Software (and Appropriate Input Device) For a Toddler?

An anonymous reader writes "I have an 18-month-old who loves bright screens (TV and computer), loves loud noises, and loves to mash buttons. He targets my laptop with the button-mashing, and I sort of hate having to tell him 'no' when he wants to explore a computer. I was wondering if anyone knows of some fun (and maybe educational) age-specific PC software that also comes with an age-appropriate input device. I've seen those big-button devices in retail stores that seem to just hook up to the TV, and I've also seen some PC software that requires keyboard/mouse input, which does not seem like the right input device for a toddler."

Comments

Well...

[Anonymous Coward]

Your son is obviously autistic.
His actions are highly unusual, get him in to an autism specialist immediately.

With early treatment he has a chance of leading a semi-normal life. Good luck!

Re:Well...

[spazdor]

And by the way, how the HELL have you let him live 18 months without making him a Slashdot account?

Re:Well...

[grub]

Heheh, I set up an account for my daughter in the UID 700k range. She's 4 now...

Please reconsider

[ascari]

The best toy for a kid that age is a good sized cardboard box. Nothing else comes close when it comes to stimulating their imagination, curiosity and social development. If you for some reason are opposed to cardboard boxes: How about some real world open ended interactive toys like blocks, teddybears, a tricycle, a pail and a shovel, some toy cars or a ... gasp... big red ball?

Re:Please reconsider

[mapuche]

I second this. Kids that age need to learn how to play with phisical things, computers can come later. As a father of two I know what I'm talking about.

Re:Please reconsider

[maotx]

As a father of five, I can testify that as long as you don't abuse it, computers are just as healthy and stimulating as a block of legos. My two year old spends most of his time with cars, blocks, and books; but he enjoys getting on the computer as well. We password protect it so he can only get on with our permission, but he has his own account configured with links to youtube videos of planes and bugs, toddler friendly websites, and games such as Minesweeper and Portal. We fully supervise when he is on the computer and limit how much time he can be on it, but overall it's quite beneficial. He no longer has a paranoia of bugs and he's improved quite a bit with identifying different types of colors and shapes. We credit his ability to recite his ABCs to his Vtech and the games we play with him, but the reinforcement from the computer certainly helps.

Regardless, no matter how a child is raised, it is mostly important to be involved with their day to day actions. Watching them soak up information and apply it is a huge testament to how incredible they are, which is also why it's important to remain involved and direct them.

Re:Please reconsider

[JPL-Jeff]

I second this as well. I'm a computer scientist who spends almost all of his work time in front of a computer and a lot of my leisure time as well, but my two children (aged 7 and 5) never watch television or use computers (truly). What do they do instead? They read, climb, ride, draw, build, etc.. - they're constantly learning how to play, interact with others, and control their bodies. The time will come for them to learn how to use computers and I'll be there, ready with a series of great programming projects that we can work together on, simple robots - the works. I look forward to that, but it's not like there's any shortage of things to do with them in the meantime!

Numerous studies have shown detrimental effects to child brain development associated with the early introduction of television and computers. No, you can't get around these detrimental effects by using "age-appropriate" or "educational" shows and games. Apparently, something about the *medium*, not simply the message, is causing these negative impacts. Perhaps it's the pacing of the material, the quick transitions, or the sugary over-the-top positive feedback that they get for completing even the most simple task in an educational game. For me, I don't need to know exactly what is causing the negative impacts - I see no serious side effects associated with withholding computers and television for now.

I know you might thing that you're helping your child out by letting him get an early start on computers, but keep in mind that some things are much easier for someone to learn at a particular age. For example, I always have to bite my tongue when one of my friends tells me with great pride "It's AMAZING! My two year old already knows how to use a mouse!!!" I always *want* to say "Were you really under the impression that he was going to have a problem picking that up?" Honestly, people, it's a MOUSE. It's DESIGNED to be easy to use. I think it would take a 10, 20, or 30 year old with no training about a minute to figure it out and an hour to master it, and they'll understand the full context and purpose of the mouse and the computer - things that the 2 year old couldn't possibly comprehend. Controlling a mouse isn't something that your child needs a "head start" on.

