The Wiggles are big on getting children up and moving, so Wiggletime has  a “take a break” feature that encourages children to get up an wiggle every twenty minutes.

“We wanted to take our Wiggles Fan Club to another level. We just needed to make sure we were going to be able to provide children with an environment that was exciting, fun, educational and safe. WiggleTime.com certainly has all of the right ingredients to provide children with a fantastic Wiggles experience”

- Anthony Field (BlueWiggle).

Your children can visit some of their favorite Wiggle destinations including Wigglehouse, Dorothy’s House, Wag’s Kennel, Captain Feathersword’s SS Feathersword, or Henry’s Underwater World, while they’re learning and having fun.

Wiggletime.com has different levels of membership from free, to monthly and yearly subscriptions, visit the website to sign up and for membership details.

Images Wiggletime.com

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The games have can be adapted to your child’s skill level, then grow more challenging as your child learns, a personalized chart shows your child their learning progress with the games.

The PBS Kids Play Software includes:

• Three months of the online service
• 25 printable “Do Together” projects
• Healthy Computing Guide for Kids
• Personal progress chart with 90+ PBS KIDS character stickers
• PBS Parents Guide shows how and what children are learning
• Bonus DVD featuring SteveSongs, Super WHY!, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and more!

You can find PBS Kids Play at the PBS Kids website.

Image: PBS Kids

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In addition to the new website 26 of the favorite Mr. Rogers’ episodes of all time will be part of the national PBS Kids Saturday morning broadcast lineup beginning on September 12. Check your local listings for the time in your area. The show will also be available to stream online later this fall at PBSKIDS.org/rogers for fans to enjoy whenever they want.

Mr. Rogers’ new updated neighborhood has many new features, including virtual field trips with Mister Rogers to visit a penguin exhibit, a dinosaur museum exhibit, an art museum, a pediatrician’s office and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, along with the ever-popular factory visits. The website also encourages parents to interact with their children by including Parent Tips on every screen to help adults understand what their children are working on through while they’re visiting Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Image courtesy of PBS Kids

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Now there’s a new program that uses the Rubik’s Cube to increase children’s self-esteem. The program is called You CAN Do The Rubik’s Cube®!

The You CAN Do the Rubik’s Cube! Program helps 8-to-18 year-olds unlock the secret of solving the world famous 3×3 Rubik’s Cube and experience all the rewards, and feelings of accomplishment that go with the achievement.

The You CAN Do the Rubik’s Cube! Program website provides all the necessary information an organization or individual needs to experience or share this incredible journey with others, including:

• Cuber Corner – an online community where participants can share Rubik’s Cube experiences
• Secret Unlocked – a step-by-step solution guide for solving the 3×3 Rubik’s Cube • Helping Others – an area where content helps any youth organization incorporate the Rubik’s Cube into their daily or weekly activities
• Math Twist – lesson plans using the Rubik’s Cube for math teachers seeking to engage their students in fun ways to learn about geometry, algebra, and other important math concepts
• And much more…..

There is information at the website for parents, educators, and youth leaders on how they can use the website, and the Rubik’s Cube to help build children’s self esteem, and encourage them to learn while they’re having fun.

It’s fun to see the latest generation still learning from one of my favorite childhood toys.

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His message has made a big difference, from about 22 million acres burned in forest fires in 1944, to an average of 7 million today. Smokey Bear still works to get his message out. Many Americans believe lightning starts most wildfires. On average, 9 out of 10 wildfires across the nation are caused by people. Most are caused by campfires left unattended, people burning trash on windy days, arson, people carelessly discarding cigarettes, or operating equipment without spark arrestors.

I’m glad Smokey Bear is still around to teach children (and adults) the importance of preventing forest fires, and what they can do to help.

Smokey Bear’s gone social to keep up with the times. You can visit Smokey at his website SmokeyBear.com, while you’re there make sure you check out the kids section “Smokey Kids.” You can also find Smokey on Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube.

