Have you ever wanted a safe site for your children to play on that has it all? No more constant web surfing needed after you visit TVOKids! This site is filled with an enormous range of activities for children ages 2-5 and 11 & under  to enjoy.  It has games targeted towards reading, math, science, art, spelling, music, and sports, just to name a few.  TVOKids really provides a way for children to improve a number of important skills while still having a great time.  The fun doesn’t stop there, in addition to having a range of games, they also have a variety of videos which range from cooking instructions to providing tips and help on homework.

Each age group has it’s own home page with links to the games, videos and more.   I played games and watched videos on both age group sites and found them both worthwhile.  One of my favorite games on the older children’s site was called Dino Dan.  In this game you are provided with tools to find the fossils just like a real life archaeologist would  such as a sonar, a shovel, a brush, and a shifter which all need to be used at specific times.  You advance through the game by finding fossils in the dig site to form a number of different extinct dinosaurs.    

In addition to the dig site, another cool feature of this game is the Dino Lab.  This section includes a Hatchery (where dino eggs are cared for), a Yearbook (which shows some of the game’s character Dan’s friends), and a Dinocyclopedia (where you can learn about all the dinosaurs whose fossils you’ve found).  There are also a couple of dinosaur themed mini-games within that are unlocked after finding a certain number of complete dinosaur skeletons. A cool option about this game is that you can but aren’t required to create a login account.  This is nice for continuous play action and does require a parent’s email.  If you child likes dinosaurs they will most certainly love this game, I know i did!

Not to leave out the 2-5 age group site, a game that I thought was particularly entertaining and educational in the category of reading and spelling was called The Adventures of Sir Readsalot.  This game reads a page of a story aloud in a very silly sounding voice, while simultaneously highlighting each specific word.   This really allows the child to connect the sound with the visual spelling of the word.  After the short part of the story is read one word disappears and you must click around the  castle background to find the letters that make up the word.  Almost every object is click-able and moves around a little when clicked.  Even if you don’t click on the correct one to find a letter, you can enjoy the reaction from the object you did click as it moves around.  The game also helps you out in finding the letter if you are having trouble by providing a red arrow which will point to the desired location.

In conclusion, TVOKids felt very safe in my opinion  and had a variety of fun activities for kids.  The site is free and I have yet to see any ads located anywhere really on the site, which is nice since ads seem to pop up everywhere.  I highly recommend this site. Enjoy!

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Under $20

Preschool

Jump Start Pet Rescue for the Wii – For Under $20 this game is an INCREDIBLE bargain for 3-6 year olds.  See my complete review here.

A Subscription to Jump Start.com where your preschooler – early grade schooler can learn while having fun. Full review here.

Pajama Sam and Other Humungous Games – Putt Putt and Fredi Fish are WONDERFUL adventure Games for the PC (and some for the Wii) to help children think logically. I have the full review here and these games are perfect for ages 3-7. You can see my full review here.

Grade School

Tropix & Tropix 2 — Available for the PC, Nintendo DS or through Shockwave online. This is a wonderful educational and fun game for ages 6-12.  See my full review here.

Pajama Sam and Other Humungous Titles – Pajama Sam and Spy Fox are adventure games that make you feel immersed in the story and help teach logic and problem solving.  These are for ages 5-10 and you can see my full review here.

Try a month on one of the top social educational networking sites for kids.

Many of these sites are $5-$6/month and the one way to get to know if it is worth the money and if your child will get their money’s worth is to pay for one month as a trial run.  Here are my picks for this year:

Moshi Monsters (Age 6 and up) – See full review here. Awesome, safe, educational and fun site for kids.

Secret Builders – (Ages 6 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational site combining gaming and adventure.

Super Secret – (Ages 10-16) – See full review here.  Fun, safe and keeps the kids interested and learning.

Zula World – (Ages 5 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational and fun.

Teens & Whole Family

Machinarium – My review for the free version is here and the full version is only $20

Auditorium – My review is here.  For $10.99 you get the full version of this INCREDIBLY beautiful and musical game.

IPhone/ITouch Gift Card — If your child has an ITouch or an IPhone — a gift card for $20 can go a long way.  Many games are just $.99. Click here for a list of my Top 5 ITouch/IPhone  Educational Apps.

