Frequently Asked Questions

What is this all about, anyway?

This is a site for Kids and the people who help teach them and care for them. All of the major contributors to the site are parents. You can find out more about Kids Domain here.

The site has many areas for kids, parents, and teachers:

The KD Review - with reviews of commercial programs
Downloads - programs for the PC and Mac you can download and use
Holidays - downloads, crafts, mazes, word puzzles, graphics, etc
Crafts - hundreds of craft ideas, most using easy to find materials
Kids Area - icons, programming, online games, fun stuff
Grownups Area - all the above, page building tips, safe surfing tips, parenting and teaching resources

Our goal is to sift through the many resources available and pass that information on to you. You can read reviews of commercial software before spending the $40 on them, you can download from a pre-screened selection of programs appropriate for kids, you can find links to resources for child safety on the web, teaching kids to program, building web pages, parenting, teaching ideas, and more. For every program or site we do mention, you can know that we tried and rejected many others.

What ages is this for?

We've got things on this site for everyone in a family, although we specialize in stuff for kids from ages 2-12 or so. There are many things on the site that are also good for teens and adults, too - many of the puzzle and arcade programs are just as much fun for us 'big kids' as the littler ones (why do you think we like this job!), and the holiday mazes and word searches have multiple skill levels from very easy to very challenging.

Can I link to your site?

Yes! Of course, and thank you! Please link to the front page of the site (www.kidsdomain.com) whenever appropriate, so that new visitors can see all that we have to offer.

Will I be billed for what I download?

We do not collect any fees for the shareware, the pages are simply recommendations for programs to try. You can download it and test it, and you need to look at the README or other files that come with the shareware that let you know how much to pay, and what options there are for paying. Some programs can be registered on Compuserve, some have 800 numbers you can call with a credit card. Many simply accept checks sent through the mail. You only pay for the shareware that you choose to pay for - that you find worthwhile. If you download something, and you don't want to pay for it, you should just delete it from your hard drive.

We list the fees for the programs on our pages so that people are aware from the beginning if the program they are downloading is free to keep, or how much it costs. But we do not collect any fees. we also don't and won't charge for anyone to access these pages, nor do we get fees from the shareware authors for posting their programs - this is a totally free service.

Why isn't my favorite program listed here?

Probably because no one recommended it yet. Send Mac and PC suggestions to us and tell us about the program! We keep our ears open for what programs are the most popular, but there are thousands of programs out there.

I've got an old b&w mac, can you help me?

Yes, there are B&W Mac pages, with a selection of programs that will run on older macs, like a Mac Plus with System 6.08. Many of those programs will also run fine on the newer systems.

I've got an old PC, can you help me find programs?

Where we know the minimum requirements for the games, we have posted them. If the author did not supply the minimum requirement information in a text file with their program, we might not be able to tell what they are.

You will find some older educational games by FLIX Productions, many of those have low system requirements. Other possibilities are Bert's Coloring Programs, Amy's Fun 2 3, Cosmo, Wacky Wheels, Word Rescue, Math Rescue, Child's Play 1, Preschool Pack, KinderCarton, Sounds Like A...

It all depends on what the exact specifications of your older system are. Other things you need to look at are VGA vs CGA, DOS (what version) and Windows (what version).

Lee Donley has created a great site called Each Nerd in His Small Corner which is filled with tips for how to turn a very old PC into a fun/useful machine for a family.

I want my downloadable programs listed on this site, what do I do?

First of all, we primarily list programs designed to be run by children. We sometimes list arcade games, and never violent/gory games. We do list puzzle games appropriate for children - keeping brains thinking is good. There are sites such as Games Domain for games of all sorts, and they will have even more puzzle games than we list. There are other sites that specialize in utility programs and other great shareware programs. We just cannot list them all here, this is a place for kid stuff.

If you have a program for kids, send us a short e-mail. A quick description and URL is all that is needed. We will download and review the program ourselves, as time permits. We often have a backlog, and it might take a bit of time before we can review your program.

There are even more questions and answers