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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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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I love the Play First site because it allows you to do just that. You can play Mosaic – Tomb of Mystery free online and try it as you go through the many levels they include for free.  If you decide you like it you can download it. This is a game I could see the whole household getting use out of.

How to play Mosaic – Tomb of Mystery

Shapes are falling in the left column.  Click on them and drag them to where you want them. You can rotate them so they fit where you want them to.  Notice the pieces pile up fast… there is a crusher for unwanted pieces in the middle. If you find you are taking a little long to place pieces… make sure you utilize this feature and put bigger pieces on the crusher that you are not using. If the column fills up with pieces it is GAME OVER.  It is important to watch how many pieces you have and how tall that pile is getting.

Finish the level and move onto solving the next challenging puzzle.

Because of the speed of this game I find it appropriate for ages 8 and up.  But there is certainly nothing inappropriate for younger kids and if you have a child proficient with mouse usage that is younger they may certainly really enjoy Mosaic – Tomb of Mystery as well. Just make sure you warn them it might take a few times to get the hang of the game before they get past the first board.  I got to level 4 on my second try and my 9 year old got a bit frustrated but really enjoyed it after playing a while.  This game works the mind and is a wonderful edition to the puzzle genre.

Sponsored by The Unity

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Overview

Each location in ZulaWorld has a sign post where you can see what you can do there. There is also your notepad on the bottom of the screen you can check to find out. Your character can walk around from place to place or you can click on the map to travel further. There are planets to visit and there is lots to see. The game play is intuitive and be sure to watch the screens as they load to get clues and tips. I feel kids 5 and up can play but children that can read will definitely get around easier.

There is a lot to do for free and paid members. A paid membership is $5.99 for one month, $29.99 for 6 months and $49.99 for 1 year. As a paid member you get to do the missions and some games you don’t have access to as a free member. You also get to take your Fweebs (pets) out of hibernation. You also get to fly your spaceship to other planets and buy more things from an additional store for your spaceship. Either membership gets you a communicator where you can keep in touch with your friends online.

Different Activities

There are many different activities in Zula World. You can download screen savers, buddy icons and wallpaper in DONWLOADS .Here are a few of my favorites activities:

Sing-a-longs

Lots of songs to choose from with a bouncing ball over the lyrics while the video plays so your child can follow along. OR you can print out the lyrics from a pdf format.

Theater

Watch videos with the Zula Patrol characters.

Pets

Buy a cute little Fweeb to tkae care of — but don’t forget to buy the ice as well.

Games

There are a few games that are consistent at the places you visit at each Games location but there are also games among the environment to discover. Walk around and figure it out or check your notepad for things to do. Here are a few of my favorite games:

Recycling

This is a game in the environment — go to West Zulapolis and collect the garbage dropped. It gets put in your backpack and when you return it to the Recycling Center and put it in the correct bins you get a badge for the first one in each category; cans/bottles, food and trash.

Gorga Dive

Like hangman with a different (less violent) approach. You begin on a diving platform. Guess a letter right and you go up a level, guess one wrong you go down a level. The object is to guess the word before you fall into the water. Depending on how high you are — you will do different dives into the water upon completing the level.

Zeeter Says

Just like the good old fashioned game “Simon”. They begin easy – remember the colored buttons pressed in the order they present… get harder……

Find the Difference

A favorite in my household. Two pictures – notice the differences and click on them — can you find all of them?

Find the Pair

I like this one! They start off easy but get much harder as they add more shapes in different colors. This is a wonderful educational game that would teach children attention to detail and color/shape recognition.

Summary

There are more games and many more places to explore in Zula World. This is a brief overview of this new site and I do recommend it. I feel most children aged 5 and up would really enjoy this site. Enjoy this safe site with no ads, science themed with lots of cool games and fun music and characters! Thanks Zula World!

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INCH WORM & INCH WORM 2

Yeah, I DO LOVE maze games – these are my favorite games on the site! This one is very cute and starts off REALLY easy and adds challenges as you proceed. There are 24 levels in Inch Worm 1 and 24 more mazes for you you solve in Inch Worm 2. You can use the keyboard OR the mouse to play with game which makes it even more accessible for different aged children. My kids saw this game on my screen this morning and both (ages 6 and 9) wanted to play and asked that I show them this site later on after school so they can solve them separately. I have no doubt this would keep kids and adults entertained until all 48 levels were complete. This game is wonderful for developing logical thinking and problem solving.

FROG JUMPIN’

Remember the Game Hi-Q? Those pegs on a board — jump one at a time to leave as few as possible and IDEALLY ONE in the center hole? That is this game BUT the REALLY nice part is they start you off very easy and show you patterns. As you get to learn the patterns you can apply that to later levels and also for any future Hi-Q playing you might do. This game is GREAT for developing logical thinking. With cute frogs and music it also holds interest longer than if a child was just sitting playing the game. YES — I can finally learn how to leave one in the center hole!

