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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Disney’s toontown offers your child a safe interactive environment to play educational and entertaining games. This program is adored by both my younger siblings who have been playing it for years. They began when they were younger, and despite that it may be considered too young for them; they still continue to play it at the age of 13 and 14. Some reading is required for this game. Your child must be able to read the tutorial and the instructions, which they will receive from fellow toontown characters. This game is set in a fun-filled environment that allows your child to feel accomplished and learn while having fun.

In toontown your child has the ability to create a character from an animal. This animal will receive a personality and physical characteristics that will be chosen by your child. Their toon will be able to interact with other toons within the town. Fortunately, they can only use phrases from a drop-down list that has been previously chosen by Disney. For example your child may use the words howdy or hello to begin a conversation. As in many other games, your child’s character can become sad, but cannot endure any harm to it.

This is an example of the 'gags' that your child will use against the 'cogs' that are trying to take over the city of toontown

The innocence in this game is that it refers back to the original Disney characters. As your child plays they will be accompanied by the beloved Mickey and Minnie. Also your child will not be introduced to any ads or violence. In replace of violence, toontown uses pranks or gags. These may consist of spraying water from a flower onto the bad guy or ‘cog’.  Your child will be constantly accomplishing tasks by request of the mayor. These tasks can involve receiving coins or removing the evil cogs from the city.

There is a significant amount of games that your child can choose from within the arena of toontown. Your child can play for a significant amount of time before a membership must be purchased. The purchase rate runs from $9.95 a month, but is not necessary in the beginning. The membership will allow you to create more than one character and play more levels. The site does inform the parents about these procedures required. Also toontown, as an affiliate to Disney, can lead to many other interesting games and age appropriate adventures.

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BinWeevils is a wonderful social platform site for children ages 7-13.  The BinWeevils site gives the children many activities to do and keeps them safe while they do it.  They have games (many educational) that you can play with other members or independently.  In BinWeevils you also have the ability to create your own BinWeevil, decorate your place and get a pet and SO much more.  Both my children, ages 7 and 10 really enjoy this site and the MANY things you can do on it. It is a pleasure to be able to review it AND recommend it to you.

Here is some information from the creators of the site:

“Responding to the revolution in the online games industry, where four out of five kids use the Internet for playing games and social networking, BinWeevils allows children to create an avatar (BinWeevil) for free, make friends, play games, watch TV shows and cartoons, read book previews in an online library and enter competitions.

Taking on a new identity, users need to survive in the Bin by staying fit, fed and financed. To do so children must build on their social skills and rely on one another to complete missions, tasks and maintain virtual jobs. In return they earn “Mulch” (virtual currency) to spend in the Shopping Mall where they can grab a bite to eat or visit one of many stores to pick up a new state of the art remote control helicopter for their “BinNests” (virtual homes). “

A core part of BinWeevils’ philosophy is to educate children in aspects of life such as healthy eating and staying active while exercising their minds with daily quizzes. Children are encouraged to nurture their BinWeevils by feeding them regularly, keeping them fit with a variety of exercises, and helping them stay happy through various activities. “It is a fact that children learn better through play, this is why BinWeevils uses its 3D Online Entertainment Platform to “edutain”, a mixture of education and entertainment, to help establish valuable life skills for our users”, explains Myke Crosby, Director at BinWeevils. “

“BinWeevils allows children to create an avatar (BinWeevil) for free, make friends, play games, watch TV shows and cartoons, read book previews in an online library and enter competitions.”

REVIEW

I have explored Binweevils with both of my kids and by myself for this review and find it very enjoyable.  They have very educational games like crosswords and games that you find in the Lab such as 1) identify the maps 2) identify flags 3) math problems 4) identifying the time 5) figuring out which circuit is compete and more.   There is also the fun of a social environment where kids can meet their friends online and play some of the games together.  The site felt very safe and you need a parent’s email okay for you to become a member.

The site advances you by the experience and mulch you earn playing. The more you play the more you get to experience.  As you move up you can buy a pet, decorate your place and even take part in adventures where you need to gathers clues and figure a problem out. You can also buy a business and get it up and running to earn even more mulch and experience.  There are many ways to spend your time on Binweevils – whether it is playing or just enjoying the interactive environment by meeting a friend at a cafe for a bite to eat or watching game previews. It truly feels like they have created a safe environment for kids to explore.

