Free iPhone App Recommendation

Friends often ask me which apps I have on my iPhone. Well, I enjoy Facebook, USA Today and several others of the top apps.

Recently I found a life-saver! Every mom should download the Kideos iPhone app: http://bit.ly/7chheW

This has been a huge hit in my household and it features the best kids videos safely and by age group. Best of all...it's currently FREE. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Let's all take a moment to think of MLK's impact and how we can influence others.

Game Classroom

Once again, Earlier Media (the company that created Kideos) has delivered another internet gem. Their new site, Game Classroom, was released this morning (link at the bottom) and is a priceless tool for our kids, not to mention it's also free! The site is similar to other online educational game sites except it does us all one huge favor and combines the best educational games and homework help on one portal.

I definitely recommend checking out www.GameClassroom.com and showing it to your kids. Not only does Alexandra love it, but she finally fully understands division (I spent 6 hours explaining it to her with previously no positive results). After seeing what Game Classroom had in store for my kids, I just had to name Game Classroom a Media Mommy top pick.

Ciao,

Media Mommy

Time for Kids

Hey fellow moms (and dads)!

A couple of days ago my daughter, Alexandra, brought home a Time for Kids magazine. I thought it was great that she started getting involved in the news on her own. When she finished the article I thought it was so adorable when she asked for more. Unfortunately, I had no way of getting her another TFK magazine, but I did come across timeforkids.com.

On the site, you can select the articles by age, print out worksheets, or even sign up for a home subscription. Maybe I'm a bit cheap, but I didn't choose to sign up. My only problem with the site is that when you first visit, a pop-up is the first thing you see and it immediately asks you to subscribe. Regardless of that issue, TimeforKids.com has become a Media Mommy staple and top pick.

Cheers!

-Media Mommy

Disney vs. Marvel

So earlier today, The Walt Disney Co. announced that it would buy Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion (article: http://bit.ly/H6cv3). Why this strikes me as interesting is because I believe it may change the entertainment landscape for our children.

It also leaves me with several questions that I hope you guys will answer.

1) Is this a smart move by Disney?

2)Would your kids buy/Would you let them buy more comics if they were more kid-friendly?

3) What does this say about the current Disney cast of characters?

Til' Tommorow,

Liz

Kid's Video Sites

Hi everyone, me again!

I've heard many stories from fellow moms about their kids going on YouTube to watch a cartoon and then reading a crude comment or finding out that it's an inappropriate dubbed version. So I went on YouTube looking for how to stop this, but I have found something far better. There are certain websites that have a YouTube-for-kids type of feel, which means no comments and a safe environment. Since no two sites are made equal, my kids and I went through and made our list of the top 5 kids video sites. Here's our ranking:

#5: KidMango

KidMango has a great kid-friendly look to it, but the slow load times and difficult navigation are definitely a downside (even I had trouble

finding my way through the site, much less my kids).

#4: Kideo Player

Kideo Player is much faster to load and simpler to navigate than KidMango. The problem: it is so simplified that it does not give users a choice of which videos to watch. Basically, your only means of navigation is pressing the space bar and praying that you stumble upon the right clip.

#3: ZuiTube
ZuiTube is great in comparison to Kideo Player and Kid Mango and it also has a wide selection of videos that it's available for (up to 14ish). This wide selection is also their biggest downfall. I was a little concerned when I saw Daniel (3) watching Vanessa Ann Hudgens and another guy "get intimate."

#2: TotLol

TotLol is a nice site. It has a great selection of videos and playlists and is easy to navigate. Unfortunately, they recently started charging users. Nevertheless, it would definitely be number 1 is the site below didn't exist...

and finally!

#1: Kideos

Kideos is a great site and my kids are hooked. I was so relieved to see that it didn't have any of the problems that any of the others had and is free. It even had categories separated according to age group (something none of the other sites had). As a result, I list
kideos.com as my favorite kid's video website. Bravo!

-Media Mommy

AskKids

The other day, Daniel turned my eyes onto this site that I find is absolutely wonderful for him. Moms, remember AskJeeves? One of the search engines that suffered after the Google birth. They created a site just for kids called AskKids and Daniel absolutely loves it. It shows him all these links to sites useful for our kids based on the subject they searched. Now I have no idea why they called it AskKids and not AskForKids and It would be nice if they had a kids search by Google (I'm still not satisfied with Ask.com itself). However, Media Mothers, I recommend AskKids for your kids.

Caio,

Media Mommy

Technology is Taking Over our Lives

I just read this New York Times article about how technology is the first thing that families go to to in the morning, even before breakfast. I hate to admit that I too am also a victim of this dilemma.

You can read the article here

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10morning.html?_r=3