The following excerpts are from a series of posts I’ve contributed to the This Mommy Gig blog.
Kid Virtual Worlds: Shidonni
Posted in Laura P. Thomas on July 27, 2009
It seems appropriate to be writing this review from a vacation beach house that has mezuzos on the door posts, since the virtual world of Shidonni is an Israeli start-up.
The first kid’s virtual world we’ve encountered that runs on Microsoft’s Flash competitor Silverlight (be prepared to download it before playing), it is most unique for the fact that kids get to draw their own virtual animals. We’re not just talking about picking and choosing avatar styles or clothing - Shidonni presents a blank slate for artistic children ages 6-12 to draw an animal and watch it come to life.
Kid Virtual Worlds: Free Realms
Posted in Laura P. Thomas on June 11, 2009
If your kids watch the same TV channels mine does, then you’ve probably seen the commercials for a new virtual world called Free Realms. My girl certainly saw them and wanted to go check it out, so our series of kid-focused virtual world reviews continues.
Kid Virtual Worlds: Build-A-Bearville
Posted in Laura P. Thomas on Mar 10th, 2009
This series of posts was born out my confession to buying a Webkinz stuffed animal for a friend’s daughter, and for the first time since then we visit another world based on furry purchases.
Kid Virtual Worlds: Secret Builders
Posted in Laura P. Thomas, Uncategorized on Dec 31st, 2008
A commenter on my Handipoints review here asked if I’d heard of another world called SecretBuilders. His child’s teacher had mentioned it, but he was concerned about the safety. (Teachers seem to have been early PR targets during the world’s testing […]
Kid Virtual Worlds: Pixie Hollow
Posted in Laura P. Thomas, Uncategorized on Oct 26th, 2008
Augmentation or immersion? It’s a popular debate among the virtual world crowd. Do people enjoy virtual worlds for the escapism they can allow when you fully immerse yourself into another character? Or, do virtual worlds simply augment your current life by […]
Kid Virtual Worlds: Dinokids
Posted in Laura P. Thomas, Uncategorized on Oct 13th, 2008
The latest stop on our kid-focused virtual worlds safari took us to a world of cute dinosaurs. Dinokids was a major sponsor of the recent Virtual Worlds Conference & Expo, so I not only got their promotional cards in my conference […]
Kid’s Virtual Worlds: Club Penguin
Posted in Laura P. Thomas, Uncategorized on Sep 30th, 2008
As with nearly all things Disney, when they embraced the technology of virtual worlds, they did it in a big way. Not that it was without a bumpy start, mind you. Their earliest venture into the space called ToonTown launched way […]
Kid’s Virtual Worlds: Handipoints Review
Posted in Laura P. Thomas, Uncategorized on Sep 2nd, 2008
Following my recent post here on the virtual world of Webkinz, there seemed to be some interest in taking a look at other virtual worlds targeted toward children. These are more often 2.5D, rather than true 3D, environments. At last year’s […]
I’ve Become a Pusher -or- Webkinz: the Gateway Virtual World
Posted in Laura P. Thomas, Uncategorized on Aug 8th, 2008
It all started simply enough when a cute little pink pony arrived by mail last year sometime soon after my daughter’s birthday. It was a present from her cousin Jonah whom she adores. His mom explained to me that it was a Webkinz, which meant it came with a web site where you put in […]