Under $50

MOST games for the PC and Nintendo Wii an Nintendo DS Fall into this category.  I stand by my recommendations for last year.  You can find the ones for the PC here and the ones for Nintendo DS here.

In addition I recommend 6 month or yearly subscriptions to the above social networking learning sites for kids re-listed here:

A Subscription to Jump Start.com – Ages (3-6) where your preschooler – early grade schooler can learn while having fun. Full review here.

Moshi Monsters (Age 6 and up) – See full review here. Awesome, safe, educational and fun site for kids.

Secret Builders – (Ages 6 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational site combining gaming and adventure.

Super Secret – (Ages 10-16) – See full review here.  Fun, safe and keeps the kids interested and learning.

Zula World – (Ages 5 and up) – See full review here. Safe, educational and fun.

Teens & Whole Family

Super Mario Brothers Wii – My kids just got this “for my husband” for his birthday and it has become a new family favorite.  We are HUGE Mario Brothers Fans and this game does not disappoint.  There are many new features including the ability for 4 players to play simultaneously which is tons of fun. Check out the link in the picture or here to see all the amazing reviews on amazon.com.

Wii Sports Resort – This game continues to be fun for the whole family.  My whole review is here for this fantastic game.

Over $50

The Whole Family

ITouch — This is THE portable device for kids.  If you have a wireless connection at home or know some place in your area that does – your child has access to download games, music, movies, tv shows and more without even plugging in the ITouch.  Many apps (applications) are free.  You can use this as an IPOD, web browser, game player and even to text.  All the goodness of the IPhone without the cell phone monthly cost.  One of my favorite things is there is no more STUFF.  When my kids receive game; CD Roms, DS and Wii games can take up space…. With this you and people who want to give your children gifts can just keep adding money to the Apple Account with gift cards and everything fits right on that tiny ITouch.  This was my son’s request for his birthday so instead of clutter he got useful games, apps to help him with school and a few of his favorite TV shows and songs uploaded.There are many different versions of the ITouch and they are priced according to how much space is available on them but all of them have most the same wonderful capabilities.

Wii – The Nintendo Wii has JUST lowered it’s price to just under $200 which makes it an even more incredible deal. If you have followed my blog for a while you know I have enjoyed over 3 years of fun with the Wii and cannot say enough good things about it. It has us all playing together and up off the sofa doing so.  I reviewed my favorite Wii and DS Games last year here.

There have been SO many amazing non violent and educational sites and games released over the last few years.  It is my honor to review them and boy do my kids love that I do!  I wish you all a very happy holiday and if you ever have any games or sites you think I should look at — please email the link to me with a description.  Thanks so much for your support.

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As far as kid’s computer games go for the Wii – Jump Start Pet Rescue is one of THE BEST games I have found for 3-6 year olds. My children have played Jump Start Games since they were 3 and to see these characters come to life in a Wii game is WONDERFUL!  From designing their own avatar, to adopting pets to playing educational and fun games — Jump Start Pet Rescue will keep children entertained and learning for a long time.

My daughter, who is six loves this game.  She is a very good reader so thought a couple of the games were easy but still enjoys them and running around taking part in the many activities Jump Start has to offer. This game really makes children think and offers so much content that is educational AND fun. From designing their own “jumpee” (avatar) to running around and doing tasks and solving educational games — your child will be entertained AND learning for a long time. Enjoy this video to see some of the fun things Jump Start Pet Rescue for the Wii offers.

Some of my daughters favorite activities have been picking out a pet to play with, feed and train, exploring the worlds including going down the cool water slide and playing the MANY games that are offered.  Honestly my daughter is not easily impressed with games and she was blown away by this one.  Younger children might need a little help getting acclimated but the game design is very intuitive and this is the perfect game to begin your child with to learn how to use the Wii remote.

The game has 5 different worlds to explore with saving pets your main mission.  Your child will talk to and interact with the many fascinating and loved Jump Start characters to guide them to their missions.  There are games that educate in everything from math, letter recognition, repetition, memory and more.  Pet Rescue seems so vast and my daughter has played it four times for an hour each (my limit on games) and still has barely scratched the surface.

