I got 2 Dell laptops from recent deal for my kids, so they can get familiar with computers. They're 9 and 10, what kind of website should I bookmark / apps should I install and encourage?
I'll give them about half an hour to an hour of screen time a day. Anything from academic stuff science/math/etc to games and YouTube channels, pls help me brainstorm. Thanks.
especially with modding in java edition. its an introduction to file directorys and unzipping folders
Our family computer had solitaire back in the day. Hours of fun
Anyone have Chips Challenge and Jazzball?
wow that's brilliant, thank you! Will try for my kids too
Miniclip.
OH HELL YEAH
RIP
Pretty sure Mavis is still around..
Do they want to edit their own photos, movies, illustrate, design a newsletter, animate something? Plenty of excellent free and free open source options available.
Mavis is around, and it's great.
Scratch coding
Bitcoin mining
How to delete their search history and cache once they're done.
Incognito
Sage advice! Especially when they accidentally find pics of their step mom
link for research purposes?
PM sent
Can’t remember but I found some great resources when looking up recipes for family pies
@Jimothy Wongingtons: This is getting very abstract, but thank you I do enjoy working at the bowling alley.
Surely you've already bookmarked OzBargain and shown them how to churn internet providers?!
Teach them how to OzBargain
Tinkercad. Design 3D models using simple geometric shapes that can be exported as STL files for 3D printing.
Once they have the basics, they can import files from Printables or Thingiverse, then modify to their hearts' content.
If they are finding a school subject challenging, Khan Academy is a fantastic resource.
What to Let Kids Do on Their Laptops
Build origami.
I prefer building origami on a table but each to their own
*fold-ability intensifies*
Just the usual. Troll forums.
Commander Keen
I second this, loved playing this game as a kid.
Exactly what I played at their age haha
Then Metal Marines, Warcraft, C&C, Uncharted Waters 2, Diablo…
How do you play Uncharted Waters 2 please?
From a quick search there is a Switch version
Maybe you can get it from torrent etc for PC
Monster Bash, Halloween Harry, Skunny Kart and whatever other half playable games you could get off those 101 free games CDs back in the day haha
Monster truck madness
Fondly remember the demo of MTM that came with our Hewlett Packard PC in about 1998.
"Bigfoot is doing it IN THE AIR!"
oh dear god you've unlocked a part of myself I buried away
Correction: Packard Bell, not Hewlett Packard.
Anything like my cat they sit on them.
Let them read Reddit.
Better than twitter, 4chan, etc.
Encarta Encyclopedia. I can play the national anthem of Qatar with a trumpet (sound from my mouth)
How to download torrents, preferably from magnet links.
Have you first created age-appropriate user accounts for them, both at the OS level and, if relevant, in Google?
Yes, MS account to sign into laptop, and google account with family link and family safety apps
Would prefer them to use Chrome over Edge but Edge seems to have more control and activity tracking
If you're techie, I'd also consider looking at router-based limitations to specific domains/urls you don't want them to visit. (A pihole would do wonders here if you don't have a decent router that provides that type of granular control), but requires a little tinkering/some tech knowledge etc.
zoombinis
My childhood:
Incredible Machine games: https://www.myabandonware.com/search/q/incredible+machine
Zoombinis games: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/logical-journey-of-the-zo…
Jump Start games: https://www.myabandonware.com/search/q/jump+start
Can probably make a nice Windows 98 VM to install and play those safely "without internet"
Ez but Classic PVP games, such as RA2
Get them familiar with folder structure rather than just clicking save XD
This reminded me of something that made me realise I'm a dying breed.
In Microsoft Office 2007, they added the "Ribbon". That palette of buttons for you to access various settings and options. To facilitate users with muscle memory from the old "Menu Bar" system, they maintained the keyboard shortcut sequences for that. This is why when you press the "Alt" key and then one of the letters for the old menus (i.e. "I" for Insert) it comes up with a tooltip stating "Office Access Key", prompting the user to keep pressing the menu key sequence and that it would still work, even though the menu system no longer exists.
There is no real way for new users to Office (since 2007) to really obtain this muscle memory.
Makes me curious how much longer Microsoft will maintain this "Office Access Key" system…
minesweeper
Pinball.
What to Let Kids Do on Their Laptops
number 2s should be fine, but number 1s will cause permanent liquid damage
Whatever the government decides is appropriate.
Albo and Jim said we should be more accepting of the trans community.. so they’ve whitelisted “only trans” for your 5 year old.
With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations.
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9pfgj25jl6x3?hl=en-US&gl=U…
Thanks, I'll look into this
How about AI (LLM) related, what age do you think is suitable to let your kids use chatGPT etc?
IMO it's unwise to let them use these at such an early age. It's no different to letting them use a calculator in primary school.
Amazing how the Australian School Curriculum believes and teaches that you need a calculator to study Calculus, eh?
Gotta love that horizontal math curriculum, eh?
From memory, it wasn't even a standard "everybody's got one" machine either.
Can't remember the year level but for year 11 it was essential that top math students had the moderately priced scientific fx-82 little number (under $50 back then), but in year 12, they had to have a calculator that cost almost $300!
Somewhere they forgot that Isaac Newton invented calculus and he didn't have a calculator. At best, maybe he had an abacus.
One of my kids did post grad Math/engineering overseas => no calculator required.
Another one did aeronautical engineering in Oz => it was a course requirement that he have a calculator… go figure.
