Good Educational Video Game System for Toddlers

Starfall.com is a free online site. It teaches children ABCs and reading in a highly interactive way. My kids have all LOVED it even from very young ages. There are various games and activities. I would recommend looking at online learning games that are free before investing in expensive gaming systems.

I would suggest reading the book Buy Buy Baby. After reading that I put away the baby videos and swore off those "educational" video games.

I wouldn't recommend ANY video games for toddlers. They are in a critical stage of brain development that requires the constant movement they naturally do. Exploration of their environment (within safety parameters) probably means they make a big mess, but they are learning very important things.

I'm sure others will disagree, but your little one's neurological development will not benefit from a video game system at this young age. I treat older children who are now struggling because of time spent in front of a television and computer.

Please don't fall victim to the marketing schemes.

My good friend did what you're talking about and laughed at me for refusing to buy anything video related for my child the same age. Both our daughters are now 9. I know I made the right decision. Her daughter has a game boy, all the video stuff (xbox, etc) and it becomes a huge battle when she enforces time limits. Don't fall for "educational" touts, remember these people are in it to make money and wouldn't tell you if they thought it was bad for your child. My sister who has grown children told me if there was one thing she could do over with her children it would be not to allow video games in the house until her son was much older. She had a hard time when he was in high school and college to focus on his studies instead of video games. Please do further research before you go that route. Overstimulation is another thing to consider with a child this young.

My daughter, just this year, has a couple of games she plays on the computer (Pet-vet) where she takes care of animals. Other than that she doesn't have the rest of the stuff. She reads, draws, paints and plays outside. My son who is 5 is the same.

Blessings to you and yours and congratulations on your second gift from God.

L.

Hey M.

I agree with those who recommend staying away from video games, computers and even TV with your babies. I know you want to keep him busy, especially when the new baby arrives, but I don't think this is a helpful route in the long run.

Best wishes to you!

Start them out with games and they won't get off. Imagine him at 12 then 16 then 22 and all he wants to do is games, but now they are not educational! I recently heard a radio broadcast on NPR of studies done on the smartest people, what their early years were like - they were read to and had lots and lots and lots of books. A boys eyes are not fully developed for reading small print until age 7 - but they do need lots of exercise. Read to him and have him memorize Bible verses, poems, ...things important and provide lots of books.
Yes I do speak from experience, but it was not I who gave him the computer; men do like their toys. If you do go the computer route, ENFORCE TIME LIMITS because what you teach him now will be a factor in years to come.

I love v-tech and leap pad. On a lot of games it is hard to really understand the speaker but they are very clear.

Save your money and read to your child at this stage of the game. If you start your child with television/video stimulation, then when he gets in school, he will always want to be "entertained". Trust me... I'm a teacher. Children are arriving in school without reading skills/initiative to do things creatively but they do know how to operate a DVD player and other electronic equipment.

I would stay away from video games and tv for the most part at this age. It's not great for their brain development. I know that sell and market video type games for toddlers, but that doesn't mean that they are beneficial for kiddos so young. I'd wait to a minimum of age 3 to introduce any kind of video games. He may be able to enjoy educational ones at that point, on a very limited basis, without too many negatives.

Congrats on your new little one on the way too!

I am getting my twins leapsters for christmas. They have been playing with my daughters and dont know how to use it as good, but still love playing with it. My guys also LOVE something we bought last year. It hooks up to our PC, not the TV and its called Fisher Price Digital Arts and craft studio. They LOVE it. I originally bought it for my daughter who never used it and now the twins have just started using it. You can color on it, draw pictures and lots of fun stuff.
Good luck with whatever you decide!

We use the Leapster, & I've turned on 2 other friends onto it. They both love it, too.

My parents got one for my toddler. I she was 12-15 months at the time. She was not really interested in it. We brought it out again recently. She is now 22 months; she punched the buttons for a second and that was it! It is an Infant Development System, Vrtech (sp?). It has Baby Einstein interactive games. Anyway, she prefers the old school way of learning... interacting with Mommy! Go figure. I know every child is differents; so yours may enjoy it a bit more.

At this age, he's a little young. Let him play with a calculator, or some other electronic game that is just a stand-alone (like speak-n-spell or something like that but for toddlers). I say save your money for a cool game system till he's older and can really appreciate it.

I dont know if anyone has said this or not, but we got out daughter V-Tech. you plug into your TV. Ours came with a game on counting and ABC, then we bought Care Bears. It come with one controller and you can buy another one. Got ours at Toys R Us 3 years ago and paid 49.99 and 19.99 for the controller and 14.99 for the game. She is 8 know and still plays it everyonce in a while. This was the best one I could find. they still sell them. Its orange. hope this helps

My 12 month old just got a little leaps game system and she's not too into it yet, but it looks cool for in a few months.

I have 6 children all with different likes and interests but our favorites for the young ages are V-Tech (we have a hand held and one that hooks up to the tv), Leap Pad (love, love it)

Hi M.,
We bought our girls the V-Tech V-smile system last year for Christmas, they were 2 & 5 at the time...they absolutely love it and play it a lot, it's very educational and easy for little ones to use...I highly recommend the V-smile. Watch Toys R Us, they put them on sale sometimes and we lucked out buy getting ours for $50, normally closer to $100 new.... hope this helps!

My first choice is the Little Leaps from Leap frog but unfortunatly it is being discontinued, if you can find the system on e-bay then they are selling the games for cheap. Other than that I recommend anything made by leapfrog. Good luck.

We are huge Leapster fans. I have 4 kids and 4 leapsters. One of them is the L-Max so it plugs into the tv at home and the video player in the car. Plus they are portable and go where you go. We had the leapster thing made for the tv and took it back, it was aweful. I couldn't believe they made such terrible product. All games made for the leapster are educational, yet fun. The only game my kids don't like is Dora Pinata Party.
When my kids were as young as yours, video games were not a big interest to them. Their attention span is not mature enough to get through a game.
We also had the V-Smile for a while and it wasn't as good as the Leapster System, the games were kind of boring, we got rid of that too.
Hope this helps,
J.