UB Funkeys Gets Down w Ads

Welcome to the future of marketing to youth, ya’ll. Not that this is revolutionary or anything, thanks Stardoll. But this is a new level I’ve not seen done for youth, and it’s not bad :

Looks like Speed Racer is sponsoring a RACE in UB Funkeyland.

With some mini sponsoring by Mattel and [...]

The Joy and Mystery of the MMO

Whether it’s completing quests, running dungeons, or taking down super villains, any good game has decisive goals for player progression. Most of the time there is a clear and structured path that will get players quickly from one goal to the next. You level up, you unlock new abilities, you get better gear and you [...]

Kids & Online experiences

What Do Kids Want?
For children raised on the Web browser, a new computer proved to be less of a hit than one parent expected
By KEVIN J. DELANEY
March 31, 2008; Page R9

When offered a chance last fall to buy a computer engineered with a new kid-friendly design, I had visions of my children using its specialized software [...]

Advice and Worry: Parents speak about kids online

Forum member johnfalck writes:
My 4-year-old has his own login (clicks on the frog logo that has his name). No admin rights. I removed all icons on the desktop except a couple — e.g., Firefox as the browser, and that without the URL line (unclick navigation toolbar). I set his homepage to pbskids.org, with a few [...]

HA! Live Blogging the KCA

So yeah. I did it, I tried out live blogging. And I wasn’t so great at it. Why? I turned into a 12 year old viewer with way too much knowledge about Nickelodeon (favorite hosts = Mike Myers & Cameron Diaz). To spare myself (and [...]

Cold-eyed Stare of a Plush in a non-Virtual World

Do stuffed animals have souls? Snort, and then consider how much energy is spent prompting children to look deeply into the glass eyes of the curly haired dog or bunny that will forever sit on its haunches before them. As the Skin Horse instructs in The Velveteen Rabbit, the promise made to stuffed animals, urged [...]

Happy Friday Social Media Consumers

“]

Byron Report and all that jazz…

Early reaction to the Byron Report on Gaming and Net Use by kids
While the Bryon Report, which I blogged about earlier, is itself is fairly unremarkable, sensible even, it will be the reactions of those in Government, in schools and in homes that will make or break it.

edublogs: Early reaction to the Byron Report on [...]

Heads UP: Tramp Stamps Available at stores near you?

Head’s up, parents! If you’re one of those long-suffering people who’ve wished your daughter could have some sweet ink on her lower back just like mommy does, but have reservations about the ethics involved with giving your grade-schooler a permanent tat, FEAR NOT, for some genius sticker-maker has given you a new option: Lower Back [...]

Noteworthy: Weplay.com, and smart real world social networking

The venture, WePlay.com, a social networking site for youth sports — something like Facebook for young athletes — is expected to start in mid-April. The site caters to youth athletes, parents and coaches — a vast audience. About 52 million children a year participate in organized sports leagues, according to the National [...]