I think you can tell I like Jump Start Pet Rescue, huh?    I have reviewed many Jump Start products like their have a brilliant site (I reviewed it here and since they have added MANY additional features).  I also have reviewed  many of the wonderful games they offer for preschool through school aged children.  It was amazing to see these characters come to life for the Wii and I cannot recommend this game enough for ages 3-6. Thank you Jump Start for yet another amazing product.

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COMPUTER GAMES

There are many Dr. Seuss computer games and I highly recommend them. Now that they are older you can find some for under $5.00 a piece at amazon and they are well worth a lot more than that.

In the following reading games you can either have the stories read to you or you can play along. It will still read the story to you in play mode but you can stop on every page to explore. If you play along you have mini games throughout and just about everything your child clicks on will do something. I have so many wonderful memories of laughing playing these with my own kids. If you get The ABC game — try and find the little yellow guy hidden throughout every page. So funny and will get the kids laughing and give them a task while they are learning!

The Cat in the Hat

Green Eggs and Ham

Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s

The other Dr. Seuss games are wonderful and I have mentioned them before. My favorite is:

Dr. Seuss’s Preschool Learning is a GREAT game. There are 10 mini-games to play that teach memory, math, sorting, reading, etc…. Emma Sue a little girl very much Dr. Seuss style has lost her mom. You are helping her to find her by gaining clues as to what she looks like every time you solve a few levels of each mini-games. Yertl the turtle is here along with some other favorite Dr. Seuss characters. Fun for all and the difficulty increases as your child gets better at the games.

Seussville University

I was happy to find Seussville University. Seussville University offers games/activities in each of 4 categories; Math, Reading, Reasoning and Science. I will tell you what is offered in each category and recommend my favorite games from this site.

Math

There are 4 printable activities for your preschooler/kindergarten child to work on math. “The number 2, Zowers in Showers, Practice your Addition and Connect the dots. There is one math game in this category; “Count the Zindows in the Windows“. This game is wonderful for color recognition and early counting. The instructions are written and it might say “count the yellow findows”….

Reading

The printable activities include; “The Letter B”, “Pup in Cup”, and “The Ball is small”. The reading game is “Help Mr. Brown Color Letters“. This game is great for letter recognition and early mouse skills.

Reasoning

There are three printable activities for this age; “Which one if different”, “Which Two are the Same”, and “Wet foot, Dry foot”. There are two games under this category; ” Which One Comes Next” and “The Cats Concentration Game“.

Science

In this category you can print out an activity page which is called “Mr. Brown Can HOO” OR you can play 2 Science related games. “Find the Animal that doesn’t Belong” is just as it sounds and is great for young children. The instructions are written so you will need to read them to your child. “The Lorax Save the Trees Game” helps kids develop mouse skills as they have to collect 10 seeds in a bucket that are being thrown. Afterward they get to plant ten seeds as they decorate a Seuss scene and watch the animals move in as the trees are planted.

These games are from the University section of the site. If you go directly to Seussville you will find even more activities and games. I reviewed the preschool learning section but I highly recommend checking out the other things Seussville has to offer.

Dr. Seuss’s characters always entertain and the learning games are ones I feel most pre schoolers would have a lot of fun with.

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Putt Putt is for kids ages 3-6 and is a car traveling with his dog sidekick. You are putt Putt the Car and you travel around finding inventory items to solve many little problems and to finally solve the game. In Putt Putt Saves the Zoo you have to help the baby animals find their mothers. This has some cute mini-games as well as funny characters and tons of locations and inventory items. In Putt Putt Joins The Circus you have to help the acts get back what they are missing so they can perform. This game has even more locations and the younger children will definitely need help in the beginning. We have many other Putt Putt adventures – I would say the easiest to begin with is Putt Putt joins the Parade. My daughter also enjoyed Putt Putt Travels through Time and Putt Putt Goes to the Moon. Because these games are older — please check what systems they play on before purchasing. Some of them have been updated to work on XP and newer OS versions for MAC but others have not. Another great thing is these are some of the highest quality adventure games at the lowest price you will ever find – I have gotten a few for under $5.00 at amazon.

