Play with kids: Surfing the Web Creatively

Feel annoyed when kids peer at you from behind while surfing the web? Check the curiosity by surfing together. Educate them and have fun for a while.

(Smiling dog, image from Google Search)

What do think about my teeth?

If you have children at home, you don’t want them to get exposed to adult contents for fear that their innocent mind will be contaminated. Kids get messages quicker than we imagined. Getting the wrong messages can bring forth negative consequences; hence, we must be careful to keep our children safe.

Take the basic safety measures when you are surfing the web at home.

1)    No adult contents when kids are awake.
2)    Do not give the children access to the Internet.
3)    Use software or change setting to block the NSFW web sites.

Even you are surfing the web for harmless contents, the kids are still curious and want to have a share. If so, take the opportunity to surf the web creatively with them. Don’t forget to take a couple of precautions as below:

Precautions to be taken when surfing with the kids:

1)    Parents or adults should have full control over the keyboard and mouse.
2)    Have Internet connected in advance. Do not type the account and password in front of the kids.
3)    Let the boring search engine be the front page.
4)    Screen the content quickly to make sure that there are no inappropriate content. Quit or retreat to get rid of the undesirable subject shortly.

How to surf the web creatively?

Help the children understand that the computer and Internet connection are powerful, but they must be used uprightly. Let surfing the web be a prominent mean for education, creativity and harmless fun to your kids.

1)    Use safe keywords to search with kids. For example, “healthy sports”, “beautiful parks”, “funny dogs”, “cutie cats”. You can invite children suggest some keywords providing that they are safe for searching.
2)    Screen the search result quickly and stop displaying the harmful ones.
3)    Enjoy the search result with your kids by reading the article or looking at the photos. Smile, laugh, and share thoughts with one another.
4)    Print some photos and ask your children to create funny dialogues for each image. This will release the kids from the computer and keep them busy in the creative process.
5)    Give the kids a more difficult assignment after finishing the funny dialogues. For example, ask them to link up all the images to create a story or learn a new skill. Surfing the web together to help the children get enough knowledge and fact about the subjects to facilitate their story creation and other learning.
6)    Give comments to the work and praise the kids for their efforts.
7)    Have the creation, learning process and result uploaded to a family blog and promise the kids to check this out together next time.

It’s worthwhile to set up a family blog with happy photos, a few words for memorable events and the creative works of your kids. Always refer back to this great treasure, recall the fun and happy moments in the past, and explore new ones together with your kids. 

Author’s note:

Surfing the web together with your kids to give them inspirations on what they could do, what game or hobbies the whole family could participate and have fun together. For more suggestions, welcome to read the three articles below:

Play with Kids: Ten Reasons to Do Blow Paint and How

Ten Hobbies Beneficial to Kids

Christmas Movies to Watch at Home