I didn’t think the review would be complete without featuring my favorite game on the site.   It is called Tink’s Blocks and is a challenging puzzle game.  (It is located on Mulch Island – you have to take the plane there). Remove all the blocks from the board by clicking on pairs of more than 2 of the same color.  This requires forethought and gets harder as the levels advance.

I like the graphics a lot for this site and below is a video a member made showcasing the new features.  When my kids and I joined 6 weeks ago it looked totally different.  The new look is very improved and if you watch this video you will have an idea of where things are located.

I also enjoy that there are many ways to earn mulch so that the kids do not get bored. The crossword puzzles, spot the difference game,  word search and assorted other games are one way.  You can also enter a lottery and see if you win some.  The children mine have encountered on the site are friendly and all the interactions are appropriate and approved.  I enjoyed my time playing on Binweevils and know my children will for a long time to come. Thanks to creators of Binweevils for creating a quality, educational and safe site for children.

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THE RUNT FARM BOOKS

The Runt Farm books by Amanda Lorenzo are about characters in a barn. In each story you will have a few more characters join the barn and you get to know them very well. They form an nontraditional family much like most of the families today.  This book is great for mixed families, diverse families, adoptive families and really brings up that being a FAMILY means helping each other and not just all being alike. The characters;  Kitten, Peep, Beatrice the Bunny, Cletis the genius inventor mouse… and more all have distinctive personalities.  They get themselves into situations where they must come together and use their wits to help and figure things out. The illustrations are beautiful and are done by Mark Evan Walker.

To date there are three books and these are being hailed as wonderful books to introduce to any kind of diverse or mixed family.  We have a pretty traditional family by most standards and my family loved them as well.

The Runt Farm Site

The site offers:

Coloring pages – Print out and color in pictures of your favorite characters from the book.

“Verbarium” – where you can go to look up the words you will find in the Runt Farm books… some made up and some longer than the average 6 year old would know. My daughter learned several words while reading these.

Mini Posters – Print out Runt Farm Mini Posters.

Help Your Child Take a Quiz to Find out WHICH Runt farm Character They Are

The Barn Wall – where you can write to the author, Amanda Lorenzo, submit your own pictures, stories, recipes and more.

For Parents and For Teachers – They have areas for both with many resources that are very valuable for families.

I highly recommend the Runt Farm books.  Thank you Amanda Lorenzo and Mark Evan Walker for these jewels and for having a site where my daughter can continue to be involved with the characters.

On a separate note to my readers – I would like to thank my wonderful husband, Ray Mannion for the new site design.  I love it and hope to be posting more.  Sorry for my absence.   BUT I have found many new sites since I have been gone to tell you about… stay tuned!

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Eco-Match is filled with maps and information about the animals and environment.  Kids can enjoy the educational aspect of it without even realizing it.  You don’t NEED to know how to read to play the game but reading the information adds to drawing the child deeper into the quest.  As you move forward and complete assignments you are rewarded with e-coins that you can use to access other projects to buy.  Projects that help animals and the environment.  Buying projects gives you access to different Eco-Charge skills that can be used on an assignment.  Such as a Transplant power up that will allow you to click on a tile to remove it if you are stuck on a level.

Eco-Match has cute graphics and sound.  It is another game by Playfirst with many options.  You can download and play for free for an hour to see if you like it before deciding if you want to buy the full version with 150 levels. Thank you Play First Games – Eco-Match is another educational nonviolent game for children!

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The goal – to get the balls in their correct containers by cutting them.  Sounds easy, right?   As you can see by the second image – the puzzles get harder.  What’s nice is there is no time pressure and the problem solving allows you to use trial and error to come up with a working solution for each puzzle.  The graphics are cute and the music pleasant.

Shockwave offers MANY free online games for kids.  Shockwave is also now affiliated with Nickelodeon Arcade now so ensure a safe site experience.  There are links on the site but they are for other child friendly games.

My 6 year old daughter had fun with Civiballs 2: Empire Bounce and Roll and I find in appropriate for 6 and up.  Another perk is that you can explore different levels in different lands so if one level has got you stuck – you can choose a different Level to visit.  It is a fun game to play WITH your child so you can problem solve together to get the solution.I definitely recommend Civiballs 2 as a fun and educational kids computer game.

