What could be the best way to introduce the world of computers to a kid, let’s say of 6 years old, so that he learns to handle it like a toy and stops dreading it like some esoteric, arcane and recondite machine from some eldritch, enigmatic, cryptic and phantasmal world ?
Maybe my https://fabien.benetou.fr/Content/BuildingAComputer could help.
I also answered your question in https://lemmy.ml/post/38363131/21987482 but it’s intertwined.
I wouldn’t “teach” them what a computer is, I would co-explore with them instead.
Well I got my first PC when I was 5 (2005), and I just learnt to use the PC by myself (because my parents didn’t understand it) over several years.
When I will eventually have a child, these would be my steps to encourage them to use a PC:
- Tell them that they can play paid games for free and show them how to do it
- Give general internet usage tips
- Convince them that a PC worths way more than a console, because you can play way more games on it, and you can also do a bunch more things with it
I don’t think a 5 year old will understand a PC’s usefullnes for sure, but their receptors will definitely be turned on after hearing FREE GAMES.
@PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz l would be working on a PC of the 80s😄😄😄
An 80s PC for a child in 2025? That’s mad. I hope it will work out well then!
@PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz there are laptops, but I organisation l work which is traditional and old fashioned.
6 years old is a bit young because at that age, they need a reason to engage with anything.
Games might be a place to start, but a kid will think “tablet is easier”. Same with music or videos.
Art is another place to start, but even then, why computers?
You need to wait until they have an idea or goal they want to accomplish, then maybe use it as an illustrative tool. In most cases for kids though, a PC is unnecessary with phones and tablets being so prevalent with an easier to grasp UI/UX.
Games might be a place to start, but a kid will think “tablet is easier”.
If you play RTS games it’s really hard to do it without mouse and keyboard, so that’s a point for a desktop or laptop
@iopq@lemmy.world you mean games that can be played on dosbox x ??
Or in some cases wine
A 6 year old child though…
I played computer games since I was like 5 years old, it’s not so hard to figure out when you just get to play a few hours a day. I figured stuff out by myself even though I didn’t even speak English and everything was in English
@just_another_person@lemmy.world have you ever tried the games on abandonware ??🤔🤔🤔
That’s why I think this is such a good question. How can we incorporate (linux) computers more in the digital literacy of children so they don’t fall victim to the golden cages of android and ios before they develop the maturity to understand what a handicap it is.
@ISOmorph@feddit.org maybe by playing games of the 80s and the 90s ??🤔🤔🤔
Linux is literally in every device in your home. Doesn’t mean you’re kids need to engage with it.
I mean I installed commodore os vision recently and I was like " I would have lost my mind if id had this at 6, there is so much you can do, with no internet!!" I got into computers at 5, and had no internet until probably 15 ish.
So id give a kid a pc with commodore os on it. It comes pre-installed with programming apps and games and drawing programs for kids too. Its awesome.
@bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works l’m thinking of doing it on MX Linux with evilwm as the de. I shall be starting with games from the 80s and the 90s, which can be played on dosbox x.
You aren’t your children though. They experience better technology literally all the time.
Sure but “better” is subjective. Newer, sure. A ps5 game isnt inherently more fun than an n64 game. Im not a fan of new=good.
Also, it should be noted phones and tablets purely exist to consume, consume, consume. They’re not for creation; a computer is.
I think any kid interested in learning would find all aspects of computing cool, not just an ipad. Just like how I can have fun on a 2600, and also my gaming pc. Its all interesting and fun. I think kids just aren’t exposed to anything other than the shiny new ad filled dlc ridden consoles that get pushed now. There’s so much out there especially if you get into custom handhelds or ras pi etc.
It is very much subjective. Are you serious?
If you grew up with keyboards and mice, that has all been removed as a barrier to interaction with computers.
You’re insane if you think your old way of doing things is somehow “better” or meaningful.
