Parental Controls for Games

photo courtesy of wujimon via google image search

World of Warcraft has taken parental micro-management to a new level. And I think I like it! Their parental controls allow you to set how many hours per day and on which days your kids can play the game.

Atmosphir: the LEGO of video games?

check out this video from TechCrunch

Atmosphir is a free game and game design tool for Mac and PC. You create 3D interactive adventures using "blocks" such as a sand castle tower, fireball-breathing bird, or trap door, to create your own levels and then share them with an online community.

Their goal is to become "The LEGO of video games".

You can sign up for their Beta now. It still needs a lot of work but has a lot of potential!

more about the product >

Cool Kids' Toy: Make Crazy Forts!

CRAZYFORTS

I love it. Then again, I'm not a mom who has to do the laundry afterwards. :)

Creative 3D Environment for Kids

I was just thinking that there isn't enough cool 3D stuff out there that is designed specifically for kids: but there is. Edusim is a virtual world for kids, supposed to be used in the classroom. Check it out:


Edusim is a free opensource 3D virtual world specifically for your classroom interactive whiteboard. Edusim is a powerful way to engage your students by bringing a 3D virtual environment that allows direct haptic manipulation of the 3D virtual learning objects directly from the interactive whiteboard surface. Edusim is extendable allowing multiple classrooms to connect their interactive whiteboards for collaborative learning session.

Little Hands, Foul Moods, and Runny Noses

The Game Developer's Conference was last week in San Francisco and I was lucky enough to attend a few sessions about game design. My favorite one was about "Researching Games with Kids". The speaker was Carla Engelbrecht (Teachers College, Columbia University) and she was really lively and wonderful. She showed this hilarious video to start with...

She said that, as game designers, we think we know what kids will like but we don't always get it right. Our "inner child" may still be there but there's NO WAY for us to still be in touch with everything that kids like, hence the need for research.

So how do you do research? Besides getting kids in the room and actually testing with them, there are a lot of other resources to help you figure out what kids will like at what age:

academia, conferences, online Googling

Google Scholar ("cited by" links very useful)

the NY Public Library or other library you have access to

IDC-- Interaction Design for Children conference

CHI-Kids discussion list

Center for Children and Technology

Go to YouTube and search "kids using Wii" for example

Child Development 101 for the Developers of Interactive Media (Wolock, Orr & Buckleitner)

PBS Parents Child Development tracker

Here are a few interface design issues she pointed out:
-point and click is easier for kids than drag and drop -- especially kids under 6
-a trackball is easier for kids because it doesn't move as much as a mouse

Developmental issues:
-kids under 5 often recall isolated events rather than full plot
-kids understand big picture of plot only by age 9-10
-kids can't tell that the amount of water in a short glass is the same as one in a tall glass
-be careful of cognitive leaps you take for granted but kids haven't learned yet

Testing issues:
-setup needs to accommodate kids' small size: chair should be high enough and screen low enough that they don't have to strain to look up or they will focus on the bottom of the screen!
-don't have any fire alarms in the room (!)
-kids get bored, start to give wrong answers-- make sure you account for short attention spans

I hope this will be useful for anyone working on interactive media for kids, I certainly enjoyed her talk and will be keeping an eye out for her work.

Cleverest Idea I've Seen In Years Too!!

This is the cleverest idea I've seen in years: PlayPumps.

Kids play on a merry-go-round and pump water for villages at the same time. Girls benefit in particular because they are usually the ones fetching water.

Wish I'd thought of that.

Thanks to Diego for the link, Guy Kawasaki for the post, and National Geographic for the feature-- and PlayPumps for doing something worthwhile!

check out this video:

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the LEGO Brick!

There's a good article on LEGO.com-- read it >

Maybe it's a good excuse to celebrate on this rainy Monday?

Looks like Google is, anyway!

Monster Engine makes "real" paintings from kids' art

this is AMAZING stuff. Dave Devries takes kids' drawings and turns them into "real" fleshed-out ones. It's great because kids' imaginations are so amazing but their skill level doesn't always translate into a drawing that conveys the idea as well as someone like Dave could.

He's also got a book out.

check it out >

Build 3D models out of virtual LEGOs!

LEGO has a tool called Digital Designer that lets you create 3D models that look really amazing. you can move them around in space and take screenshots of them, upload them and save them on the web if you have a LEGO account.

You can even order them and have the real product shipped to you!

check it out >

Kids' Tetris Furniture

Play+Soft 3-D Forms:







from their site:
"
PLAY+SOFT is a line of sort furnishings for children, consisting of 250 new products, developed from an idea by Maurizio Fontanilli, with the pedagogical consultancy of Reggio Children, a team of twenty-eight innovative international designers, and the art direction of ZPZ Partners.

The products are the result of a four-year research project and are manufactured in Italy by PLAY+

The dialogue between pedagogy and design and the theoretical reflections that were developed have created a unique range of soft play furnishings and play equipment that is open to interpretations, but is founded in a celebration of imaginative play and the idea that furnishings can be a protagonist in the construction of identity and ideas. PLAY+SOFT provides a foundation for creative environments that are multisensory, enjoyable and beautiful.

The PLAY+SOFT furnishings comprise a wide range of product types including soft three-dimenional "landscapes", micro-places, transformable seating, play structures, mats, modular forms, burrows and shelters. They are made of eco-friendly materials, fire-resistant but soft to the touch, in a broad range of colors and textures. They are designed for use in any place inhabited by children, not only infant-toddler centers and preschools but also shopping centres, restaurants, airports, waiting areas, and other public places.
"

Play+Soft is distributed by studiouk.net

here's a link to designer Harri Koskinen

found on daddytypes.com
go there for a ton of more info and photos