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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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You are a robot in Mechinarium (that is when you find your parts and PULL yourself together.   You can make yourself taller and shorter which comes in handy when you are trying to solve certain puzzles.  You can reach things much further above you when you extend to your full height.  This game is original and very entertaining.

This game is appropriate for all ages.  I solved the demo with my six year old daughter in about 30 minutes and we had lots of fun doing it.  I highly recommend all Amanita Design Games and Mechinarium is another amazing game added to their collection.

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Overview of Moshi Monsters

Moshi Monsters is similar to the other social networking sites for kids in that you adopt a pet (in this case a monster) and have to look after it and add things to its house. There is the map that you can wander around playing games, exploring and taking hints from your monster as to what to do next.  There are stores to buy stuff from and a few of the games I liked when I was exploring were:

Ice-Scream

Similar to a Diner Dash – type Game.  Clients come in and you need to give them the correct ice cream cone in a timely fashion.  The possible variations and toppings increase as you move forward levels.  This game is great for teaching children attention to detail and how to teach them logically the most efficient way to go about the task.  Fun for all ages although I would say ages 6 and up have less of a chance of getting frustrated!

The Underground Disco

A similar game to Tap Tap Revenge. Make your monster do some cool moves by pressing the correct arrow key as they come into the circled area.  This helps with musical timing as well as dexterity.  These games are very popular with kids.  This has 3 different levels and many different songs for each level -the more you play the more songs you can unlock.

Those are just two of the many games I found when I was wandering around. You can also play games from your room by clicking on the Puzzles button.  You can play the Daily Challenge which will give you more “Rox” for finishing or you can play many different puzzles ALL of which are educational.  You do need to read to play most of these so I would say ages 6 and up or earlier if you have an early reader or will help your child understand the rules.  Each puzzle games can only be played once that day and your high score is listed as shown here.

The puzzles are all unique but all are fast and require quick thinking.  Jig Saw Jam is a good example of what you will find in their puzzle section. Children can develop MANY different educational skills by playing the various puzzles Moshi Monsters has to offer.

Conclusion

Moshi Monsters is a step ahead of many of social networking sites for kids.  It is safe, it is fun AND it is educational. My kids (6 and 10) BOTH love this site and have fun exploring and do not think of the educational games as boring at ALL. In fact they gravitate toward them and THAT is a gift for parents who want their children to learn as they play instead of just kill time.

As you play Moshi Monsters your level goes up and you unlock more and more games and things to buy.  This keeps the children wanting to play more not even realizing they are learning simultaneously.  I love the structure, layout, graphics and safety of Moshi Monsters. I highly recommend this site to parents and kids for fun and educational computer games and the experience as a whole.

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Whizz Ball comes with many options and for the beginner and children under 10 — I highly recommend clicking on the “How To Play” and watching the tutorial.  My son who is 10 took quickly to this game and began with “Build Your Own Puzzle”.  This is also a good way (especially for older kids) to explore learning how the pieces interact with each other.

When you “Click to Play” you are brought to a page where many kids have submitted their own puzzles to be solved.  The goal of this game is to get the ball that begins by being dropped down the tube through the puzzle to the red bulls eye target. There are puzzles for all levels of skill play and kids also rate the puzzles.  You can search for the kind of puzzle you would like to do through difficulty, date, author, title, popularity or randomly.  My son loves the author way to search so he and his friends can keep up to date on their latest puzzle creations. I love that you can play this game by just entering a screen name and no additional sign up is necessary.  There are some ads but all that I saw were for shows and games on the Discovery Channel.

When you are in Puzzle Creator mode it is easy to save, load or share your puzzles with others.  There is no end to the types of puzzles you can create. The pieces are very fun and the innovative.  Here is a picture of a simple puzzle I made.  My son’s are much more complicated and he is having fun inventing them and seeing JUST how complicated he can make them.

Whizz Ball is just one example of the quality educational games you can find on Discovery Kids.  It is a wonderful site to explore for all ages.  Please take the time to check out Whizz Ball, Discovery Kids Games and all Discovery Kids has to offer.

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