Image: Newscom

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As an OPS Player kids complete weekly training missions that require real-world activity. The missions train the young game-players to become G-Force agents. Players can earn virtual prizes, like new G-Force holograms – unique to Humana and Disney – and sneak peeks at G-Force movie clips.

Operation Planet Savers players also compete each week for prizes like an iPod nano and the grand prize – walking the red carpet at the G-Force movie premiere in Los Angeles. You can check out one of the weekly agent winners in this video.

According to Grant Harrison, Vice President of Consumer Innovation at Humana:

“OPS is much more than an online game; it’s ‘on the ground’ as well – a unique game that gets
kids out in their backyards playing and having fun. Being inactive as kids can impact their long-term health, which is one reason we’ve created a game that gets kids off the couch, out of the house and on a
mission. We couldn’t have a better association for a game like this than with Disney.”

Operation Planet Savers began June 1st and continues through June 28th. It’s free to play the game, and all children under the age of 16 are welcome to play, but the game is geared to 7-9 year olds.

The OPS website is secure, and any child must have a parent or guardian’s permission before they can embark on their “missions.”

For more information, please visit Humana Games and click on “Operation Planet Savers.”

Image courtesy of Humana Games

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Kids can go online and upload their ‘playset’ creations to the website from their desktop toy box to play with others in the sandbox. They can also comment on the playsets of other players.

Souptoys has over 20,000 “kid created playsets” uploaded on the site.

Souptoys is built on the real-world nature of the toys, based on physics principals, so it also makes for a learning experience, but don’t tell the kids they might learn something!

The game duplicates a child’s wooden toy box full of toys, including basketballs, robots, wooden blocks, snowmen, cannons, flying bees and a pirate ship. With its open-ended design, the possibilities are endless and players are limited only by their imagination.

Big kids will probably enjoy the game as much as the little ones, so don’t come back and tell me I didn’t warn you after you’ve downloaded some toys for yourself.

Images via Souptoys.com

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Starfall starts at step one, teaching children the alphabet, and goes through helping children read easy stories on their own.

If your child is ending the year a little behind where they should be in reading, or you just  want to give them a little extra practice over the summer (while they’re having fun), check out Starfall.

Shhhh! Don’t tell your kids they’re learning, let them think they’re getting by with playing on the computer.

Image via Starfall.com

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Now you can vote for your favorite Google doodle from the regional finalists, and there are some amazing doodles to choose from! The doodles are broken down by age (grade) groups, so you can pick the age group you want to check out.

I was lost in there for quite a while checking out all the kids great doodle ideas. I wish I had some of the imagination those kids have.

Image via Google.com

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Sid the Science Kid celebrates Earth Day at PBS Kids

The celebration will also include favorites from Super Why!, and Sid The Science Kid.

Super Why Earth Day Celebration PBS Kids

From Leslie Rotenberg, SVM, Children’s Media at PBS:

“As the future leaders of our world, children need to understand the importance of cultivating a healthy environment for themselves and generations to come,” said Lesli Rotenberg, SVP, Children’s Media, PBS. “With our online, in-home and in-classroom resources and content, we’re encouraging kids, parents and educators to explore the role they can play in helping sustain the Earth’s resources.”

Your kids can watch Maya and Miguel plant their garden, Sid The Science Kid will explain how important dirt is, Cyberchase will explain the affects of pollution, and Super Why! will talk about water conservation.

For the grown ups PBS Parents will feature Dr. Alan Fortescue of the Earthwatch Institute and advisor to THE GREENS, will take questions from now until April 15 on how to raise environmentally-conscious children. Then Halle Stanford, Executive Vice President of Children’s Entertainment for The Jim Henson Company and an Executive Producer on Sid The Science Kid and the upcoming PBS KIDS series Dinosaur Train, will take questions from April 16-30. She will be discussing how children can apply what they learn from Sid The Science Kid to their everyday lives.

There’s even more going on than I can mention here, for the full scoop check out the PBS Kids website and PBS Kids Go! .

Images courtesy of PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go!.

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