Children love games. Bright colours, fun characters, and catchy music – it’s no surprise that games bring a smile to their faces!
However, choosing a safe, fun, and educational game for younger children can feel like a minefield of in-app purchases, advertising, and global chat rooms.
To make things a little easier for you, we have researched and listed a few games that are safer for younger children to play. Read through our top tips, check out the age ratings, and use these as indicators for any other games your little ones want to play.
Interland
This is not currently rated by PEGI but is targeted towards younger children.
- Mindful Mountain raises awareness on sharing and privacy settings.
- Tower of Treasure teaches players how to create strong passwords.
- Kind Kingdom encourages users to be kind to others online.
- Reality River is a multiple choice quest that tests a player’s online safety knowledge.
Top Tips
- Not only is this app fun to play, with bright and beautiful graphics; it will teach children vital knowledge that will help keep them safer online.
- This app is safer because there is no interaction with other users.
- Entirely free to play and has no in-app purchases or advertisements.
- Sit with children as they play the games and help them put new knowledge learned into practise (e.g. help them create a strong password).
- Explore the other assets provided on the Be Internet Awesome website to help further children's learning.
Cbeebies Playtime Island
Top Tips
- This app is safer for children because there is no interaction with other users. You don’t even need an internet connection to play it!
- You can download up to 8 games and take them on the go.
- There are no ads and no in-app purchases.
Endless Learning Academy
Top Tips
- This game is exciting with fun monsters, but also helps children learn at a young age.
- There are additional apps by the same developer such as Endless Reader, Endless Numbers, and Endless Alphabet that specialise in certain areas.
Little Chatterbox for Kids
Little Chatterbox is an interactive, language learning app for children that features real older children as virtual teachers. There are 8 different languages available in the app with 300 keywords to learn through fun games. Little Chatterbox is recommended for children aged 4+ and is useful for young children to learn a new language and bilingual children.
Children pick from 16 contexts that they wish to explore such as the home, the sea, the zoo, and more. As they click on different objects in the scene, an older child appears stating the word in one language (this could be the child’s native language) and another child appears stating the word in their chosen foreign language. There are further games and levels to challenge the children as they progress.
Top Tips
- This game is informative and fun, with lots of options for practicing and learning.
- Try sitting with a child while they play the game and ask them to pronounce the words as they go.
Mussila Music School
Mussila Music School is suitable for children aged 6 and up and teaches children the basics of music while providing them with a musical toolkit over the course of 60 interactive levels.
The app is based on a thoroughly planned music curriculum where the child progresses through skill building levels such as recognising instruments, instrumental sounds, rhythms, and melodies. Children are also able to make their own music using the app. There are 5 adventure games that each offer their own musical approaches. For example, the game Mussila Planets includes original songs and a new arrangement of Beethoven’s ‘Fur Elise’.
Top Tips
- This app is safer as there is no interaction with other users.
- Play the Jam Session level to make music together!
MovieStarPlanet
Top Tips
- Encourage children to let a parent or carer set up their account.
- Remind them to only become online friends with real life friends.
- Make sure children understand that they should NEVER give out personal information, even if other players ask.