I bet you’re also trying to force your kids to listen to YOUR music and tell them why it’s better then their choices, right??
Grow up.
@just_another_person@lemmy.world but l would be working with a desktop where the CPU is located inside the cabinet.
Newer absolutely does not mean better.
This is why we are seeing a return to old household items. People are realizing that Teflon and cartridge razors and Tupperware aren’t really as great as we thought they were. We just grew up familiar with them because that’s what everyone used, so they must be better, right?
This is all because boomers and the “greatest generation” were really easy to market to when TVs came into homes. People weren’t ready for that level of advertisement.
I don’t think we’ll see a return to punch cards, but I don’t see keyboard/mouse ever going away.
Literally nothing I said in my comment is related to anything you e said here.
I don’t get where this is coming from.
My point is, you seem to think that the new way is better, with everything touchscreen. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s better. People thought Teflon and cartridge razors were better too. Turns out they were just brainwashed.
I’m saying KIDS do. Especially younger kids. Clearly started in my original comment.
Kids think whatever they’re exposed to.
Neither of my kids use their tablets anymore after having/getting access to a laptop. They were a little confused, at first, since the town uses touchscreen Chromebooks for K-1, but they got used to it, since none of my laptops have a touchscreen. Now they view touchscreens as being for babies. Like that kid in BTTF2 with the lightgun…“You mean you have to use your hands?”
@just_another_person@lemmy.world l live in a country where bullock carts are still a means of transport 😄😄😄😄😄
Wow.
Don’t hurt yourself there, Groucho.
LOL
Minecraft (Java) with Mods
To me the main thing is to relate to a computer as a programmable device, not just a shiny box with pictures and videos. To that end, it might be more effective to have the computer be in command line mode rather than it just being a conduit to youtube.
I started on an apple II at a friend’s house. BASIC was built right in to the command line. Our family ended up with a TRS-80 compatible which also had BASIC. Back then everything you needed to know was in the TRS-80 basic manual. I spent hours and hours making games on it.
Perhaps something like LOGO? Some simple command line environment where the knowledge required is small, and there are easily reachable payoffs for making loops and so forth.
Reminds me of this post, I wanted to do something like this when I have a kid, but it turns out not all children are the same, who would have thought, and mine isn’t interested in how things work.
https://changelog.complete.org/archives/1448-introducing-the-command-line-at-3-years
The whole category is an amazing read: https://changelog.complete.org/archives/category/technology/children-computing
@RheumatoidArthritis@mander.xyz that’s lovely. Is that yours ?🤓🤓
No no, I’ve found it, read it in whole and remembered it
an apple 2 or c64 and some type-in-the-program magazines
Keep it disconnected from the internet is the first thing I thought of.
I installed gcompris for my 5 year old. FOSS childrens educational software and games from KDE.
I also bought her a cheap, pink, 65% keyboard and mouse set that make it “her computer”.
There’s also a few free resources to teach typing once your kid can read and write enough to understand what they’re typing. I’ve heard good things about Typing.com and typingclub.com but we’re not ready to start typing yet so I haven’t used them.
Also, if my kids ask a question that’s a little tricky to explain I’ll show them how I use a computer (or phone) to look for answers. One of the few practical applications I’ve ever found for AI is “can you explain [abstract concept] in a way that a 5 year old can understand”. This isn’t explicitly teaching computer skills, but showing them a practical use case and how to dig into their curiosity.
We started with Win10 e-waste, and started with Ubuntu Mate. Java Minecraft was the trick. Got them motivated, reading, doing math. Then wanting to install mods taught them about the filesystem and such. Age 4 and 6, they both got on board and are now top tier computer users. Giving them access to gimp, inkscape, and tinkercad got them using it for art and 3d modelling to get involved in the 3d printer, and they use blockbench to make custom models…which you configure with json in a resource pack. They’re now 9 and 11 and are motivated to play on computers.
