Programs for young children

spud17

I'm going to be resurrecting an old laptop for some under 5's to use. Does anyone have any recommendations for suitable entertainment/educational software to add to it?
As usual looking for personal experience of the software.
Thanks.

Chino

spud17 wrote: »

Does anyone have any recommendations for suitable entertainment/educational software to add to it?

Why are you bothering to resurrect this laptop if you don't know what you want to do with it?

In any case, if you're going to give a device to young children to use, wouldn't a tablet be better, having less orifices that young hands can pour liquids and shove things into?

debitcardmayhem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Software_for_children

Tux paint was used by a friend , but I can't recommend any realistically being sans issue :cool:

Chino wrote: »

Why are you bothering to resurrect this laptop if you don't know what you want to do with it?

In any case, if you're going to give a device to young children to use, wouldn't a tablet be better, having less orifices that young hands can pour liquids and shove things into?

I suppose re-using tech is not a good idea then, I bet you think the oldies of this world shouldn't be using things that they may plug their hearing aids into and spill their horlicks/sherry over. Sounds like you are advocating spud17 to send it to landfill, and spend money on a tablet, if you can't give constructive advice why post?:o

techquest

spud17 wrote: »

I'm going to be resurrecting an old laptop for some under 5's to use. Does anyone have any recommendations for suitable entertainment/educational software to add to it?
As usual looking for personal experience of the software.
Thanks.

The problem is that there is so much of it about and so where do you start. I have set up older laptops for kids of such age, they are extremely tech savvy nowadays and yes accidents can happen, even with a tablet. So is it just about having fun, they just use a specific program? Or are you intending to get them to switch it on etc and choose what they want to use, obviously with no net connection at all?

Slithery

I'd take a look at the Linux distros aimed specifically for this use case that come preloaded with appropriate software.

The first that springs to mind is Sugar but there are a few more out there as well.

I don't have personal experience of any of these but Linux is my day job and I've heard good things.


Edit - Just found this list for you...
https://www.ubuntupit.com/15-best-linux-for-kids-let-your-kids-learn-linux-with-fun/

spud17

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Software_for_children

Tux paint was used by a friend , but I can't recommend any realistically being sans issue :cool:
I suppose re-using tech is not a good idea then, I bet you think the oldies of this world shouldn't be using things that they may plug their hearing aids into and spill their horlicks/sherry over. Sounds like you are advocating spud17 to send it to landfill, and spend money on a tablet, if you can't give constructive advice why post?:o

Hi DCM.
I'll ignore Chino.:D
It's a Win 7 laptop I've had hanging around. Intention is to put an old 64GB SSD in it, should help guard against knocks and bumps. I'm giving it to someone with a couple of young 'uns.
They can already poke at a phone or tablet, but the intention was to get them used to doing something, i.e. turning it on, using a keyboard

techquest wrote: »

The problem is that there is so much of it about and so where do you start. I have set up older laptops for kids of such age, they are extremely tech savvy nowadays and yes accidents can happen, even with a tablet. So is it just about having fun, they just use a specific program? Or are you intending to get them to switch it on etc and choose what they want to use, obviously with no net connection at all?

That's exactly the idea, get them doing something constructive, having to think about things, make decisions, what do they want to use?
I've got no prior experience of what would be useful, hence asking on here, anything educational but fun. I'm guessing, for starters anything connected to counting or spelling.

Slithery wrote: »

I'd take a look at the Linux distros aimed specifically for this use case that come preloaded with appropriate software.

The first that springs to mind is Sugar but there are a few more out there as well.

I don't have personal experience of any of these but Linux is my day job and I've heard good things.


Edit - Just found this list for you...
https://www.ubuntupit.com/15-best-linux-for-kids-let-your-kids-learn-linux-with-fun/

Thanks for this,I'm ok with Linux, but I'm a little hesitant about the parents ability to sort out anything Linux if there are problems.
I suppose I'm to be tech support anyway.
I'll certainly have a look at your links.

spud17

Hi Slithery, I'd seen Edubuntu years ago, but didn't realise that there were so specific Linux distros available.
I see several are no longer being developed, can't see that's a big problem.
Going to try them out over the next few days/weeks with Qimo, DoudouLinux and possibly SOAS.
Thanks again.

Slithery

I'd check out Sugar first as it's designed to be run directly from a USB stick, this means no need to wipe the current OS or upgrade to an SSD.

It also means the children could have their own USB drive and use it on a different machine as well if they wanted to, say the family PC with a bigger screen.

spud17

I was just a bit concerned about young children and a flash drive sticking out the side of a laptop.

techquest

Yeah at the flash drive would be prone to being bent at the usb end and that wouldn't be the kids fault, happens all the time.

Linux is not a bad idea, save that it's seldom used with kids in mind. An ssd would solve some issues but there will always be issues re the cd/dvd as well.

I believe you can still download and install W10 for free, using your W7 key. Check the How to Geek site for the info, I think it's still a valid way to upgrade and W7 support is ending January 2020 anyway.

spud17

Downloading those Linux variants now.
@techquest, it was still working last weekend, because I did it, third time in 2 months.:)