Mommies with Style Articles

Someone needs to smack me over the head. Hard. I seriously can not stop playing our Wii. It started innocently enough: A few months ago, I bought a Wii for the family. Friends had brought theirs over and after one night of playing, we were all hooked.

Since then, we've been playing various games. I discovered the whole GameStop/used games thing (you have 7 days to "test" out a used game and bring it back if you don't like it) and have found some great games that the kids, hubby and I love. At first it was great because it was a fun family activity. Nate (4) and hubby would play each other in tennis once in awhile. Then we got a Diego game and Nate started getting comfortable with the remote. We have various Mario and Spiderman games now, and we recently bought the latest Mario Kart Wheel game (the remote goes into a "wheel" and you drive).

And here's the thing - Nate loves to watch us play. So lately he's been asking me to play while he watches and I kind of like it! I have fun and he's always shouting out words of encouragement "you go, Mom!" (seriously) Or, "great one, Mom!" Even Cole (18 months) enjoys it - he makes excited noises when we turn the Wii on.

The latter of which was probably the wake up call I needed. Okay, is it really normal (and healthy) for my 18 month old to clap and get so excited over a game system turning on?

I'm definitely aware that we have to tone it down a little. It's a fun thing that we all love and bond over, but there's definitely a fine line between having a little fun and becoming a couch potato playing too many games. So when does it get to be too much? Am I a bad Mom for introducing my kids to a game system they otherwise would have known nothing about?

Posted by Whitney at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I love the internet. You can find a wealth of information with a few keystrokes and a couple clicks but not all the stuff out there is great. Actually, very little of it even qualifies as good. And when we are trying to find great sites for our children, it can be even more difficult.

So what criteria should you, as a tech savvy parent, use to determine the quality of websites?

When evaluating websites, I look for sites that are easy to navigate. This means that the initial page has a user friendly layout. The first page fits on the computer screen and no scrolling is needed to view the entire content. The page is designed so that links to other pages are easy to find. The site doesn’t need to be complicated with moving images, lots of graphics or tons of text. Simple is better.

A site must have age appropriate content. For a preschooler who is just beginning to read, there shouldn’t be an overwhelming amount of text that they will need to read in order to navigate the site. Activities and games should be just right for the child and not too difficult.

There should be few or no ads on sites for children. With an abundance of ads, children are often enticed by the images such as fast food restaurants logos, favorite television characters, and toys. Children click on the familiar out of curiosity that will lead them away from their game and on to another site. When this occurs, it is nearly impossible for a young child to navigate back to the original website. Not only is the child lost in cyberspace but often ad content can be questionable for young children. In a frenzy of clicking to try to return to the original website, it only takes a few more clicks for a child to accidentally get to inappropriate web content.

I receive many recommendations of websites to review. Friends, fellow bloggers, and moms love to share sites and I’m happy to look at them. But just like I would never buy a car without taking it for a test drive, I would never recommend a site without looking at it first. Always review websites before letting your children use them. Make sure the content is appropriate and the site is age appropriate. Also, make sure the site actually exists. Sometimes URLs can be taken over by other sites of questionable content.

What criteria do you use when selecting websites for your children? Feel free to leave a comment!

Leticia is a former first grade teacher with a background in early childhood education and classroom technology integration. On her website, Tech Savvy Mama, Leticia writes about technology products and websites that work for kids based on her experience with her own two children.

Posted by Leticia at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)