MAZE CRAZE

This game is great for logic and creativity. Make your own mazes or solve some of the ones Zoopz provides. The object is to get the circle and the 2 x’s to meet. You do that by changing and adding to the maze using the pieces on the right of the screen. This game requires logical thinking and problem solving. The best thing is you can play the maze games to get a feel for them and then create your own. This game also allows for one or two player game play. LOTS of fun!

INK BLOBS

Ink Blobs is a very different art program that is easy for kids to get the hang of. Click on the word BLOBS to get the different screens of shapes you can use. Click on the color to change the color. Hold down the mouse button while putting a shape in place to enlarge it. You can rotate as well. Click on the word INK to draw the shapes with your mouse. Print out the ones you want to keep or just keep going to new pages to create more. An Art program all ages would have fun playing with.

MANY DOTS

There are many ways to use many dots which is a cool art program. If you choose a circle you get almost a “Lite Brite” type board and can click anywhere on the screen to add color. Click a few times to scroll through the different colors. If you click on the square it is almost like a banner template that you can decorate similarly. Click on the triangle and it appears as shown. You can click on the lightbulb for ideas or on the 3 numbers to get different looks. This is very fun to play with and if your child makes something they really like there is always the print option.

There are a few more games on Zoopz that I did not review that are also fun. The ones listed at first play were my favorites. With no ads, for FREE and the ability to play many different learning and creative games and I think Zoopz is a kid’s computer game site WELL worth the visit.

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The interface is very easy to use and this is a SAFE site with NO ADS (my favorite kind of kid’s computer site). There is reading and figuring out involved and just plain fun. Add friends to be able to chat with them and if you see anyone doing or saying anything you don’t like it is easy to report them or make it so you don’t see them online anymore.

You begin as a ten year old and you pick an avatar. As you play you can get “spenders” to customize your avatar’s hair, clothes, background, etc. Every game you play gives you “Spenders” and Age Points. You need to get a certain amount of age points to reach the next age and with each age comes more places to visit and things to do. For example when you turn eleven you are able to buy a pet. Turn 12 you can get your own dorm room. Turn 15 and your “spenders” earn interest like a bank account. One of the features I really like is AS you are playing a game you see how many spenders and age points you have earned and can opt to “cash out” at any time or keep playing for more.

The map is very easy to use. Explore to find hidden “secrets” and also to interact with Super Secret characters that will send you on missions for additional items, spenders and age points. The graphics are so pretty in this game and my two children were instantly immersed in the environment. My daughter is 6 and is a beginning reader and only had to ask for guidance a few times after I showed her how it worked. There is nothing inappropriate on this site and I would say kids as young as six can definitely “get it” and enjoy the games. My 9 year old son said this was one of his favorite sites and went and told 5 of his friends about it the next day.

Games

There are over 35 games and you can find them by exploring or by clicking on your “card stack”. Visit the arcade and talk to characters to get additional levels on games. As I said I LOVE that the games have how much you are earning as you play. I also love that the instructions and keys to use stay up as you play. No more going back and clicking on instructions. There are so many great games here and I will highlight a few.

Bloons:

I wrote about “More Bloons” here. In Super Secret they have Bloons, More Bloons and Bloons Defense. All three require skill and boy are they addicting. have the monkey shoot darts to pop balloons in Bloons and More Bloons – sounds easy, right? Bloons Defense is a strategic game and is one my son and I thoroughly enjoy.

Filler

Fill the screen with balls. The longer you hold the mouse down the bigger the ball but touch the balls flying around and you lose that ball. Fill up most of the screen without running out of balls and you will advance. This requires some skill, thinking ahead and swift mouse usage. Fun!

Two 3:

Aim at the numbers to bring them down to zero. Not hard when the numbers are 2 and 3, but what about when they get to 55? Good for math skills, thinking and reflexes.

There are TONS more games that are worth checking out. I recommend logging on and trying a few.

Interface:

You can easily find out how many spenders you have and how many points you need to reach the next age by hovering the mouse near your character on the left. Click on the bottom left map to find out the places you are able to go to.

This picture shows and apartment of a 15 year old. Go to certain locations/stores/people to buy things for your room, backgrounds, pet supplies, pets and more.

On the bottom you are able to buy gifts for “friends” and some of them could be practical jokes like a pie in the face, etc…. You are able to initiate chat with friends. You can look at what secrets and inventory you have collected and also go to the complete game catalog. In your room it is easy to decorate and move furniture if you decide you want a different look.

Overall it is a very intuitive interface and one kids will find easy to use.

Paid versus Free membership

Like many of the social networking/gaming sites for kids there are 2 options for membership. For a free membership you still get to play games and explore but you won’t age beyond age 12. This still allows for lots of fun for your kids.

Paid Membership of Super Secret are for now introductory prices for early members at $4.95/month and $19.95/6 months. This will increase. With paid memberhsip you can reap the benefits of aging.

At 13 — There are MANY more options for your avatar and shopping

At 14 — Explore a Hidden World Cataluna

At 15 — Open an interest earning bank account

At 16 — which is coming soon you earn a driver’s license and buy your first car.

Soon they will also be releasing ages 17 and 18.

As with any paid membership site I suggest starting for free, seeing if your child (and you) enjoy it and taking it from there. With the introductory rate of less than $5 for a month I think it is well worth it.

