My boys love being online! They enjoy playing Virtual World games where they have a home, clothes, pets, and friends. They have a few favorites that I thought I would share with you, but I would love to know what your kids play. We are always looking for fun new (safe) games that the kids can play online.
1. Club Penguin - The boys love having their own penguin and collecting puffles! They also enjoy collecting the plush toys and cashing in the tokens that come on them! I recommend the membership because the kids can do so much more when they have it. CP is great because it’s always changing. During the holidays they have special games the kids can play and rewards they can earn. Just like everything else Disney does, it’s the biggest and the best game of it’s kind!
Cost: Free to join- $5.95 per month to get all the perks!
2. Build-A-Bearville – This is a site they have played on for quite some time! In this game the kids play characters that can adopt their real life Build-A-Bear pets in this virtual world! The cool thing about this game is that with every in -store purchase you earn lots of cool online bonuses! The kids also enjoy playing the regular Build-A-Bear games!
Cost: FREE to join w/all the perks!- No monthly memberships
3. Poptropica – This is the game the boys seem to be playing the most at the moment! This one is really different because it is more of a quest, with problem solving and some real work facts thrown in the mix. When the boys first found this one (last year) they had a really hard time playing it and gave up easily. I would guess that this game is on more of a 2nd grade level because John still gets really frustrated with it (he’s in 1st).
Cost: Free to join – $3.95 per month to get all the perks
4. McWorld – Straight from the kids meal comes another cool place with many games, activities, and places to explore! This game is really popular after we have eaten at McDonald’s, because the kids get codes with their toys that unlock cool stuff in the “world”. It’s also a pretty cool because the games change with the toys. If they have batman & robin toys, then those games are on the site!
Cost: Free to join – No memberships!
While I do allow my boys to spend time online each day I do take precautions to make sure they stay safe.
My tips for online safety are pretty simple!
No social media sites (facebook, twitter, myspace, chatrooms, and forums), No videos (YouTube), and we use safety software!
- We use Safe Eyes for our internet safety. I love this because I can rest assured that they won’t view any videos, pictures, or questionable websites while I have my back turned! I also just noticed that software is now available for smart phones, so it looks like I will be setting that up tonight. My boys love to play with my phone and they like the YouTube app!
My favorite feature about this software is that I can have a separate account for the kids. If you have ever used software like this you know how good it is at it’s job! If there is even a chance the site has questionable material on it, your not getting in. That is a problem for me because I visit so many sites each day and being blocked out is not cool! So I just sign in to my own account and am free to roam the web!
I also love how you can pick and choose what you want your child exposed to! Don’t want them to watch violent videos? See violent images? You can even block ads! This software is the best we have ever used!
Here is some basic info from their site:
What are “Parental Controls”?
“Parental Controls” is a term that has been widely used to describe tools that allow parents to choose appropriate content for their children. Parental control software has been developed for everything from TV to the Internet. Safe Eyes falls in the later category of Internet parental control software. Safe eyes is a flexible set of tools that allows anyone to determine the type Internet usage that is appropriate.
Safe Eyes Parental Control Software Includes:
- Content Controls – Flexible content control allows you to select the types of website that are appropriate.
- Program Controls – Control Instant Messengers, P2P File Sharing, and other harmful programs.
- Time Controls – Control the amount of time spent online, and the times when the internet is available.
- Usage Logging – Create and review logs of websites visited, programs used on the Internet, and Instant Messaging Chats.
- Usage Alerts – Be notified instantly via email, text message, or phone call when someone visits inappropriate websites.
Parental Control Software For Website Content
The Internet can be a great resource for homework, research projects and fun activities. But it can be easy to get sidetracked playing games or watching videos online. Our parental controls allow you to specify the amount of time that can be spent online, and the times of the day when the Internet is available.
There are many different types of websites that can be potentially harmful to children. With 35 categories, our parental control software gives you the ability to fine tune access to websites and ensure that harmful content is blocked. Our effective Internet control will ensure that your children are protected whenever they go online.
Instant Messaging Parental Control Software
Whether you are interested in blocking Instant Messaging or just monitoring who your children are chatting with, Safe Eyes parental control software helps you accomplish the task with ease. Our parental controls allow you to monitor Yahoo!, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, and MSN Instant Messenger.
Control Time Spent Online with Safe Eyes Parental Control Software
- I received Safe Eyes for the purpose of review!
Children and the internet is a very big issue thes days. They really need parent supervision. It's nice to see programs and software that is just for kids. Safe Eye's looks like something every home with children using the internet should have. I worry about preditors and such. Very scary!!
Safety is such a concern nowadays. One thing that will always be enforced in our home is no web cams. I learned a whole lot about the ways a child can get into trouble with one of those and I just don't see the need for it.
that is one thing I worry about when Lizzie gets older – online safety. I am glad there are good programs like Safe Eyes to help me protect her.
My triplet cousins girls used to play this ALL of the time. I think I even made one to play with them a few years back. I wonder if they still play. I think my step daughter played this as well. Looks super cute! Maybe I should let Hunter play one day, I bet he would enjoy it!
This is so funny you are reviewing this now…I was talking to my sister about not wanting my kids to see everything that was out there, yet letting them have some freedom. Sounds like this would be the prefect product for us!
A great collection of safe for kids websites. Thanks
I just has a talk with a friend of mine the other day about blocking software (she was hoping I could recommend something since I'm the techie in the group LOL). I'll have to tell her about Safe Eyes – I googled a few choices but didn't have any firsthand knowledge about any of them.