Z
oodles recently won an award from the American Library Association for making Great Interactive Software for Kids. This got us thinking… why not put Zoodles in libraries?
Kids spend a lot of times in libraries, especially after school when they’ve got a whole afternoon to burn before Mom or Dad gets home. Why not give them a safe, fun learning alternative at the library too?
Kids who don’t have computers at home will finally have access to all the great educational content that Zoodles has waiting for them, and parents can feel safe knowing that their kids are on a site they trust.
With these thoughts in mind, Zoodles is partnering with families and librarians nationwide to give kids a fun after-school learning activity at their local library.
To do this, we’re going to need your help.
As most of you know, we’re an insanely small team, so if you want Zoodles at your library, we’re asking that you serve as our spokesperson. Talk to your friendly local librarian and tell them why Zoodles would be great for your community.
If you need some talking points, print out the flyer below and bring it along. On the bottom of the flyer, there’s a small form that you can scan or mail back to us once Zoodles is set up at your library. If we get a form back from you, both you and your participating library will get a year of free Premium!
Click here to get your flyer (and entry form)
We have no idea if this will work, but hey, let’s find out. If you love Zoodles, maybe your library will too.
Teachers today have interesting ways of using Zoodles – whether it’s playing games as a class on the Promethean board, or setting up multiple student accounts in the lab – one per grade – we’ve been fascinated by all the ways that teachers have adapted Zoodles to meet their needs.
The foundation of the games are the different American Girls, each of whom hosts games that uniquely suit her personality, background and culture. By creating three-dimensional representations of different types of girls, Zoodles players will be able to identify with the different American Girls characters. American Girls doesn’t reinvent the wheel- they redesign it in a way that is purposeful and unique.
We’ve been proud of features in the past, but the latest feature we’re here to announce truly breaks new ground: Zoodles violence filtering. 
It comes down to this. Parents have preferences when it comes to the media that their children consume, whether it’s 
Jason Azicri holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Central Florida and an MA in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University. Jason was a Special Needs Health and Health teacher in Miami before relocating to CA. He also co-created an educational film series called Adina’s Deck because he believes young people need more empowering messages and positive portrayals of young teens in film and television. Jason sees Zoodles as another opportunity to further help bring great educational content to kids. He currently also counsels at two high schools and continues to write screenplays.
Yaa Cuguano has a lifelong interest in how learning can be tailored to learners in order to provide them with effective learning experiences and environments. She is also interested in second and third language learning and inquiry based learning. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Stanford’s School of Education with a specialization in Learning Design and Technology. She is excited to be a part of the Education Team and contribute to the great work being done at Zoodles.
With the Zoodles play timer, you can limit your child’s time online without having to constantly step in and feel like the bad guy. Zoodles does all the negotiating for you – as soon as your child’s time on Zoodles runs out, a big blue clock will appear signaling their time is up. The browser stays locked in full-screen mode, so your child can’t wander somewhere else online or click around on the computer. After a minute or so, they’ll be brought back to the original family log-in screen, so the brother or sister who’s been patiently waiting in the wings can get a turn!
With 10 minute, 5 minute, and 2 minute warnings, Zoodles eases your child off the computer and on to a new activity without the tantrum. The 
You can set time limits in half hour increments anywhere from half an hour a day to 8 hours a day, and you can set them differently based on whether it’s a weekday, or a weekend. What’s more, each of your children have their own unique play timer settings, so you can limit them differently based on their individual play patterns!
I spent a large part of last week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. While I love gadgets and new technology, I was drawn to CES this year by the Kids@Play conference held at CES. I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel about internet safety for children and to demo Zoodles. The panel and demo went very well, but the thing I came back from CES most excited about is all the enabling technologies that are going to improve the lives of children around the world!