Freddi Fish is a girl fish traveling with her sidekick Luther the little fish and is for ages 4-7. My favorite is Freddi Fish: Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse. Someone is stealing toys and scaring the kid fish by pretending to be a ghost. Help solve the mystery and play some wonderful mini games in the process. The objects to find change each time you play for great repeated play. There are many other Freddi Fish games you can look at here. The first one released for the Wii is Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery and unfortunately it has not received such great reviews so far. I hope they release more because this is a wonderful series and I feel younger kids would get a kick out of playing it on a bigger TV screen.

Pajama Sam is a little boy who is in his PJ’s solving his adventures. Ages 5-8. He and Spy Fox are my favorite of the Humongous Series of games. My favorite of this series is Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When it’s Dark Outside. This is also the first one in the series they made into a Wii version: Pajama Sam: Don’t Fear the Dark and it is getting GREAT reviews. We also got a LOT of game play out of Pajama Sam: Thunder and Lightening Aren’t so Frightening and Pajama Sam 3: You Are What you Eat from Your Head to Your Feet. All of these change objects each time so you can play them repeatedly and not get bored. Pajama Sam games have tons of locations so for a little adventurer – it might seem overwhelming. These are great games to help your children out with at first. You will be entertained as well – they have humorous characters and interactions.

Spy Fox is a Fox who is a Spy and uses lots of cool spy gadgets to solve mysteries. This requires a little more thinking outside the box and is probably better for the seasoned adventurer. This series is best for ages 6-9. My favorite is Spy Fox: Dry Cereal which was also the first made into a Wii Game: Spy Fox in Dry Cereal which is getting good reviews. In all the Spy Fox games you have to report into headquarters and swap out gadgets to use depending on what part of the adventure you are on and need to solve. You need to talk to characters to gain information to solve the game. This game is wonderful for logical thinking. It has even more locations than the previous series. Spy Fox has a great sense of humor and the jokes keep coming in this series. Some other notable ones are: Spy Fox: Operation Ozone and Spy Fox: Some Assembly Required.

I will admit I am biased since adventure games ARE my favorite genre but THESE HUMONGOUS games are AWESOME. I love games the kids can play and sue their brain and the parents can watch and help out in and enjoy as well. As I mentioned because of the age, make sure the games are compatible for your operating system and enjoy the benefit of getting games for under $5.00! Even the Wii Games are under $20.00. A bargain considering how much entertainment your children AND you will get playing them.

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JUMPEE

When you first sign in you can alter your character that you will be using to explore the site. The best part is you can change the jumpee every time you log in and multiple times if you want. The Jumpee has many more options than some other interactive sites for making your person distinctively yours. You can edit their; hair, hat, face, shirt, pants, shoes, eyes, mouth, clothes, and color of the clothes and skin.

My daughter, Christina commented on this as one of her favorite parts about Jump Start.com:

I like Jumpstart.com because you can always change how you look. You can have different color hair, eyes, and try out different clothes for your characters each time you play.”

Jukebox:

Feel like exploring the land to a different tune? Stop by the jukebox and find one that fits. There are many options to choose from and I know my daughter enjoys stopping here right after she has adjusted her jumpee to her liking to decide which music she will run around to that day.

Theater

Watch movies that include animation and video. Very cute and the kids enjoy the different music.

Storyland (Ages 3-5)

This is a whole other land within Jumpstart. In Storyland kids can change the look of their house, watch movies that include fun sing along music videos, go to the dressing room to change, visit the school for MANY educational games or go to the library to play with the ABC book and the books you complete. The graphics are very cute in the school games and I think they are perfect for this age group. From number and letter recognition, to concentration type games for memory, lining up smallest to biggest, sorting and puzzles – these games encompass most of what a nursery school or kindergarten child would need to know. The games have cute graphics and will have the kids playing over and over again as they continue to collect prizes.

From my reader Marilyn L:

“My 4 year old daughter loved Storyland. She has not mastered moving around with the keyboard so the ability to just use the mouse in Storyland makes it more fun for her to navigate on her own. She stayed with the games in the schoolhouse for a long time and enjoyed planting flowers outside.”

