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Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

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Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#81

Post by turtleyacht »

wiradikusuma wrote: post #80

I feel depressed. My boys are 8 and 4, and they're both only interested in "hack and slash" computer games, so I bought local co-op like Ninja Turtles and Castle Crashers. I tried giving them "puzzle" games, they're not interested. I tried giving them books (and I also read the books for them), they always "Daddy can we play games". Still thinking how to make them interested in programming. The Pi I gave them, they u…

Model out games on paper. Graph paper. Give them crayons and markers.

Tape up a board game out of construction paper and cardboard. Glue stuff to popsicle sticks. Create adhoc, six-sided dice.

Use a firewall to block sites.

Programming is modeling abstractions. Don't need a computer for that. Stepwise refinement, encapsulation, and problem decomposition can all be demonstrated without a machine.

Model a linked list with a stages in a game (on paper). A graph is just a path of streets to the ice cream shop. A tree is an upside-down version of the one outside.

Teach them to make something out of nothing, first principles. Read with them.

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#82

Post by lnsru »

open-source-ux wrote: post #24

Raspberry Pi The Raspberry Pi is excellent for kids (and adults). There are tutorials for any topic ( https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en ). A lot of people are not aware that the Raspberry Pi magazines (MagPi) and books are free as PDFs. Or you can purchase printed books or magazines. - Magazines: https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/issues - Books: https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/books Micro:bit The micro:bit is an even sma…

Raspberry Pi is out of stock everywhere. Triple regular price on eBay.

Take Arduino. It’s probably more adopted than microbit.

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#83

Post by turtleyacht »

ckz wrote: post #45

Time to introduce Myst! My dad set me up with it + his notes from an incomplete attempt around age 5 or 6 and I probably didn't beat it until 7 or 8 (and continued like this for the next few games). Here's my theory for a game like this vs something that's pure "learn to code/draw": Give her a world to explore that builds the -drive- to create. I like Myst as a starter because: 1) It's unhurried. I wandered for a yea…

That's awesome. Now I wish I had played more adventure games and kept notebooks. What an experience to connect the digital with a custom keepsake in the physical realm.

I remember Ultima Online and Everquest with its cloth maps. But a notebook from Dad is something else.

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#84

Post by necmttn »

spiffytech wrote: post #17

There's an old game from the 90s I loved : The Incredible Machine . It's all about devising elaborate Rube Goldberg machines to solve puzzles. The cat knocks a ball into the goldfish bowl, which tips over and fills a bucket that operates a pulley that flips a switch that opens a door. That kind of thing. I remember it being very freeform and exploratory, teaching cause and effect and physics and thinking through comp…

Sir i have been looking for this game for over a decade now, Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#85

Post by eimrine »

schwartzworld wrote: post #52
eimrine wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's unleash a discussion on whether electrical engineering toys (usually they are like Arduino but more childish) fits to a girl or girls are better to be kind of social-oriented persons. Personally my take is that it is perfectly OK to learn electronics for 7 y.o. girl but no game can unleash child's interest in any topic. Science spreading must be similar to religion spreading. There are neither Christian/Muslim…

> That's unleash a discussion on whether electrical engineering toys fits to a girl I think the jury is back on that one and has been for some time. I can't even imagine what might be wrong with teaching a girl electronics. How do you feel about teaching them reading and math? > Science spreading must be similar to religion spreading Where does this mandate come from? People believing in what is verifiable mandates a…

> More people are leaving religion than convert to it

This statement has nothing to do with my statements. All you need to see is that religion involvement starts very early, usually 40 days in Christianity. I want science people to learn something from this fact.

> A quick google search shows that this assertion is wrong.

Why are you ignoring thousands of years of history? No religious adept became a religious adept because of books or games. Even more: trend of declining religion as you have mentioned started when all those books and games starts to be produced (reminds me Jevons paradox in the sence of the more religious books/games for kids are there in the market the less religious penetration is observed among the kids). Talks is what matters, I do not understand why do I need to repeat this triviality for so many times.

> Where does this mandate come from? People believing in what is verifiable mandates also teaching them lies as well? For every fact you learn, you should learn an unverifiable myth as well?

I am not telling about teaching lies, I am telling about teaching early. Am I really seem like so unintelligent person to accuse me in encouraging of telling lies?

> I think the jury is back on that one and has been for some time. I can't even imagine what might be wrong with teaching a girl electronics. How do you feel about teaching them reading and math?

In my country one is supposed for girls is to be a social persons rather than engineers. Girls in our country use to do shopping, to cook meals etc etc. Reading is OK for girls in our country but math is slightly over. I do not agree with this statement but I have a personal story when I refused to be a godfather of my close friend's daughter just because she is a girl. I told my friend that if I became a godfather of his kid, I see my role as science teacher (I have not my own kids if it is important and my atheistic mind does not restrict to become a spare father for my friend's kid which anyway is going to be baptised). When the kid has born and we realized that the kid is a girl, me and my friend decided that my attitude is incompatible with our culture's view of what is good/bad for girl.

