grade audience and was released for DOS in addition to the Macintosh. Children that play this game learn to assemble machinery, bake bread, and complete other processes that are necessary to live life. This game makes kids think where food comes from, how bread is baked, and so on. Different outcomes can be observed through the several different learning methods. Young players can also learn vocabulary, word recognition, and sequencing.
CHEATS/HINTS/WALKTHROUGHS:

The incredible Machine <--Possibly one of my favorite games of all time

The general goal of the games is to create a series of Rube Goldberg devices: arrange a given collection of objects in a needlessly complex fashion so as to perform some simple task (e.g., "put the ball into a box" or "start a mixer & turn on a fan").