Thank you to Fooz Kids for providing me with an All-In-One pack to review. The opinions I've expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint.

I walked into the room, where my daughter and her friend were playing, and asked, "I hope you're only on the sites I approved. I don't want to walk in and see YouTube on the screen." With a smile, my 7-yr-old turns to me and says, "Mom, I know what website I can and cannot go on. Don't worry. You and Daddy taught me how to be safe online." While that makes me feel comfortable to hear, it doesn't make me feel secure. There's so many things she can "accidentally" click on and add in peer pressure from a friend? We're just asking for trouble. So, with her in mind, I decided to check out Fooz Kids. It's a downloadable software created to keep kids safe and secure online. How do you keep your kids safe online?


About Fooz Kids:

Fooz Kids is a downloadable application that provides kids with a secure and entertaining Internet environment – controlled by the parent.

You know? I'm pretty nerdy when it comes to new software, apps, and gadgets, especially if they're for my kids. I have this thing in the back of my head where I really want them to be up to date and "in the know" when it comes to navigating through this technological world we live in, but I also want them to be safe online.

So, thanks to Clever Girls, I was able to review the Fooz Kids software for my children. I received a 1-year membership and have been able to check out all the features it includes. To be honest? I was impressed right away, before my membership was activated.

Fooz Kids is easy to download onto your computer. Simply sign up for an account and follow the instructions for download. I will say, however, it does take awhile for it to fully download and it will take up a a bit of room on your hard drive. We have a new computer (like 4 months old) so we were up to date on all our Adobe/Flash software you need. If you're not, I "think" Fooz Kids will walk you through that as well. Once you have an account set up for you, you child can view all the options available. There's not just a handful, there are TONS. Any website they can possibly WANT to get on, will be here. I'm serious. We've found all our favorites.


One feature, I think is REALLY awesome, is the email option. Your kids can email you, grandparents, or even friends who have a Fooz account, right from the dashboard.


If every website is listed in the software, how does it keep them safe? Well, I wondered that too. So, we clicked on the Smurfs Icon. It took us directly to the site, but it wouldn't let us click anywhere else other than the video we were trying to watch. Uhhhh.... how cool is that?! I have yet to see any pop-up ads or ways to get around this.

Another feature, my children happen to love is that they can make the dashboard ALL their own by personalizing their avatars and dressing them up with clothes and accessories bought at the Mall. This is FREE with any Fooz Kids subscription package and includes thousands of virtual goods to choose from. You child can show off their style and personalize their virtual look-a-like. Another one of our FAVORITE things is the Fooz Kids Places. My son can create his own bedroom complete with furniture. Once he realized this he said, "Mom! It's like the Webkinz rooms for my pets! Except this is ALL for me!"

Uh. Yeah. My kids like technology. They like it so much they tend to shout. Annnnnyhow. Check out what your child's room might look like:


Now, Fooz Kids is free, but they DO have a few extras that will cost you a bit such as:

• Fooz Kids Flix: Thousands of titles covering a broad range of educational and family-friendly subjects. Easily stream 3 to 5 minute video shorts to your mobile device. Watch thousands of full-length movies on-demand.  
• Fooz Kids University: Over 20,000 practice skills aligned with school curriculum. Track a child’s improvement by viewing strengths and trouble spots. As a child learns, they will earn points that can be redeemed for a HDTV, gift certificates, video games, toys, and much more.

While my children and I have been loving our Fooz Kids software, I kept thinking? We DO live in a technological era. Computer skills are a MUST in today's world and children need to know how to navigate a computer. With Fooz Kids, those navigation skills can't be developed since Fooz Kids makes it so easy to find your favorite website {something I happen to love by the way}. What if? What if Fooz Kids included a "class" in the University showing kids how to navigate tool bars, research options, and word documents? It would be a mini computer course so once they DO get older they know how to navigate through a computer. We can even add in classes or activities teaching them all about internet safety. Eh? Good idea, huh?

In all seriousness, Fooz Kids has been a delight to have in our house. I feel confident leaving a room knowing Fooz Kids has my kids back.


To learn more about Fooz Kids, head over to www.foozkids.com. You can download the software for free, however, there are a few extra options to pay for according to your preferences.




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