Roundup: Online Awesomeness for your Kid

You know how I'm a fan of technology, especially my smartphone, so it's not surprising that I've found ways to use it to help me entertain Nathan.  Here are my four favorite resources.

The standard caveat applies: anything screen-based is to be taken in small doses.  I let him online less than once a day, and only for limited periods of time.  Then we read a good old fashioned book, play with Duplo, or build a train set.  A real, physical train set using Brio tracks.

Kid Mode

In short: This is the only app you need for your kid.  When you install Kid Mode, by Zoodles, you give it some basic info on you, and your child, including their age.  Zoodles offers age-appropriate videos and games.  As your child grows, Zoodles grows with them, offering more advanced games and videos.  For example, Nathan now knows about electric cars, thanks to an age-appropriate youtube video.  It's got a tight interface that prevents the kid from wandering elsewhere on the phone (this works better on Android than it does on the iPhone).  The phone will even read a book to him, but there's a catch: You have to record yourself reading the book ahead of time.  Then, when you're on a long road trip, Nathan can crack open the Three Little Pigs (on the phone) and it will turn the pages for him, as a video recording of Mommy and Daddy reads the words.  There's a built-in drawing app, of course, and you can share your kid's masterpieces online.  Finally, you can invite other family members to leave video messages for Nathan using their own webcams.

Of course, there is educational value too.  Go to zoodles.com and they'll give you a report on your child's activities, breaking it down by developmental categories (reading, shapes, social development, etc.).

This app is amazing.  It's quite literally the only kid's app I have on my phone.

zoodles.com

Miniscule

Imagine a short animated show for kids, with Disney's production values but French charm and wit.  This is Miniscule, a show that ran from 2006 to 2008.  Blessedly, full-length episodes are available on Youtube.  These are highly addictive for child and parent alike.  Nathan's favorite character is the ladybug; mine is the fly.

Dinosaur Train

Along the same lines is Dinosaur Train.  Kind of like Star Wars Legos, this is a mashup of two things that are awesome by themselves, and somehow made even more awesome when combined.  Nathan was using the potty this morning and I offered to show him a Youtube video as a reward, and he asked for this.  I thought he was simply asking for two things that he loves: trains and dinosaurs (but especially trains).  But no, this is actually a real thing.

The show is produced by PBS so of course there's an educational element.  Not only are the dinosaurs real, and they discuss real attributes (like why some of them have horns), but they address the fact that different dinosaurs come from different time periods.  See, the epynomous train isn't simply a steam-powered locomotive that exists during the Age of Dinosaurs; it's also a time train, so a tyranosaurus rex can come face-to-face with a stigimoloch.

To up the ante even further, at the end of the episode they bring a real life paleontologist on, who talks about the physical and behavioral traits of the dinosaurs in even greater detail, but always in a way that a 2-year-old will appreciate.

The Kid Should See This

In the "this is brilliant" category, this is a blog that roams the internet, collecting random things that would be cool to show your kid.  To be honest, I haven't actually used this yet, but it's a rich collection of awesome, kid-friendly things.

TheKidShouldSeeThis.com