As a new father and hard-core gamer who tries to hook new players whenever he can, I start to wonder when I can start teaching his first games to my daughter. It is quite clear that there are many games for children from the age of six, and many others that you can enjoy with them hand in hand; Nintendo is the queen for that, and I know that while I have a big N at home I will not miss hours of entertainment with the girl when I grow up a little.
But of course, things have changed a lot, and where previously they made series, movies and other things for children, so in general and without much distinction, now they adapt the contents perfectly to different age groups. The video game industry could not be an exception, I told myself, so I started looking for some interesting examples of games and interactive applications for children as small as possible to play on a tablet. I insist on the part of "interactive": it is clear that there are a lot of applications with audiovisual content for babies, but what is shown here are either apps that allow simple interaction or very basic games to make their first steps. It is necessary to clarify that we are not going to find anything worthy of much interest for very small babies, for the simple reason that they have the capacity of attention of a squirrel addicted to coffee, and even the simplest game would require more than four or five seconds.
First of all, a warning: the ocean of applications is as stormy as, at times, unreliable. If you are going to dive on your own on Google Play or the Appstore, thoroughly test the games before leaving them to a child. My personal opinion is that no small child should play anything with free-to-play mechanics, because they are often designed with quite perverse mechanisms to generate some addiction (and because they're going to give you the stake to buy them lives, credits or whatever it is that uses the game). From a certain age you can explain to them why it is not a good idea, but with a child of 3 or 4 years it is quite difficult to reason something like that. In some cases I do not propose exactly games, but development studies that are reliable and create good content; each one of them has in the application stores several dozens of titles that serve our purpose. By the way, if you do not want to leave your brand new iPad or Android tablet to the little creature, do not forget to read our list of tablets for children.
1. Sago Mini
Sago Mini is a collection of about 20 games for toddlers and preschoolers; You can access them by paying a single subscription for everyone. They do not have any violence or inappropriate content: you can travel with the game's pets to space, fly through a forest, become a superhero, build a robot ... The controls are simple enough for a 3- or 4-year-old child to understand them in seconds, and the design of the characters and scenarios is so attractive that it delights any child. The funny thing is that some of these games are teaching almost rebound to control basic mechanics of genres "for adults": in the road trip cars game the mechanics is to accelerate and jump to avoid obstacles, all in a 2D environment, which is basically the gateway to a Mario type platform. Others encourage creativity, like creating robots or dressing characters. In the App Store it appears as directed to children of 4 years, but it is more for a matter of controls than content (which, I repeat, are perfectly appropriate for any age); in my opinion children of 3 years could already play it without problems.
2. Touch Mouth
Toca Boca is a Swedish studio specialized in developing applications and games for children of different ages. In what they call their "universe" we find cooking or hairdressing games, small adventures in which the characters go on vacation, others in which we manage a stable or a farm. Many of them are more given to experimentation, that they can try to dress characters or hunt with interactive environments; but that helps them improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, in addition to moving in a 2D environment and finding and recognizing elements with which they can interact. Again, although officially they are aimed at slightly older children (between 6 and 8 years old), Some of their games like caring for plants or hairdressing can be used for younger children with a little help from an adult. All applications cost € 2.99 and have a total of 39, so there is a choice.
3. My Hungry Caterpillar
This cute hungry caterpillar that we have to help feed, grow and explore their environment is perfect for children from two years. The interaction is very simple: drag her to the fruits of the trees, take her to the bed when she is sleepy, just a finger is enough to do it all, and the cute design of the character and the environment leaves the children enchanted. The fact that the caterpillar has to be cared for helps teach planning and responsibility. For €4.99, it is a sure success.
4. Breathe, Think, Act
A game of Sesame Street in which we have to help a cute little monster to calm down, manage their emotions and overcome the challenges of everyday life. The monster will tell their emotions (which gives the child a key vocabulary to develop emotional intelligence), and the goal is to perform different actions on the touch screen to help you relax, breathe and think to feel better before acting. It also includes a relaxation activity for children and resources for parents. Breathe, think, act is free: it has been developed by Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization that creates Sesame Street.
5. LeapFrog
Another company specializing in content for children with fantastic games for both smartphone and tablet. There are sporting mini-games, of recognizing shapes, colors, and musicals. With the karaoke and musical instruments and a boy or girl with the desire to joke, you can be laughing until your ribs crack. Creativity apps that can play with older kids are also available, such as an app to take photos with Snapchat-like filters. For €0.99 that these applications cost you can not ask for more.
