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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tanya

Safely entertain and educate your child online - FREE - PLUS giveaway

The idea for Zoodles was born while Mark watched his 4-year-old daughter, Abbie, struggle while using the computer. He wondered why kids were constantly trying to adapt to computers rather than having the computers adapt to them. After talking with dozens of other parents, it became clear that they were all equally frustrated with the experiences their children were having online.

While parents universally believed that the computer could help their kids learn, they just didn't have the time or resources to scour the web and find any of this fun, educational content themselves. Additionally, parents wanted more say over what their children were doing online. Without trusted content, they really didn't want to open up the whole, sometimes scary, web to their young kids.

Mark decided it was time to build a safe, fun, and educational online experience for kids that also gave parents the information and control they wanted. After discussing the idea with his friend, Rich, they decided to form a company to build Zoodles. 


Since then, the team has grown to include incredibly talented engineers, educational experts, and creative designers who understand how to build simple interfaces for kids. The team is excited to be working on a product that can change how children learn while giving parents an active role in the experience. We hope that you enjoy Zoodles as much as we do! 


Zoodles Kid's Browser
Our goal is to give kids a safe place to play and learn online. We knew that we couldn’t just give kids a typical browser and send them off to explore. Most sites today are way too complicated for young kids to navigate on their own, and they don’t provide enough safety from all the bad stuff lurking on the web.

So, we started from scratch. We built a FREE browser, especially for kids, that makes it simple for them to find lots of fun activities – all by themselves. By launching the icon on your desktop, your child will enter a full-screen mode of Zoodles that will keep them from exiting out and finding inappropriate content or accidentally deleting your important files.

A Playground Full of Fun, Age-Appropriate Games
What could be more fun than a virtual "Playground" filled with puzzles, games and all sorts of fun activities? How about one that is smart enough to adapt to the age and ability of each child so they don’t get frustrated? With Zoodles, kids don't need to know how to read or type to get around. In fact, our kid-friendly interface has stripped out confusing Back buttons and URL bars so the browsing experience is as easy and appealing for kids as possible.

Always Safe with Zoodles Ad Blocking and Violence Filtering
With Zoodles, your child ONLY has access to websites and pages that have been carefully screened by our team of educational experts, meaning he or she is always safe inside of the Zoodles browser. If your child ever tries to navigate elsewhere, the Zoodles browser will block them and take them safely back to the Playground where they can select another game. Extra security is provided by the Zoodles Adblocker, which strips out ads targeted towards your child, and Zoodles violence filtering, a comprehensive rating system that gives parents superior control over how much violence their children are exposed to. Both ad blocking and violence filtering are free for a trial period, and then available only to Zoodles Premium Members. See Pricing details to learn more.

Always Educational
Zoodles prides itself on finding the best educational content on the web. Our games not only cover the traditional school subjects like Math and Reading, but also more nontraditional subjects like Design, Memory Skills, Computer Literacy, and much more! Our Education Team works tirelessly to rate every game based on national and state standards, providing you with invaluable information about the skills your child develops with every minute inside of Zoodles.

Parental Controls
We give you powerful parental controls so you can customize the games and activities in your child’s Playground. Don’t want your child interacting with a specific game, website, or branded character? Not a problem. Tell us what you want to block, and Zoodles will remove all related games from your child's Playground. Have a child that's falling behind in math? Zoodles lets you ramp up educational subjects in your child's Playground so he or she can spend more time playing games in those subject areas. Additional parental controls include the ability to set time limits, block videos or printables, and even set violence filters. Parental controls are free for a trial period and then available only to Zoodles Premium Members. See Pricing details to learn more.

Zoodles Play Timer
The Zoodles play timer lets parents control how long their kids can play on Zoodles. You can set time limits ranging from half an hour to 8 hours a day, and change these settings depending on whether it's the weekend or weekday. Once time runs out, kids are safely brought back to the family log-in screen, and the browser stays in full-screen mode. The Zoodles play timer is free for a trial period and then available only to Zoodles Premium Members. See Pricing details to learn more.

Parental Monitoring
With the Zoodles Parent Dashboard, you can view vibrant, detailed reports on all your child's activity inside of Zoodles and stay up-to-date on his or her rapidly changing interests. By keeping track of what games they enjoy and what subjects they excel in, the Zoodles Parent Dashboard gives you the tools to understand and participate in your child’s learning journey. Access to the Parent Dashboard is free for a trial period, and then available only to Zoodles Premium Members.

Parent Play-Along Mode
Parent Play-Along mode is our way of letting parents play side by side with children who can't use a mouse on their own. By explaining written instructions or clicking where your child points, you have the chance to truly guide your child's Zoodles experience. In Parent Play-Along mode, we provide parents with the text titles of games and also give unrestricted access to Zoodles-approved games and websites, including advertisements and informational sections of sites that we normally block from children. This gives you greater flexibility as you play and learn with your child.

Tanya Peila and Zoodle are giving away a 6-month Premium Membership.
Ways to enter to win:
1. Comment below why you would like to win!
2. Subscribe to my blog!
3. Follow Me on Twitter
4. "Like" Tanya Peila on Facebook.
5. "Like" Zoodles on Facebook
6. Tweet about this giveaway.
7. Blog about this giveaway.

Leave a comment for EACH entry method please.

Winner will be chosen August 15, 2010. PLEASE make sure you leave an email address where I can get a hold of you! US entries only.

Tanya

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2 comments

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Renee
AUTHOR
August 13, 2010 at 8:19 PM delete

We tried Zoodles several months back and, though my daughter had fun, I think she was a little too young for most of the activities. I would love to give Zoodles another shot now that she's older.
yeloechikee at hotmail dot com

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stracey2010
AUTHOR
August 16, 2010 at 8:36 PM delete

i would love to try this.my kids are 3 and 10 and i think this would be perfect for them.
stracey2010@live.com

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