Heheh that was my oldest a couple years ago. He’s 9 now but I let him use one of my laptops when he was like 7 to play Minecraft, and it eventually became “his” laptop.
He’s also using Tumbleweed.
He learned how to do all sorts of Minecraft console commands mostly “on his own” (as in, without my guidance, he saw some of the stuff streamers were doing and I explained what it was printed out a little cheat sheet for him and set him off on his own to mess with it. I haven’t taught him any Linux shell (yet), but he is getting pretty good at typing and keyboard shortcuts.
I don’t much care for the streamers. Especially a lot of the Minecraft streamers that pander to kids (cough Mikey and JJ). I don’t allow them in the house anymore. But I’m glad he got some inspiration out of it at least.
I dont know much about how family friendly they are (id say mostly) but mumbo jumbo, grian, and a large number of the people who make up the Hermitcraft are all pretty wholesome, entertaining, some of them are wizards with Redstone, others for aesthetic builds.
Those you mentioned are pretty family friendly, I think. I’d add GoodTimesWithScar, he’s pretty wholesome.
To add to this comment, I’m over 30 and still can’t resist binging a few episodes once in a while, particularly Mumbo Jumbo’s Redstone magic. Don’t feel the need to watch everyone. I usually stick with Mumbo Jumbo and then when someone else builds something really cool I hop onto their video and watch a few episodes, like when Scar built the death star, or then when Grian showed Scar his secret temple I went to watch him build it. (… I had significantly more free time at that time due to life circumstances)
@titter@lemmy.world these are games ??🤔🤔🤔
We steered the kids away from Minecraft YouTube, but I actually watch it myself. And I would say Mumbo is good if you have a kid that likes technical stuff and contraptions. Grian is good if you like pranks. BdoubleO100 is an absolute artist, and I think he’s my pick, especially his Hermitcraft Season 10 complete season. GoodTimesWiithScar gets into a lot of silly chaos. Hermitcraft gets a new world every season, and so, picking a hermit and watching a whole season of their content actually may be a fun family activity. I get a lot of inspiration from what they do.
My suggestions of grian and mumbo are you tube minecraft streamers. I used to only watch mumbo because he is good at technical things like the in-game logic circuitry called Redstone.
Hermitcraft is a minecraft server that hosts players over a season to build and play and create content together
Linkzey is a really good family friendly streamer.
Install something like edubuntu/endless os with gcompiz
Old computer no wifi, as a kid I just explored the computer menus and played the few offline games, drew in paint, by like 10 I had swapped to adobe flash off some piraxy yt videos, maybe load it up with software that could be fun for kids to use
Scratch is a good one, might be too young, but learn to think like a coder while playing around
This plus a Lego mindstorm.
When we got our first computer it was a Win 95 machine, with a copy of Encarta, Atlas. I don’t remember what word processor, but it wasn’t a full office suite.
It was cool. We did lots of typing and using ms paint.
Then we got a shareware cd. Hundreds of pretty useless games + 4 or 5 big ones like doom and transport tycoon, but it changed everything. Every day we’d try a new one. We’d mess around in DOS trying to get those ones working.
Then 3D Movie Maker - the full version. It all really started to come alive.
Then a microphone. Just messing around with sound recorder was like when we used to make “funny” tape recordings of ourselves, but without the hassle of tape.
These are the basic concepts of what I think made computers fun.
I guess the direction I’ll probably go shortly is the old AMD 2400g mini itx I have laying around. Put on an opensuse slowroll. We have a microphone handy. We have 900 games on our GOG account. I have an old intuos drawing tablet that might work. Add some of those education flatpaks - solariums and stuff. I think you can definitely do a modern version of what we had back in the 90s when computing was more than watching youtube.
Basically how I started !! Highly recommend.
His videos are a great learning resources too
Just some idea: archive.org (and ruffle) for old flash games
Easier to give them Flashpoint. You could restrict the age inappropriate games too.
desktop computer
