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My two year old loves to climb up in my lap when I am at the computer and press all the keys. Once she discovered that the computer could be used to look at videos of Elmo and Caillou, she assumed that is what I REALLY wanted to be looking at anytime I sat down at the computer. It won’t be long until she wants to sit in the chair alone and look at what she likes. This got me thinking about safe kid websites and what parental control software is all about. The big three websites I would feel safe letting my kiddo explore when she is ready are PBS Kids, Sprout, and Sesame Street.

PBS Kids has all of your kiddo’s favorite PBS shows, inaddition to games, videos, coloring, and a list of show times. My daughter is maniacal for Caillou, so if I click on Caillou, it takes me to a page with games and printable activities. There are different activities for each show so be sure to explore all your child’s favorite shows.

Sprout has a very busy site with lots more to do than PBS kids. All the Sprout shows are there, from cartoons to the Good Night Show and The Sunny Side Up Show, plus games, gallery, recipes, crafts and videos, music, coloring pages, games of the week, dress-up Chica the Chicken and lots more fun! You can even submit artwork or photos to possibly be featured on the show.

Sesame Street’s site has games, videos, muppet characters, sesame playlists, and you can also sign up to have your own customizable space with games your child loves to play or videos they especially like. Each muppet has a page with info about himself /herself and games or videos featuring that muppet. This site is great for when your child is in that “I love Sesame Street and only want to talk about Elmo 24 hours a day” phase.

For those kids who are a little older, Webkinz may be a great option if you are willing to make a one time purchase. According to the web page, you have to have a code from a webkinz plush doll in order to activate an account and care for your virtual pet online. These can be purchased online or in store for an average of $10. Each child has their own log in. You register your pet and, voila, it becomes a virtual pet with its own room! You start off with kinzcash, which is used to decorate your pet’s room, feed your pet, etc. The pets have health and fitness meters and there are arcade and trivia games where you can earn more kinzcash with daily updates.

If you are past the little kid stage and into full on web surfing, then you may be interested in parental control software or even just wondering what it encompasses; there are many options. You can control access to web pages, time spent on the computer or online, be notified of use and monitor where your child has been while online or where they tried to go. From what I have read, there are those which will track everything from keystrokes to websites viewed, to those that just block access by category, such as pornography. They can be customized to suit your needs. The average price is $50.

Do you have any websites to recommend for certain ages? Do you own parental control software? Can you make any recommendations or complaints? When is the right age to introduce your child to the computer/internet? Are you gung ho about teaching your child the joys of the internet and preparing them for what is fast becoming a computer based world or are you wary?

Written by: Katie Mastovich

Posted by livemom on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 3:43 pm | 1 Comment » You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.