MyPlayCity
MyPlayCity hosts several downloadable (computer and mobile) online games, but since it is a free site, you have to ensure that you download a game and not a piece of freeware. A multilingual site, Pantheon can be downloaded to a PC so it might take some time to set up. Games on MyPlayCity belong to the usual genres—swapping tiles for money to create an aquarium; searching for hidden treasures in ancient cities or becoming a gangster. Pantheon is an introduction to various cultural concepts associated with India.
Basically, the player has to click on any number of matching adjacent tiles to get more information. Avoid the timed game as the relaxed mode is better, because you don’t have to worry about losing your life! Of course, the concepts are fairly basic in the first few levels of the game — the veneration of the cow and the position and functions of Goddess Saraswati in the Hindu pantheon — but it is an engrossing game that could keep you occupied for hours.
There are several lovely images of ancient temples, but a child could do with captions providing information on each one.
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Disney Junior
Looking for some fun with Disney characters — Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Handy Manny and Rusty and Stretch — then hit this site as it has all the games, video clips, line drawings and stories that would interest you. Visit the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse; engage with Jake and the Neverland pirates; meet Handy Manny, Doc McStuffins or Agent Oso or get introduced to the Disney princesses.
The stories are to be read along with a particular character. The games involve these characters in action, adventures and introduce the players to colours, shapes, counting, mathematics, creativity, mazes and music. For instance, in Jake’s Treasure Hunt, you have to help Jake beat Hook to the treasure; in Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse you get involved in a lot of activities such as helping Minnie catch her butterfly bows; you can catch frogs or go fishing with Donald or you can participate in Handy Manny’s carnival games.
Other Disney characters — the Octonauts, Winnie the Pooh, Special Agent Oso, the Disney Princesses, Timmy Time and Chuggington —all add life to site offering various interactive activities. Design a gown for Cinderella or colour drawings of Rapunzel and her prince or create your own princess stickers.
Designed beautifully — it is colourful without being garish!!!
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Crayola
A site for kid who love colours in all its hues and shades. Crayola is a well-known manufacturer of crayons, paints and art supplies for children and here you get information on their latest products such as the color wonder inks and paints and outdoor coloured bubbles and so on, which you can test and use online. You will find printable activity sheets, free training modules for schools and a Story Studio where you can turn yourself into a cartoon! and transform your photographs into line drawings that can be filled with colour.
The Creative Fun & Games section features Digi-Color, an option to colour drawings online; a colouring page maker where you can drag and drop colours; a card creator for e-cards; a certificate maker and a colour explosion glow board scene maker. Being a graphics-heavy site it takes time to load, which can be annoying on anything but a fast connection. There is also a quiz on colours, which is educational as well as entertaining with few add on games.
Worth a visit on a holiday or a rainy day to have some colourful fun!!!
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Looney Tunes
Are you a fan of Loony Tunes then visit this site for games, video clips, downloads and an online shop for games and DVDs. See your favourite cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Lola and Tweety Bird entertain you on the Internet. You can get active with the gang — play soccer or basketball; do the high jump, the triple jump or the long jump; take up archery or the steeplechase; throw a javelin or go kayaking. Or you can get involved in a food fight, climb the beanstalk with Bugs and fight off the invasion of zombie Tweety birds. For most games you have to use the keyboard so Sticky Keys is likely to switch on.
The instructions for the games appear in dark orange on a slightly less orangey background, hence they are unreadable. The download section features wallpapers, screensavers, buddy icons, printable’s and graphic icons featuring your favourite characters. The video clips section features scenes from Warner Bros’ cartoons with Bugs Bunny playing Ali Baba, Tom Thumb rescued from drowning in a pan, the Big Bad Wolf vs. Red Riding Hood and the tortoise racing the hare.
A site that will keep the kids entertained for hours!!!
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Games2win
A gamers’ dream come true!!! This site has a wide variety of games to suit anyone’s taste. There are games based on the Indian arranged marriage and honeymoon; cricket, including the 20/20 version; perfect date simulations; somewhat racy versions of car crashes, meetings with nurses, encounters with cheerleaders… as well as the obligatory makeover packages for one’s appearance to the design packages for wedding dresses. And of course, there are racing games, parking games, cricket umpire decisions and detective games — you can even play at killing Osama Bin Laden. The playing options are both with a keyboard or the mouse. You can also download several games, such as the tattoo designer, fly Air India, and dumb charades on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. The virtual world featuring Chimpoo the Chimp is quite interesting and engrossing! This site is available in languages other than English.
This multilingual site has a plethora of free games but parents do need to keep an eye on what their kids are accessing. An issue the Games2Win publishers have to address — to create separate sites for kids and adults.
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Coloring.com
Colour your world through the pictures available on this site. Take your pick from various categories such as animals, birthday parties, earth day, beaches, different games, Halloween, space, kids and much more.
Here you have a choice to either download the line sketches and print them at leisure. Or kids can start colouring right away and be as imaginative as they wish to be. You don’t like what you have done then simply start over.
A must for kids who enjoy their ART & COLOURING!
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Barbie
Join the colourful world of Barbie and all the activities which she brings along. A dream of all girls to at least possess one Barbie and this site offers much more. Loaded with games, videos, fashion information and fairy tale fantasy puzzles, while the latest hit is the Dream house. The interactive games based on various themes surfing around Barbie’s life are captivating and have a mesmerizing effect on the kids. The games are quite addictive as at times elders too find themselves playing with their kids. The online Barbie store offers a wide range of products categorized by age, gender, brand, play patterns and much more.