I am on of "those" moms who feels that if my sons are going to play video games in their down time, a large percentage of that time should be spent with educational games. Brendan has made his way through Preschool Disney Online, funbrain.com and countless other websites, and nearly all the LeapPad and Leapster 2 games, and he's still loving educational games. Shooting Jedis down with math facts is the brain-equivalent of hiding spinach in their brownies: Moms feel good, and kids don't notice the difference! Plus, they're having fun, they've learned/practiced something, and we can sneak away to wash the bathroom floor!
This post will be a work in progress as I find and link websites that we're using a lot. It's mainly for my own use so I can find them again when we're looking for them, but feel free to check them out.
For Brendan....
http://www.supersmartgames.com/ This is my new favorite! I found this while trying to figure out whether Nintendo DS makes educational games because he's ready to move on from the Leapster/Didj.
http://arcademicskillbuilders.com/
www.brainpop.jr
http://www.mathplayground.com/
For Ryan.....
(Ryan doesn't yet use the computer on his own, but he loves to sit on our lap and play these together for a few minutes here and there.)
www.sesamestreet.org (Ry doesn't use the mouse yet, but these have basic keyboard games. This is our hands down favorite since Sesame Street is the only tv he watches.)
http://www.starfall.com/ I think the K levels are perfect for little ones.
For Homeschooling Mommies:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/ Brendan and I follow the Well-Trained Mind curriculum. I haven't joined the forum here yet only because I know I would get sucked in and spend too much time on it!
http://www.letteroftheweek.com/ Ryan and I haven't started working on any preschool curriculum yet since he's not yet two, but this looks like it has cute ideas for toddlers.
I have plenty to add, and I'd love to know of other people's finds too! I'm sure this list will grow much longer.......
