Friday, December 11, 2009

Zoodles~An online adventure for young children and peace of mind for parents!

This is a new age! Never have computers been so accessible and prevalent in our society and their use extends far beyond the adult world and perhaps are more comprehensible to children than anyone ever could have imagined. It was when my children started arriving home from school asking "Can I Google kittens" or "My friend Timmy googled cow poop" that I knew internet safety was going to play a crucial role in our parenting.

We do everything right: we keep the computer in a common, and visible area of the house so we can easily observe the computer activities of our children, we also have certain parental controls set on our computer {but will be looking for better programs for such controls as time goes on}. One of the most frustrating problems with Internet however are those less-than-family-oriented ads which often find there way onto even sites appealing to children, and those unexpected things which pop-up through accidental clicking! Younger children especially find themselves clicking in and out of things accidentally due to their less developed fine motor skills. Zoodles is a solution to all of those unwelcome "extras". Zoodles is an internet browser specifically designed with kids in mind!

Zoodles is a National Parenting Publications Award winning site and you would be amazed at the fabulous web content Zoodles provides for your children with the safety that allows parents peace of mind. The Zoodles browser can only visit web pages that have been pre-approved by the Zoodles team of educational experts. And as parents, when you use the Zoodles parental controls you may choose from a list of characters and site content you feel comfortable with your child accessing. The acceptable links for your child's age are then accessible through their Zoodles online "Toybox".

Zoodles' dedication to the safety of your children online goes one step further with its ad blocker! Zoodles believes advertising to children is not okay under any circumstances and therefore has created a tool to strip out all ads. The Zoodles browser covers your entire screen when activated which means those accidental wayward clicks are no longer to be feared!

My children absolutely love the content they have encountered on Zoodles. Engaging, fun, and popular web content brings my children back to Zoodles time and time again. My 5 and 7 year old daughters no longer ask to use any other online gaming sites. Nick Jr., Disney, Scholastic, School Time Games are just some of the many great sites Zoodles accesses. Their educational experts have done the hard work for you, scouring the internet for great content which provides education and enjoyment! They've done an incredible job! When you set up your child's account you are asked to include basic information such as age and certain skill level questions to determine what content is appropriate for him or her.

Zoodles is free for kids but the creators of Zoodles have not forgotten parents and their need to keep tabs on their children and track their development and progress. Zoodles offers a free trial of the Parental features but you can purchase the Zoodles Premium Membership {$7.95 per month} for continued access to the Parental Dashboard which enables parents to not only monitor their children's activities but also adjust the controls to focus their child's time online on specific educational areas, like math and reading. Zoodles will even graph the amount of time your child spends on each selected subject area! You can purchase a Zoodles Premium Membership by choosing from a number of pricing options: $7.95 per month, $39.95 for 6 months, or $59.95 for the entire year! This makes Zoodles the perfect gift for you and your child this holiday season!
Zoodles wants to give the gift of Internet Fun to 5 Lucky Northern Mama readers by giving away 5 Zoodles Premium 3 month Membership Subscriptions!
To Enter:

  • Visit Zoodles and tell me your favourite feature {Required}
  • non-bloggers please leave me your email address with your comment

Extra Entries:

  • Follow Northern Mama
  • Be a Northern Mama Facebook Fan
  • Become a Zoodles Facebook Fan
  • Subscribe to Northern Mama via Email
  • Follow me on Twitter @Northernmama35 and tweet about this contest
  • Follow Zoodles on Twitter @Zoodles
  • Blog about this giveaway with a link back here {please leave me the link to your post}
  • Grab my Button

Giveaway open to all. Giveaway closes December 27th, 2009 10:00pm CT. Read Giveaway Rules for details.

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7 comments:

  1. My favortie feature is the Toy Box that is smart enough to adapt to the age and ability of each child so they don’t get frustrated

    dftrew(at)gmail(dot)com

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  2. I follow with google friend connect

    dftrew(at)gmail(dot)com

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  3. I like that it has a "A Virtual “Toybox” of Games"! I think my friend's daughter would have fun on this website. Thank you for the giveaway!

    ~Beeb
    supercoupongirl AT gmail.com

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  4. i like that it adapts by age, so it grows with your child.

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  5. I like that it is in its own browser - this prevents kids from going to other non friendly sites!

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  6. I'm a facebook fan of Northern Mama

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  7. I like the adblocker (and agree, advertising to kids is NEVER ok)

    p e n e l o p e s o a s i s @ yahoo dot com

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