In Storyland you ask some of the jumpstart characters how you can help them. As you complete missions and games your storybooks in the library fill with color. Once completed you can read the books. As you maneuver around Storyland with the mouse you will see you can interact with many things. You have a camera you can take pictures with. You can then put any of the photos taken on the billboard. You can plant flowers, display prizes and much more. This is a perfect environment for children ages 3-5.

From Nancy W:

“My 3 year old son LOVED the theater in Storyland. They had videos of many songs from his music class including “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. I had to help him with the mouse but we had a lot of fun singing and dancing with the characters. Very cute animations.”

From Natalie:

“My 5 year old loved the games in Storyland. It is perfect for preparing her for kindergarten for the fall. Her favorite games are the Critter Creator and Matching Ladybugs.”

Getting back to Non-Storyland activities….

ARCADE

Right now the arcade has two games but you can tell more are on the way. The game Dragon Playtime is GREAT for little ones. It has you taking care of your pet dragon by feeding it, playing with it and keeping it clean.

Margo says:

“My 4 year old son loved playing with the dragon. He liked that you can give it a ring to play with and play tug of war with it like a dog. He kept laughing at the sounds it made.”

The game Robo A GoGo is better for older children (5 and up) and is like Dance Dance Revolution. You have to push the corresponding keyboard keys as they get into their outline above to make your robot dance well. Miss and see you robot “not do so well”. The cute thing is you can design your own robot and play in multiplayer mode.

Justin said “It was cool to make my own robot — I like the silly things you can use as a hat”.

You can see from the many machines they have at the arcade that many new games are coming soon and I look forward to it.

There are other games as you wander around Jumpstart.com Wander over to the mine cart to play Ghosttown Grab. In Ghosttown Grab you run around the Ghost Town to collect bags of money – great for getting kids better at maneuvering around with the keyboard keys. You can tell by all the construction signs there is a LOT of great stuff being added to JumpStart.com. Right now there is tons of stuff to keep the 3-5 year olds busy and learning and I am sure there will be more activities for the older ones as they expand.

“Jenna really enjoyed running around getting the money bags. It was tough for her at first but then she got better at using the keyboard. I can see how this and the other games will help her develop her computer skills.” – Lisa T

The 3D environment and graphics are beautiful in JumpStart.com and you feel like you are in the story. I am looking forward to the additions to the site and thank Jump Start very much for sponsoring the contest for my readers and for offering quality content! Thank you to my readers that responded! I hope more of you will check out Jump Start.com

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One of my daughter’s comments about Jump Start was, “I like Jumpstart.com because you can always change how you look. You can have different color hair, eyes, and try out different clothes for your characters each time you play.”

What do You or your child have to say about Jumpstart.com?

Check out the video to see JumpStart.com in action:

Please see my previous posts for details:

Jump Start Contest

Jump Start Contest Extended

Stay tuned for my full review, comments and contest winner announcement on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009. Thank you and have fun playing on Jumpstart.com!

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Prizes:

– A copy of the newest version Jump Start Kindergarten called “The Legend of Grizzly McGuffin” AND

– Free 3 month FULL membership to jumpstart.com as a prize.

The rules are below and please see my previous post for reviews on the fabulous Jump Start products.

What to do to enter the Jump Start.com Contest:

1) Visit Jumpstart.com (free to play as a non-member). Or if you want to try out the full membership for one month you can use the Promo code 02CENTS to get a month of membership for 2 cents.

2) Email me a comment on or before Saturday January 17, 2009 11:59PM EST to: jennymannion@yahoo.com with SUBJECT: JUMPSTART CONTEST

I will NOT be accepting entries via the comments section (sorry) you MUST email me and follow the following directions for eligibility (sorry about being strict on this but I have been spammed repeatedly when opening up comments):

– In YOUR EMAIL TO ME: Tell me WHAT you like about Jumpstart.com and your name (at least first name and last initial) and a valid email address. Alternatively you can send in something your child said they liked about the site.

– THE SUBJECT OF YOUR EMAIL MUST READ: JUMPSTART CONTEST

(If you have a website, you can include that url info too)

3) I will include comments submitted by readers in my review of Jumpstart.com on Tuesday January 20. At the same time I will announce the winner. I will assign a number to each comment I receive in the order received. The winner will be chosen by a random number picker.