This is my personal pain story, that explains why am I so active in this topic and why I consider every downvote for me is wrong and seems that I have enough verbosely explained my idea (which I tried to describe in the top comment) to consider myself as boring to read.

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#86

Post by stigi »

throw_away1525 wrote: post #21

I can highly recommend Amazing Tales, it is a pen and paper RPG for kids her age. I play with my daughter and she LOVES it. You only need a couple of six sided dice, although you can optionally spice things up with 8, 10, and 12 sided die if you have them (or you can make it special and buy some from your local games shop). It's basically collaborative storytelling, and the possibility of failing dice rolls makes it…

This sound so cool!

Does anybody know of similar games for non English speaking folks? My kid only speaks German and I have the feeling playing our first RPG will benefit from us all being on the same page in the same language.

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#87

Post by schwartzworld »

eimrine wrote: post #85
schwartzworld wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's unleash a discussion on whether electrical engineering toys fits to a girl I think the jury is back on that one and has been for some time. I can't even imagine what might be wrong with teaching a girl electronics. How do you feel about teaching them reading and math? > Science spreading must be similar to religion spreading Where does this mandate come from? People believing in what is verifiable mandates a…

> More people are leaving religion than convert to it This statement has nothing to do with my statements. All you need to see is that religion involvement starts very early, usually 40 days in Christianity. I want science people to learn something from this fact. > A quick google search shows that this assertion is wrong. Why are you ignoring thousands of years of history? No religious adept became a religious adept…

> Am I really seem like so unintelligent person to accuse me in encouraging of telling lies?

Probably you are intelligent, but your responses make you seem kind of ignorant and tone deaf. If a friend of mine implied my girls weren't suitable to any field of of study based on gender, I would lose a lot of respect for them. It's not 1850 anymore.

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#88

Post by defrost »

eimrine wrote: post #85
schwartzworld wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's unleash a discussion on whether electrical engineering toys fits to a girl I think the jury is back on that one and has been for some time. I can't even imagine what might be wrong with teaching a girl electronics. How do you feel about teaching them reading and math? > Science spreading must be similar to religion spreading Where does this mandate come from? People believing in what is verifiable mandates a…

> More people are leaving religion than convert to it This statement has nothing to do with my statements. All you need to see is that religion involvement starts very early, usually 40 days in Christianity. I want science people to learn something from this fact. > A quick google search shows that this assertion is wrong. Why are you ignoring thousands of years of history? No religious adept became a religious adept…

Countries and cultures differ.

When I think about things suitable for girls between the ages of five and ten I think about the things that girls of my generation did at that age, things my children did at that age and things my grand children do at that age.

Glass blowing, lost wax metal casting, plaiting ropes, pulleys, levers, looking after chickens for eggs and meat, feeding and tending animals, basic mechanics, mathematics, map reading, rock climbing, camping ...

Girls I attended school with are now running GIS companies after careers as electricians, running universities (after STEM careers building robots and developing medical imaging equipment), teaching as professors, retired after building up, managing, and selling companies, etc.

It seems a shame that girls in your country seem to have limited oppotunities and I hope that changes for the better in years to come.

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#89

Post by bombcar »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #62
bombcar wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two versions of Minecraft. Java version is the original Minecraft, but Microsoft rewrote it and called it "Bedrock" for Xbox; this version is ported to a number of platforms including the PC. It supports "data packs" which can change the game but not as extensively as "mods" for Java Minecraft. "Technical Minecraft" involves building various machines in Minecraft; either in vanilla (unmodded) using red ston…

So if I want to get my kid started with only the Java version, should I buy the 39.99 bundle on this page, or the 29.99 non-bundle? https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/store/minecraft-java-bedrock... And do I need to run the server, or is that only for multiplayer?

The cheaper bundle includes both versions, which is nice. You need one per simultaneous player (so if you have two PCs and want to play with your kid you'll need two copies).

You can make the Java client "host a server" (open to network) which is fine for basic play and starting out multiplayer; but you can play single player with no server at all.

The server is nice (and free for Java if you have a machine to spare or even some CPU) because you can make a "persistent world" that's always there whenever someone logs in. But that can all wait for later.

Re: Ask HN: Technology/creative books and games for my daughter (7 years)

#90

Post by bombcar »

mapmap wrote: post #68
nvy wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. I have a spare debian box that will make a great server, I hope.

It's possible to play local multiplayer without a server. One player can host the game and "open to lan." You will each need your own Minecraft license.

And beware that mods are basically never tested with "open to LAN" - they'll work until they don't for obscure and unknown reasons.

But if you're using complex mods that break on that; you'll know enough to setup a server.

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