[DianeScraps]

My daughters are 5 & 8 and we just really haven't found any educational games that hold their interest - Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Diane

[wishbonedawn]

The Zoombinis series for math (logic and patterns).
The Oregon Trail (history).

Honestly the games my daughter really loves are roleplaying games, strategy games and 'god' games. Sims, Black & White, Zeus, Pharoah, Dungeon Siege, Heroes of Might and Magic III...

Those games are geared for adults but she loves them and has learned reading, map reading, compass, strategy and planning, some math,storytelling, history, etc. I'd venture to say she's gotten more out of the non-educational games then the educational ones. They engage her more then the educational titles and also demand a lot in terms of the skills required to play them.

[csx]

Try Roxie's Math Fish or Mix & Match. They are educational games for kids. You can find them with Google or direlty visit the page http://www.qweas.com/download/game/kids/ .

[Gchildren]

My wife and I have a daycare business and the kids really seem to enjoy the Reader Rabbit titles (toddler and preschool). They are both fun and educational.

They really enjoy Little Bear toddler as well. Learning Company and Scholastic are two companies that you can not go wrong with. Most of their titles are very popular with that age group.

John

[sarahposen1]

I was just talking about something like this in the Father and Son Hobie thread. My dh found this awesome site where our kids make their very own cartoons! It allows them to express their artistic side while the the cool tech aspect of it keeps them interested and holds their attention. They get a real feeling of accomplishment after clicking that play button and watching something they made themselves down to the smallest detail.

They characters are cute and they can choose the music,background, dialogue etc and crate their own story and post on the site for others to watch. It's also fun to watch what other kids have made too. It's at mashup.huruhumi.com. Enjoy!

[starlife]

My niece was telling me about webkinz.com

[jmmv08]

Oh... my daughter was telling me also about webkinz.com. But I visited this site - http://www.qweas.com/download/game/kids/ , it's great. I think she would love this too. Thanks for the link CSX.

[BentSpoon]

I agree with Gchildren above; the Reader Rabbit series is great. Though with your children getting to the ages that they are I also agree with the other poster about Webkinz and the other online options like Club Penguin.

On Club Penguin your child can become a Secret Agent which requires great thinking skills to master.

It's a crazy new world out there and finding the educational merits to many of the popular games is difficult at best.

[glowormmom]

My son keeps playing this program where you can make your own games online. The site is called challenge you (http://www.challengeyou.com/ ). While its not educational, it is much more interactive and let's your child design what they would want to play. I swear my son is addicted. Hope this helps!

[ProudMommy77]

Were they specifically online games? If not your older one might like "Rush Hour Junior". It teaches lots of problem solving skills. It's a favourite in my sister's classroom.