Zoodles - Safe and Easy Computer Use for Kids 2-8

I just learned of this awesome website called Zoodles. We are getting to a point with J where she is actually capable of using the computer. She is no longer fooled by the fake laptop we bought her at Target. She wants the real thing. Luckily, I found Zoodles just in time.

The people at Zoodles have spent a lot of time searching the web for all of the best educational games and activities. They have the games from Nickelodeon, PBS, Fisher Price, Starfall and many others all in one place. Then they took all of these games and activities and organized them for search by age, educational subject or character. I was able to search the toddler games for the Wonder Pets and to J's delight, I found them.

She now has many other favorite games. I was suprised to have to drag her away from a Teletubbies game late the other night. A matching game with Goofy had her captivated for quite a long time. She watched Kai Lan video clips and we printed off a few coloring pages. You can see the games directory here. She could actually navigate Zoodles all by herself. All she needed to do was click with the mouse.

Zoodles offers parent controls that your children can't access. Parents are able to create a separate "playground" for each child. Some of your choices are to block ads, violence, specific characters or games, and block video and printable content. You can also set a time limit. This takes care of your "Please, just one more game." problem.

You can also determine the educational content. For instance, maybe your child needs to work on math skills. You can set up their playground so that they can only access age appropriate math games.

My favorite Zoodles feature is that children have no access to the computer other than their playground. Zoodles runs in full screen mode so when children are using Zoodles, your computer is safe. They cannot accidentally delete a file or change your desktop. Exiting out of the playground requires children to hit Esc and then type quit. J can't do that yet, so I'll know my computer is safe until I exit.

The Zoodles browser is free. However, the other great features are only available through premium membership. All new members get to try out the premium membership for two weeks. Once that ends, you will still get to use the browser for free.

Just in time for back to school, Zoodles has generously offered to give 3 of my readers a 3 month premium membership for free. Here's how you can win:
*GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

The winners are: #14 Nickie, #3 Elizabeth, and #8 Meg. Check your emails and reply within 48 hours.

Mandatory Entry: Head on over to Zoodles and look around, maybe check out the FAQs. Leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite Zoodles feature is. Please include your email address.

Additional Entries:
Follow Deal Friends on Twitter or publicly on Google Friend Connect, like Deal Friends on Facebook or subscribe to my RSS feeds. Do one or all but leave a separate comment below for each one that you do.

Giveaway ends at 11:59 pm on August 29th. However, if I haven't drawn winners yet, you may still enter.

Disclosure: Zoodles provided me with a 6 month premium membership in order to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed are my own. No financial compensation was received.