Programs for "kids"

J

johann the olive

Guest
Ok. I landed a job as assistant" to the conselor at a computer camp. They want to recommend software for them to buy. The parents last year complained that the kids didn't bring anything home to show them. So this year they want more of that stuff. So, I would like to know of some software you think may be good for kids (for things like art and making websites) These kids are in 3rd - 5th grade. Also, I would love to arrange some LAN games for em and can't find many that are appropriate. The 2 I know of are Nerf Arena Blast and Tribes. Nerf Arena Blast is an outdated shooter, but with nerf guns. great, non-violent fun. Then theirs tribes. a GREAT game, but some parents may object as it is rated T but the only real violence is that you use guns (that are fake, futuristic guns) their is no gore or blood either. Anything else you know of? I search the internet and go to amazon and look at kids games but it's jump start and oregon trail. i know i hate those games
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help is appreciated (why am i at this place getting help? if anyone knows their appropriate video games, it's the christians. im sorry if thats offending but think about it) THANKS!
 
First Person Shooters can be tricky with parents. Why not go with network racing games. A good inexpensive game would be Star Wars Pod Racer..it has some glitches with some Nvidia drivers though.
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Nascar series are fun too. Or maybe even Tie fighter. Lucas Arts games are a pretty safe bet.
 
First person shooters may be a problem. I would probably stay away from something like that. Even if some parents are OK with it, there will be others who may get horrified.

Like CCGR, I recommend the old LucasArts games. You can get many of them for under $10 new or even cheaper on eBay. PodRacer is VERY fun, but seems to have problems on XP. You can play it on a LAN, so the kids can play against each other. And it is totally clean. Tie Fighter is great, but I think it has some minor swear words. All of the Star Wars space sims (Tie Fighter, X-Wing, X-Wing Alliance) require you to have a joystick, or they won't install. In addition, I think people are having problems installing Tie Fighter on XP and possibly X-Wing as well.

The LucasLearning series (now out of print) is very fun and educational. PitDroids is GREAT and teaches logic. Droidworks is fun and teaches physics. There are also some reading/math ones, but I don't know anything about those.

My niece loves Oregon Trail and Amazon Trail and fits right in with the age you are talking about.

As far as art and web development, I don't know of anything.
 
Well, they arnt multiplayer, but you could always look for copies of old games like the incredible machine or dr. brain series. Or something newer thats similiar.
 
NAB, MY SPECIALTY :-D! Yes, I'm currently working on a "sequel" mod for Nerf ArenaBlast, unimaginatively called NAB 2. This one will contain another tournament-style circuit, as well as a single-player campaign set based on Future Nerf. Other than that, I've been maping for that game for about three years now.
 
You could get some low-cost photo-editing/design programs. Ones that don't need a lot of technical know-how and have simple tools/wizards/effects that can do a lot. Ones like these sometimes come bundled with a computer.

BlazeQ
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