Guess that is because in aeronautical engineering they don't want to waste time teaching mundane things best done by a machine instantly with zero error that will always be on hand for undertaking engineering jobs. "Oh sorry, the plane fell out of the sky because Jimmy focussed on the math problem manually and forgot to carry the one!"
Now more than ever with the advent of AI its important to learn those skills actually employable and that only a human can do best.
I'm mean sure, you can go shake your head about lost talents, go to a crafts and lost trades fair and learn how to hand churn butter or weave baskets if you like, but times move on.
People actually unalive themself due to AI's advice …
Once they’ve developed critical thinking skills… and possibly when they can touch type.
I was going to ask if kids of these ages have mastered their touch typing skills yet?
If not, that'd definitely be something I'd get my kiddos practising.
Might be able to sneak in some covert learning opportunities disguised as some interesting topic they can research.
There is a website development app called Dreamweaver. Basically lets little kids or those who can't code, to create functioning web sites with ordinary language - the techy geeky codey stuff happens behind the scenes.
Could be a fun engaging way to incorporate and practise quite a few desirable computer skills from basic search terms to identifying credible sources etc whilst learning about space ships and presenting it in a website format.
Hustle up those crop and paint skills. Photo shop Explore the Windows framework. Word documents including English elements, referencing and drawing tools? Power Point presentations?
Various chalkboard generators if that's your thing? Wordle was always entertaining and useful.
With a bit of planning, a lot of learning, education and skill development can be disguised as an enjoyable experience a bit different to the games.
Yeah get em onto AI before they can even think for themselves
Put Debian on it with no UI (terminal only) and let them figure out how to install a desktop environment / window managers etc.
Make them install Arch
Trying to get them to be good at computers and not hate them
Why not go further? Give them a tub full of unassembled computer parts.
@tenpercent: Yeah, should have been "compter parts", but Mr GPT butchered it. I'd used all my free tokens at that point and cbf waiting to fix it :)
OzBargain. Deals hunting multiplied by 3 fold.
Minecraft (Java Edition for mods)
I would personally give them 2 seperate email accounts one for gaming and discord (when old enough) and then one for the rest of their life for things like school, work, and anything else they will eventually need one for.
I'll teach them . and + trick to separate junk mails :)
I’d also add “open DNS” to their devices (google the one that’s for kids) it will block most illicit items and its free.
Thanks, I'll look into that
NB Will block explicit* items but likely illicit too..
Scrape the internet for ozbargain deals.
neal.fun has some interesting games which are all informational like how much money people make visualised, or the impact of an asteroid at any place of your choosing.
Tinkercad is used all the way from primary to final high school years, can build 3D things, circuits, breadboarding, and some other tools.
Kahn Acadamy has heaps of free courses with videos to go with them.
Brilliant just made a whole heap of their courses free and they're really intuitive with visual learning.
Gizmo AI allows you to put a link of a YouTube video or PDF of some kind and you can do quizzes on anything you want to learn about.
Minecraft can't hurt; bedrock would be the safest for a kid whilst java would allow them to play online.
OzBargin hunting and points churning would be the most worthwhile for em. Give them a schedule every day to check for new credit card churning offers and reward seats on flights. No need to pay for one of those tracking websites.
I have installed ChromeOS Flex and can manage kids accounts through Google's Family Link app. It will let you set controls on YouTube etc.
Prodigy has English, Math and Science based games that might be interesting to kids. You need to answer questions to get health points.
Monitor DNS traffic!
Encarta 95
regardless of what you're going to let them do, I would suggest to install K9 web protection in order to reduce the chance of them stumbling on (or willingly accessing) dangerous stuff online
coolmathgames
No idea re games, but the first thing I did with our child (now 16+) was to install a security appliance (Ubiquiti UXG-MAX) to filter all network traffic, so I could block ad's, phishing, porn, etc. from all devices in the house.
Next, create an adult MS account, and add your children's devices to the account as family members. Then you can control screen time, set age limit for app access, etc.
Keep only the MS Edge browser installed and block installs of apps via parental control so they can't install others (such as Chrome, Firefox, etc.), this further reduces the risk envelope of them accessing undesired info. You can approve addtional apps for install as required (similar for iOS app installs below).
Next, when buying a phone, but an iPhone and do same with it (parent, w/ kids attched) so as to control content access there.
Install addtional protection apps on their devices. I know some swear by the built-in MS Windows Anti Virus app, but it doesn't catch all threats. We use BitDefender total security & AdGuard at home. No matter how much you teach them, kids are inquisitive and will end up on clicking links they shouldn't.
They’re 16… not 5.. relax a little and have a discussion on acceptable use of electronics in the household
Prodigy Game - Final Fantasy Style game with battles but they have to solve math and English problems - https://www.prodigygame.com
Imagine wasting the money on 2 brand new laptops and letting ur kids use them 30 minutes a day lol. Just let them freeball the internet like the rest of us did or don't let them have it at all
Keep them away from Minecraft, as Minecraft will lead to Roblox. If they get into Roblox your are done. I have two kids (12+14) on Roblox, they are pretty much addicts, the can go all day they are allowed to. Then they start asking for Robux, they will use it all in minutes. They do not like playing traditional old people games, offline single player type games or have an interest to.
I think delay long as possible.
Addicts have withdrawal, in my kids case, the both get really angry when told to stop.
Thank me later.
Chess.com, if they are into it!
Minecraft.