It’s show time for the digital toy business. Time to trot out previews of the summer’s releases.  This season offerings has a few recurrent themes. First is low price. Almost all of the manufacturers are selling less expensive variations on their older toys.  The second trend is all about using the body and brain in combination. [...]

Have you tried shopping for educational toys  for young kids lately?
It’s a jungle out there.  If you’re looking to help them practice  reading, math, critical thinking, color matching  … whatever, there are hundreds to choose from ranging from the mundane to the sublime. And no way to know for sure much about what’s inside the box.
Leapfrog, [...]

If I had a dime for every spam mail offering me a free college degree, I’d be up to my ears in diplomas. Online colleges have a mixed-bag history of snake oil and success.
University of the People is out to legitimize free. Not only is a college degree free, anyone who has access to a [...]

Now that they’ve seen game developers turn into rock stars (and get paid like them too) parents are much more likely to take gaming as a serious career path.
Game development is a part of many colleges computer science curriculum and in a number of high schools like this one in NYC, building a game is [...]

The first generation of Internet safety products to help parents protect their kids from the dangers of cyberspace were all about saying “no.” This next generation is all about negotiation and conversation. And that’s a good thing, since what most kids need is education about the Internet and not a lockdown.

Our Kids at Play speakers and exhibitors have been mighty busy. And not just readying themselves for CES–there’s a lifetime of events before we even get to Vegas.

On Aug. 9th there’s going to be a wonderful Internet safety day held at New York’s City Hall. Admission is free. The day was created for all NYC parents, students, educators, and interested parties to share knowledge and learn more about the Internet world. At a recent press conference to launch the event, here are [...]

There are some things it’s hard to improve on. The pen could qualify as one. It’s inexpensive, found just about everywhere (especially around my house), and it can draw, write, and fill in most forms. LiveScribe’s SmartPen is out to show that there is a way to make a better pen. The initial product succeeds [...]

Kids inevitably grow up to become adults. If adults are ill equipped to use the Internet safely, we’re going to suffer big-time in the world economy. Debate about who should be funding Internet safety education (hardware manufacturers, Congress, schools, the FBI, service providers) goes on and on. Some of the most aggressive education [...]

No ifs, ands, or buts about it. The web is churning out some really interesting playplaces for young children. Places that find ways to keep them safe and keep them creative. It’s a renaissance of the early days of CD ROMs when good content for kids was abundant; the only difference is that the CD [...]