You could attempt to teach your 2 year old the periodic table, but I think we can all agree that he'll pick that up just fine when it's time to study Chemistry in high school. Maybe it's time to focus on how to dig holes, stack blocks, and chase you around the house instead?

Keywhack..

[droopus]

Both my kids started out with a great little app called Keywack.
I took an old Mac Classic sitting in my basement, ran Keywack and the kids loved it. Never trashed the computer either, which I was sure they would do.

Keywack runs on anything, Win/Mac/Lin, and helped me get my kids learning about tech at around 18 months. The fact they are both capable programmers (one a senior in high school, another im middle school) might have something to do with their early comfort level, or it might not. But give it a try...

Don't

[VonSkippy]

18 months is waaaaaaaaaay to early to introduce stuff like that.

Let the toddler be a toddler. All that baby Einstein-esque crap has been proven to be nothing but trouble for your child's NORMAL development.

Re:Don't

[Max Romantschuk]

I've always found the American preoccupation with "giving the child a head start" strange. I live in Finland, and our older kids are six now. They have just started preschool, and will start primary school next year. Here most kids learn how to read at seven. Before that interaction and focus skills are taught through play and simple exercises.

Despite learning reading this "late" the Finnish school system still manages to give you a world class education.

I firmly believe that play is the most important thing for kids to do. Is the situation really so bad in schools elsewhere that we have to take away the spontaneous play of early childhood just to keep our kids from "being left behind"?

BabySmash!

[Heph]

I've been using BabySmash! from http://www.hanselman.com/babysmash/ with my 7 month old since she was around 2 months old.

She can press any key on the keyboard to get sounds and shapes/letters. She absolutely loves it.

I'm now looking for software that is slightly more advanced, but there seems to be a lack of games in this age range...

Playtime

[Anonymous Coward]

We used to let my son use the computer a lot. He seemed to enjoy it, but we noticed that that was all he did. For the past few months we have completely banned him from the computer. Since the banning (and getting over the initial withdrawal) he has been much happier most of the time. I would recommend giving your kids toys (blocks are the best thing in the WORLD no matter the age of the child) and let them play with them.

Re:Playtime

[icebraining]

If only there was some middle ground between letting him play with it all the time and completely prohibiting him...

Keep children under 3 from all tv

[canadian_right]

Numerous studies indicate that is is best to keep children under 3 away from all tv's, including dvd's, normal tv programming, movies, video games,etc... and to limit video exposure only increasing allowed hours per day gradually as the child gets older.

No tv under 2, limit to under 2 hours for 3 year
No tv under 2

Re:Keywhack.. (laptop not advised)

[belphegore]

WARNING

If you leave this unattended...
...you may get this result.

Best I/O devices

[dskoll]

The best devices I've found have been both input and output. To wit:

• Crayons and colored pencils.
• Modelling clay.
• Paper.

Re:iPad is a great device for kids

[eln]

Sure, it's great until the kid spontaneously decides to pick it up and throw it across the room. 18 month olds do not have good impulse control and are just barely starting to perceive that actions have consequences. I guess if you have lots of money to throw around you could give your 18 month old a fragile $600 device, but I think the smarter move would be to go with something designed to survive the kind of abuse kids that age tend to dish out to their toys.

Not "The" Device but "Your" Device

[malus]

The real issue here is whose device the kid wants to play with. He doesn't want to play with *his* fisher-price (or other) Toy, he wants to play with *your* laptop, because he sees *you* using your laptop. The kid wants attention, not the toy. Put the laptop (or whatever) away, and get him involved with something you can both do together.

Having two boys, ages 2 and 4, I know that they do not want their daddy to pay attention to his toys, rather, they want daddy to pay attention to *them*.