My daughter is five and a half and I would like to give her a child-oriented lap top - can people offer their recommendations? She loves fairies, princesses but also loves the 1-2 computer games we have on my computer. I would like something that offers educational games that meet her interests. Thanks!
We bought the Barbie Laptop for my 4 year old years ago, and my kids 9 & 10 still get it out from time to time. There are lots of learning games on it. Check out anything by Leapfrog, as well.
When my daughter was in Kindergarten I bought her the leapster (more like a video game than a laptop) and a few of those cartridges and she played with that until she got a nintendo ds in 3rd grade.
I would highly recommend getting a regular computer. You don't have to get anything fancy and it will be more useful for her in the long run. When we find games/sites that we like we add them to the favorites or create a shortcut on the desktop. We have a password protected "admin" account for my husband and I and an account w/out password for my daughters (2 and 4). The account for my children does not allow downloads so it is less likely for them to "goof up" the computer. My 4 year old has been learning quite a bit about the computer. Since we don't allow downloads or explicit content on her account (and she's unlikely to hit the chat rooms), I feel comfortable allowing her time to play around with the computer w/out me hovering. She learned how to change her desktop settings (wallpaper, login icon, etc.) just by poking around on her own.
I am looking at this one for my 10 yr. old son. It has a spill proof keyboard, and is pretty reasonably priced also with good reviews.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1245...
I strongly recommend games for your computer. Having their own laptop is silly - when here they are learning on the regular computers in school. So many free games are available on the internet. PlayhouseDisney.com offers a lot of educational games - ClubPenguin is more of an interactive game, but the kids LOVE it - there is a lot out there in the stores as well. The little laptop types get expensive & are limited to whatever software the manufacturer provides for them. Your computer has endless opportunities! If she likes princess & fairy things - try the Tinkerbell website too!
