Computers for children

Before going further into choosing computers for children, I believe that you would like to know the answer to the following question:

Are computers for children necessary?

And what will a child use the computer for?

The easiest answer for this two is: “Yes. A child needs a computer so that he can play computer games”. Everybody agrees. Nevertheless, let’s not just limit on the short term use of the computer. Let’s analyze the world we live in and see what a computer can do for children.

Computers have more and more importance in our daily life. Almost everywhere you go, you find computers. At office or at home, a computer is almost indispensable.

Not knowing at leas the basics of using a computer, you will certainly encounter many difficulties. Moreover, things will not get easier in the future, because the world is getting more and more computerized.

Your child should get accustomed and work with computers from an early age. Doing this, your child will find himself adapting to the ever changing technology much easier and it will come natural to him.

Educational products are nowadays released mostly on computer CD's.

More and more educational products for children are now released in the form of programs and electronic encyclopedias and can only be viewed with a computer, somehow forcing parents to buy computers for children.

Unlike the traditional learning methods, learning with a computer has the advantage of interactivity. Children love interacting with computers, because they control the way they learn and what they learn.

Of course, a child will use a computer mainly to play computer games. At first, the computer will only be an expensive toy for your child.

Your child will play computer games the entire day. After a while however, he will settle down and start exploring the other sides of the computer.

The only thing I was doing at my computer when I first got it was playing. Then, as time passed, I started being interested in how computers work, the internet, 3D modeling and so on. Now I can proudly say that I know a lot about computers, and I thank my parents for buying me one at an early age.

The disadvantage of computers is of financial nature. A computer is a lot more expensive than most toys you bought for your child. On the long term however, the money spend will come back multiplied many times in the form of knowledge for your child. Your kid will have an advantage over other children that do not have the privilege of owning a computer.

Deciding what computer to buy for your child

Since the main use of the computer for your child will be to play games, you should choose a fast system on which modern games will run smooth. Also, because modern computer games use lot’s of space, a high capacity hard drive is recommended.

The computer you choose for your child should be equipped with a DVD, because DVD’s are starting to replace CD’s as main data transport medium.

For instance, the computer system to the left has the perfect configuration for a game station.

With it, all your child’s computer games will run perfectly. And two or three years from now, this system will still be a powerful platform for all activities that your kid will have at the computer.

With this computer, your child will be able to run computer games that require a lot of resources.

Later on, when playing computer games will no longer be your child main activity, this computer will be a solid platform that he will use for other purposes: net surfing, learning, 3D modeling, etc.

Now that you have chosen a computer system, you also need a monitor. You can choose from two types of computer monitors: CRT and LCD.

LCD monitors are the ones you usually find in a office. They are flat and do not produce radiations.

However, they are not recommended for the purpose your child will use it, because of the slow reaction time. CRT computer monitors are bigger and cheaper.

I wrote a much more detailed guide to choosing a child computer monitor that should help you a lot in getting the best for your kid

Next, you've got to choose a child computer keyboard. A simple white, corporate look one won't do the trick. I’ve written a separate article on choosing a child computer keyboard.

Once you’re done with the hardware, you should look into this guide on child computer games.