4) If you are the winner you will need to supply an address as to WHERE to mail the prize.

PLEASE feel free to email your child’s comments to me. Children play with games differently and something your child might find another might not find out about for MUCH longer. It is cool to see the different discoveries kids make when playing with games.

As an aside I thank my readers for helping jennymannion.com to achieve a wonderful web status of being in the top 100,000 websites worldwide via the Alexa ratings.  I love writing for both my blogs and it is a great honor to have made it this far.

Please continue to email me games you would like me to check out. Enjoy Jumpstart.com my daughter LOVES IT and remember to pass on the word for the contest.   Thank you!

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– A copy of the newest version Jump Start Kindergarten called “The Legend of Grizzly McGuffin” AND

– Free 3 month FULL membership to jumpstart.com as a prize.

What to do to enter the Jump Start.com Contest:

1) Visit Jumpstart.com (free to play as a non-member). Or if you want to try out the full membership for one month you can use the Promo code 02CENTS to get a month of membership for 2 cents.

2) Email me a comment on or before Saturday January 17, 2009 11:59PM EST to: jennymannion@yahoo.com with SUBJECT: JUMPSTART CONTEST

I will NOT be accepting entries via the comments section you MUST email me and follow the following directions for eligibility:

– In YOUR EMAIL TO ME: Tell me WHAT you like about Jumpstart.com and your name (at least first name and last initial) and a valid email address. Alternatively you can send in something your child said they liked or found cool about the site.

– THE SUBJECT OF YOUR EMAIL MUST READ: JUMPSTART CONTEST

(If you have a website, you can include that url info too — please no spam or you will be disqualified from the contest.)

3) I will include most comments submitted by readers in my review of Jumpstart.com on Tuesday January 20. At the same time I will announce the winner. I will assign a number to each comment I receive in the order received. The winner will be chosen by a random number picker.

4) If you are the winner you will need to supply an address as to WHERE to mail the prize.

Simple right? I wish everyone good luck and I am so happy to be giving out 2 of Jump Start’s great products as a prize.

I have compiled my previous info/reviews of JumpStart Products below for you to get an idea of the quality of their products:

INFO/REVIEWS OF JUMPSTART PRODUCTS

Jumpstart Preschool Advanced

Jump Start Preschool is a GREAT game for 2-5 year olds. It teaches mouse control and offers lots of fun learning games. Lot of cute animations in cute little voices…. The Jump Start games for any ages are great but the preschool is my favorite. It teaches them how to get in and out of the different games offered which allows the children to learn some early independence on the computer.

Jump Start Kindergarten

I gave my daughter Jump Start World Kindergarten for Christmas and it has been our favorite computer game to prepare her for Kindergarten. It has the cute characters that accompany all the Jump Start titles (by Knowledge Adventure) and lots more. For a very inexpensive price ($9.99) you get the starter software that comes with the first 2 of the 12 levels which has over 30 activities and games that your children can continue to play. Jump Start also asks a parent to sign up so you can receive progress reports and it will tell you what your child need help with. I think this is a wonderful game. You create your character and solve games to get gems to use for a variety of purposes. It is 3D, immersive and your child will feel like they are a part of a story. As the game progresses you will receive a pet to take care of, play tons of learning games and unlock new areas. After solving each of the learning games and some mini missions given to you by the characters in the game your child will receive a badge for completing this level. Getting the emails from Jump Start is great as it does not just tell you how your child is doing. It also allows you to leave messages on the blimp going by for your child and to do a lot more to customize your child’s experience playing the games. The map to get to characters and places makes it easy to maneuver and my daughter loves the goal of getting the badge filled.

The goals needed to make the badge also make it seem like an adventure game combined since you need to get things from certain characters and fulfill tasks given to you. Jump Start will ask you if you want to sign up for their subscription plan which includes 10 more levels at $8/level. It will wait until your child has finished one lesson before trying to download another. You can pay for a lesson at a time and then decide if you do in fact want the lessons to keep on going.