Overall

I love Super Secret. It has all the things I love about a social network gaming site for kids; innovative ideas, graphics, skillful games in a SAFE environment. I recommend it highly and would love to hear some comments after your children have tried it out. Thanks to the creative team of Super Secret – you have produced a quality safe site for kids to be kids and have fun online.

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I LOVE games where you make your avatar first as do my children.  Decide what you want your character to look like and make sure your child does the tutorial to understand how everything works.  The tutorial is very thorough and takes you through the many experinces and tasks in Wandering Willows.

When Wandering Willows begins you see that you have crashed your hot air balloon and need it fixed.  By talking with people and solving tasks you can get people to help you fix your balloon and be on your way.  Some of your tasks in Wandering Willows include; planting plants to help with tasks, talking with people and finding out what they need and helping them, using your pet to help you climb trees for fruits, dig for items and charm other animals, taking care of your pet, making recipes and sewing outfits upon request and more. 

One of the things I really enjoy about Wandering Willows is the interface. It is very intuitive and everything is readily available at a click.  They fit the map, tasks, animal health and inventory, recipe/sewing book, etc. all on the same page.  If you look at the picture to the left… you have the tasks on top that you can scroll through so you can see what each person wants.  If you were to touch the glass it would take you to the recipe and what ingredients you have and need to complete it.  The map has glowing stars so you know where to go next.  As you continue your animal gains strength and you can dig bigger piles and climb higher trees for different items.  The map also opens up new areas as you complete tasks. 

When you hover the mouse above the various characters it will tell you their likes, dislikes, what level of friendhsip you are at and what gift you will recieve when the next level of friendship is achieved.  Wandering Willows has a really cute sense of humor that children will enjoy.  I feel this game teaches logic skills, helps with math (you have many items you need to make and knowing how much money you have and need to spend is an important part of the game), helps with attention to detail (which tasks are completed – what does each character and your pet need) and much more.  It is educational but there is no way your child would think it was so — which is something I love to discover.

I really enjoyed playing Wandering Willows and sharing it with my children.  I think this is a game the whole family would get use and enjoyment out of. The full version is well worth buying if your child likes it as it is VERY comprehensive and will not be solved overnight. Thanks Play First for another quality game my household enjoys!

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The site Flash Arcade Games Site allowed me to embed this. While there are MANY good games there — there are also ads and some games for older children so I would not advise children to go there unattended.

While I think you can do well and figure out most (if not all of this game) yourself here is a link to a walk through page. All hints and Walk throughs were NOT created equal. I really enjoy the ones that try and keep you from seeing too far ahead and let you get a clue for exactly where you need one. This one is pretty good and is from Jay Is Games which I have referenced several times as being a leading game site. Again, there are ads and not all games are for all ages so I would use this site as a resource to find games for your child but not send a child to the site alone unless they are older.

Another GREAT site for a few wonderful escape the room games is Pastel Games — Escape the Rooms Game Page. They have MANY fun escape the room games and you are always escaping from rooms in the house. Whether it is “The Great” bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, living room or the basement you are escaping — these games are classic escape the room games – making you use your brain and your inventory items to figure your way out. These are some of my favorite games to play with my kids…. they don’t take too long and we can take turns exploring and work together to figure things out. Again, this site has ads so please use caution and monitor younger kids while playing these games.

Escape the room games to me are like mini adventure games and for that I LOVE them! They teach kids how to think logically (and many times OUTSIDE THE BOX) to solve problems. My kids love games like these and I feel it has helped them in their logical thinking to be exposed to them. There are MANY escape the room games online. Jay is Games probably does have the biggest collection I have found but they are for ages 5- adult so you will want to check them out first. I know many adults that get addicted to these… you were warned!

Please let me know if you find any other great escape the room games for kids or how you found the ones I listed. Thanks, as always for your support — it is greatly appreciated! This site is doing great and it is because of my readers! It is a passion of mine to tell parents and kids about safe and educational games and sites and I am so happy I get to do this!

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Shape Switcher is a puzzle game easy to get addicted to. Simple enough to amuse kids and interesting enough to make adults want to finish all 13 levels. You have to figure out which shape or color you need to be to make it through the stage and reach the star. The shape shifter is cute and this game will help kids with logical thinking, shapes and colors. Have fun!

Find more free online flash games at Fupa.com

Letter Blocks

Letter Blocks is a great one for kids to develop word building and for adults to see how far they can get and how fast they can think! Sure to work the brain! Make words with connecting letters to get rid of tiles as more letters drop down. Don’t let those blocks touch the top or game is over!

Find more free online flash games at Fupa.com

The site where I found BOTH these games FUPA has tons of games. Because this site has ads and not just YOUNG kid’s games I would recommend younger children be supervised if they go on to ensure they don’t click on an ad or game inappropriate for their age. There are hundreds of games to choose from to play for free, sign up and play for free with fewer ads or to add to your own site. GREAT find and I know I will be looking for others there for my kids to play as well. Tons of categories and lots of good free games for all ages….. Thanks Fupa!

Enjoy these two! I know I did!

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