If you have a son or daughter of more than two years and you want to go to this video game, here are a few ideas that you will surely like, especially if you sit down with them to enjoy together a family game afternoon.
But of course, things have changed a lot, and where previously they made series, movies and other things for children, so in general and without much distinction, now they adapt the contents perfectly to different age groups. The video game industry could not be an exception, I told myself, so I started looking for some interesting examples of games and interactive applications for children as small as possible to play on a tablet. I insist on the part of "interactive": it is clear that there are a lot of applications with audiovisual content for babies, but what is shown here are either apps that allow simple interaction or very basic games to make their first steps. It is necessary to clarify that we are not going to find anything worthy of much interest for very small babies, for the simple reason that they have the capacity of attention of a squirrel addicted to coffee, and even the simplest game would require more than four or five seconds.
First of all, a warning: the ocean of applications is as stormy as, at times, unreliable. If you are going to dive on your own on Google Play or the Appstore, thoroughly test the games before leaving them to a child. My personal opinion is that no small child should play anything with free-to-play mechanics, because they are often designed with quite perverse mechanisms to generate some addiction (and because they're going to give you the stake to buy them lives, credits or whatever it is that uses the game). From a certain age you can explain to them why it is not a good idea, but with a child of 3 or 4 years it is quite difficult to reason something like that. In some cases I do not propose exactly games, but development studies that are reliable and create good content; each one of them has in the application stores several dozens of titles that serve our purpose. By the way, if you do not want to leave your brand new iPad or Android tablet to the little creature, do not forget to read our list of tablets for children.
1. Sago Mini
Sago Mini is a collection of about 20 games for toddlers and preschoolers; You can access them by paying a single subscription for everyone. They do not have any violence or inappropriate content: you can travel with the game's pets to space, fly through a forest, become a superhero, build a robot ... The controls are simple enough for a 3- or 4-year-old child to understand them in seconds, and the design of the characters and scenarios is so attractive that it delights any child. The funny thing is that some of these games are teaching almost rebound to control basic mechanics of genres "for adults": in the road trip cars game the mechanics is to accelerate and jump to avoid obstacles, all in a 2D environment, which is basically the gateway to a Mario type platform. Others encourage creativity, like creating robots or dressing characters. In the App Store it appears as directed to children of 4 years, but it is more for a matter of controls than content (which, I repeat, are perfectly appropriate for any age); in my opinion children of 3 years could already play it without problems.
2. Touch Mouth
Toca Boca is a Swedish studio specialized in developing applications and games for children of different ages. In what they call their "universe" we find cooking or hairdressing games, small adventures in which the characters go on vacation, others in which we manage a stable or a farm. Many of them are more given to experimentation, that they can try to dress characters or hunt with interactive environments; but that helps them improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, in addition to moving in a 2D environment and finding and recognizing elements with which they can interact. Again, although officially they are aimed at slightly older children (between 6 and 8 years old), Some of their games like caring for plants or hairdressing can be used for younger children with a little help from an adult. All applications cost € 2.99 and have a total of 39, so there is a choice.
3. My Hungry Caterpillar
This cute hungry caterpillar that we have to help feed, grow and explore their environment is perfect for children from two years. The interaction is very simple: drag her to the fruits of the trees, take her to the bed when she is sleepy, just a finger is enough to do it all, and the cute design of the character and the environment leaves the children enchanted. The fact that the caterpillar has to be cared for helps teach planning and responsibility. For €4.99, it is a sure success.
4. Breathe, Think, Act
A game of Sesame Street in which we have to help a cute little monster to calm down, manage their emotions and overcome the challenges of everyday life. The monster will tell their emotions (which gives the child a key vocabulary to develop emotional intelligence), and the goal is to perform different actions on the touch screen to help you relax, breathe and think to feel better before acting. It also includes a relaxation activity for children and resources for parents. Breathe, think, act is free: it has been developed by Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization that creates Sesame Street.
5. LeapFrog
Another company specializing in content for children with fantastic games for both smartphone and tablet. There are sporting mini-games, of recognizing shapes, colors, and musicals. With the karaoke and musical instruments and a boy or girl with the desire to joke, you can be laughing until your ribs crack. Creativity apps that can play with older kids are also available, such as an app to take photos with Snapchat-like filters. For €0.99 that these applications cost you can not ask for more.
If you have a son or daughter of more than two years and you want to go to this video game, here are a few ideas that you will surely like, especially if you sit down with them to enjoy together a family game afternoon.