The games are age appropriate and are based on the US standards for schools. My daughter gets so caught up in the games she does not realize she is “working” on her numbers and reading at the same time. This is a safe game to let your child play alone or to watch them play and help them if they do get stuck and need assistance — it will depend on your 4 or 5 year old’s experience playing games by themselves.I highly recommend Jump Start World Kindergarten. My kids have a lot of the Jumpstart games for different ages and I do love them.

JumpStart First Grade (Ages 5-7)

JumpStart First Grade (Ages 5-7) is a GREAT game with tons of activities to teach addition, subtraction, reading, money, time, music, art and following directions. Children can change the level difficulty themselves by clicking on the level gauge on the screen. Lots of fun stories and music and engaging games.

Jump Start has MANY other games for all ages including art games and more. Amazon.com lists tons of good reviews for all Jump Start games. For more information on other games they offer and for reviews please go here.

Good luck in the contest! Jump Start is an amazing educational resource for children and I am delighted to include readers comments in my final review and to give away their quality products at the same time!

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Nintendo Wii GAMES

Wii Fit

I gave a full review along with a video of Wii Fit here. I do LOVE this game. When it first came out I religiously played it 4-6 times a week for a month and I did get in better shape and lost weight. From yoga, to slalom skiing to hula hooping and step class… this has lots of training games to help get you in shape. It can keep track of stats for up to 8 household members and is full with information on health and wellness. My daughter who is 5 can do the majority of the exercises and games without getting frustrated — I think this is fun for everyone but you have to play one at a time. Visit my review for a lot more information and see others reviews on amazon to see JUST how much fun you can have while getting in shape playing Wii Fit.

Pet Pals (Animal Doctor)

Recommended for ages 10+ due to mild blood. If your child (or you) has ever had any interest in being an animal vet or learning more about animals THIS is the game for you. You start in a waiting room with pet owners waiting to bring in their animals for you to look at and treat. In the waiting room you have the computer screen where you can go and play jigsaw puzzles, a memory match game, an animal trivia game or learn more about animals. You can hover over the patients in the waiting room to see the symptoms of each animal before you choose one to work on. The animals are all pets; dogs, cats, parrots, frogs, rabbits, and canaries are some of the animals you will see. When you choose one you are brought into the treatment room and have a certain amount of time to figure out what is wrong with and treat the animal. You get points for doing things right and you lose points for giving the wrong treatment. They have various tools you can use such as magnifying glass, syringe to take blood, stethoscope for vitals, etc. Each requires you knowing how to use the wii remote to control the tool. The more animals you treat successfully the more tools you will unlock and eventually you will be doing surgery on animals! There is also the recovery room which has activities such as feeding the animals and caring for them while they recover. Again, you will unlock more activities as you play. Pet Pals (Animal Doctor) is a very educational experience. You can play on easy or normal level. The easy level walks you through and even lets you ask for hints if you are not sure WHAT to do with the animal next. The games on the computer in the waiting room as appropriate for younger kids as well but there is a lot of reading and some mild blood while you work on the animals so I would say ages 9 and up for the real vet work. If you have an animal lover in your home that wants to learn more about animals, their bodies and the kinds of illnesses they get – Pet Pals (Animal Doctor) is the game for you!

Mario Kart

We are a Mario & Luigi family. I remember playing the first Mario Bros when I was a teenager in NYC and now it is awesome to play these games with my kids. Mario Kart is a very fun racing game that you can play with 4 people. It comes with one steering wheel you can snap the Wii remote into but it is just as fun playing without it. Choose various characters and different vehicles to race with. As in usual Mario fashion — the more you play and solve the more you unlock. This was one of the best rated games of the year and is still one of my kid’s favorites. From the amazon description:

The worldwide race is on with a whole new set of tricks, tracks, and ways to play! Place first in Grand Prix circuits or clear skill-based missions. Mario Kart Wii draws on courses and battle arenas from every game in the series – not to mention tons of new ones – the true king of the Mushroom Kingdom racing circuits will finally be crowned.

Mario Kart Wii does not disappoint and is one the whole family can enjoy playing.

Wii Music

On our second visit to Nintendo World in NYC we got to sample Wii Music a few days before it was released. Wow is it cool! My mom was with us and at the time declared it would be under our tree because this is one the whole family will DEFINITELY get into! The Product Description from amazon kind of says it all:

Wii Guinness Book of World Records

This is #1 on my son’s wishlist but we have not played it yet. My son has become recently obsessed with all things Guinness Book of Records especially after receiving the Guinness Book of records book of 2009 in 3D. He’s seen the commercials and when we read the description from Amazon it became the #1 request for Christmas. Amazon says:

Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

There are a few different versions of Guitar hero. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock Bundle comes with a wireless Gibson guitar and Guitar Hero 3 which features over 70 of the all time greatest rock songs. Here are the amazon hihglights:

Classic Wii Games

I have a post where I reviewed many Wii Games here. The highlights from that and games I still love and recommend highly are:

Mario Party 8

Super Mario Galaxy

Wii Sports

Nintendo DS

Disney Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force

My kids LOVE Club Penguin Online and were SO excited for this release to come out for the DS. It has MANY more missions than the site has as well as the ease of being able to sit and play Club Penguin games in comfort on your DS! My son and daughter both love this and if you have a Club Penguin Fan(atic) in your house than Elite Penguin Force is the game for you.

My Sims and My Sims Kingdom

I love the Simm Games as mentioned in my post about Will Wright. My Sims for the DS is a version of the Sims games for much younger kids. It is loads of fun and quite satisfying and you unlock more to do and more games. This game is for good readers so I would say ages 7 and up would get a lot from it. You move into the town and need to improve it. By talking with people and figuring out what it needs to unlocking furniture to design My Sims has lots to offer in creativity and growth.

My Sims Kingdom is the newest release in the younger Sim line for the DS and here are some hihglights mentioned on amazon:

Kirby Super Star Ultra

The Kirby games in general are wonderful for kids that like Mario type games. It requires some figuring out of which move will work where. This game has tons of adventures and the best graphics so far of any Kirby game to date. Both my kids enjoy this and Kirby is definitely appropriate for any age. This game features mini games and DS download play so you can add more friends to the mix for some fun. The lovable pink fluffball Kirby in Kirby Super Star Ultra provides tons of fun.

Zoo Vet (Endangered Animals)

Recommended for ages 10+ due to mild blood. Similar to the Zoo Vet Pets game for Wii above but this is with Endangered Species. This game includes 30 newly written medical cases contributed by veterinarians practicing throughout the world. You will care for gorillas, elephants, penguins, polar bears, komodo dragons and more. This game takes advantage of the stylus by letting you use it as a tool for making precise incisions. As with Zoo Pets as you successfully complete caring for animals the missions will get harder and you will unlock more instruments. There are also 6 different mini games, played on the office computer, where players can interact with the animals in their natural habitats. For example in one game you blow into the DS microphone to remove fleas from the animal. If you have someone in your family that enjoys learning more about animals and helping them I highly recommend Zoo Vet (Endangered Animals).

Drawn to Life: Spongebob Squarepants Edition

For the Spongebob lover or artist in your family – this game is amazing. You need to draw objects/characters with the stylus in order to complete scenes and move forward. Just like the episode where Spongebob and Patrick find the “magic pencil” including the evil “DoddleBob” While the game is appropriate for everyone I think younger kids would get frustrated with this. I think ages 8 and up is a good age group for this game as there is also reading involved. Drawn to Life Spongebob is FUN for adults as well who like Spongebob and enjoy drawing and puzzles.

Classic DS

I reviewed my top Educational Games for the DS last year and they are still amazing games! Please check out the post for more info on:

Brain Age

Brain Age 2 and more

Nintendo is an amazing company with games fun for the whole family. From the cutting edge games and technology on the Wii to the access on the internet — we have used the Wii more than any other gift we have ever received. The whole family enjoys it and it is something we can do together. The DS has saved us many breakdowns in long car rides and I LOVE that they offer many educational games for the kids. We are not a family that supports TV watching in the car so the DS offers something the kids can do and use their brain while they sit. If you are worried about getting a game in time for Christmas, consider Amazon Prime. It is amazon’s service that allows you to pay a one time yearly fee of $79 for unlimited free shipping. Right now they have a special promotion going where you can try it for one month for free. Happy Holidays! If it is PC/Mac games you are looking for please check out Part 1 of my recommendations.

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