Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Fun times with Always Icecream

Photobucket


The Princess has been playing a new game online lately and she is completely enamored with it!  I'm very excited to share it with you and your daughter because I think it can be a great learning tool for you.  It's called Always Icecream and was designed especially for girls ages 7 - 12 by Swenja and Johannes Ziegler (parents of five!).  Their goal behind creating Always Icecream was to uniquely combine motivation, learning AND rewards and recognition in such a way that girls WANT to learn and ENJOY what they are learning.  And I would say it's working at my house!

Always Icecream has OVER 75 games available to play -- but the best part is that your daughter is learning and strengthening skills while she  plays.  From basic addition and subtraction to pre-algebra concepts in math, State quizzes and world geography, Language Arts and Spanish synonyms, there really is something for everyone on the website.  My daughter has enjoyed it so very much that her brother has become a little jealous.  He offered to play a few games for her, but she quickly told him "No, it's for girls!".  (Lucky him, though . . . hopefully soon there will be a companion website just for boys!)

Always Icecream is a play and learning website built exclusively for elementary and middle school girls.  Always Icecream is unique in that it motivates girls to practice math, typing, English, geography, arts and science to earn "$coops", the in-game currency that can be used to play creative and fun games.


When we got our invitation to start exploring, we found the registration process to be quick and easy.  In literally less than 5 minutes, the Princess was set up to begin educational play on the all-girls website Always Icecream.   Although I set up her initial account, she could have easily done it herself.  She DID decide on her own password.   There were two options for age:  9 & under and 10 & up.  I decided to start with the 9 & under category and let her play up from there.  I wanted to alleviate any added stress since her reading skills are in improvement mode.

In the Parent Account, I was able to determine which games the Princess could play and set up a virtual chore chart to reward her with $coops for helping out around the house, practicing piano, cleaning her room and being a great daughter!  I was also able to allow or disallow her to chat online with other friends in the Always Icecream Community.  I chose to allow her access to the full community of topics and she was assigned a "secret" name to use within the community -- I felt that this was a very safe option and I wanted to let the Princess try out everything offered.

Once her account was set up, the Princess jumped right in to explore with excitement.  She enjoyed completing the first six challenges, earning 1000 $coops to fund many hours of play ahead.

Here's what she has to say about Always Icecream:

Always Icecream is a fun and educating game.  I really like the Dog Breeds Quiz.  I have lots of dogs and I love learning more about the different kinds of dogs there are. When I grow up, I am going to be a veterinarian and I'm going to know about all of the dogs that come into my office. PLUS, who doesn't love getting $coops for doing school?  I think every homeschooling girl should try this game because I know they are going to like it.


I like meeting new people and chatting with my friends.  I also like playing the Bible trivia games and seeing how much I remember from Sunday School, Bible Drill, AWANA and school.  I'm pretty good at those games, too!


She liked Always Icecream so much that after just a few hours of play, she wanted to send an invitation to her sweet friend, Horse Lover.  This was easy to do because Always Icecream gives you the opportunity to share a one month subscription with your friends for FREE.  What a generous way for girls to share the  excitement and fun!

The Princess sent Horse Lover an email that invited her to try the games and activities.  Horse Lover's mom helped her set up a trial account and she simply fell in love.  Here's what she had to say about Always Icecream:

I really like Always Icecream.  I love the Mini World and Pet World.  It is so exciting to buy an egg not knowing what it will be.  I like being able to design your own furniture that other kids can buy.  School can be boring sometimes and Always Icecream is so much fun.


This is a fun game that my mom does not mind me playing. My favorite game is Basic Anatomy.  Anatomy is my mom's favorite subject and until this game I did not like it.  I love Always Icecream so much I told my parents that I wanted them to buy me a subscription for my birthday.


{I happen to know that our sweet friend Horse Lover DID get a subscription for her birthday.  How lucky for her!  And she really does LOVE Always Icecream.  Her mom told me that she has been in the TOP 50 in the $coophunters Competition several times this week.  How cool is that?   AND as an added bonus my Princess was awarded 4,000 $coops as a thank you for sharing Always Icecream with a friend.  How neat is that?}

The free Parent Account gave me the ability to receive weekly activity reports via email and provided me with configuration options and information about the Princess' online activities on the site.  I had the option of allowing her to chat with her friends that were playing Always Icecream -- which I did because of the safe environment offered by the website.  All chat is monitored and I get a log of WHO she chats with!

I like that I can log in to my Parent Account at any time and see exactly what the Princess has been doing.  I can make sure that she's spending some quality time working on needed skills AND I can see where she needs extra work and offer individualized help. Here's a sample of her recent activity (taken straight from my account):

Your Daughter's Recent Learning Progress


During the last 90 days, the Princess made progress in the following learning games: 

  • States of the USA from level 1 to 6, earning a Bronze Medal

  • Math Quiz - Adding from level 1 to 5, earning a Bronze Medal

  • Bible Quiz from level 1 to 3, earning a Bronze Medal

  • Melting $coops

  • Synonyms from level 1 to 8, earning a Bronze Medal

  • Dog Breeds Quiz from level 1 to 5, earning a Silver Medal

  • Cooking School from level 1 to 2

  • Health Quiz from level 1 to 2

  • Basic Anatomy from level 1 to 15, earning a Bronze Medal

  • Musical Instruments Quiz from level 1 to 2

  • Countries in Europe from level 1 to 3

  • Math Quiz - Multiplying from level 1 to 3

  • Classical Music Quiz from level 1 to 12, earning a Bronze Medal





Moderated Communication


In the last 90 days, the Princess received a message from, or wrote a message to Hannah and Heather.



Educational Videos Watched


Your daughter did not watch any educational videos recently. Please note that the information in this report is updated daily. {Looks like she needs to get busy here!}



Artwork Created


She created the following artwork: 

  • 4 art piece(s)

  • 1 piece(s) of furniture for her house




I really like knowing what is going on while she giggles and laughs in the online world of Always Icecream.  Althought I don't want the Princess spending all of her day staring at a computer screen I certainly don't mind computer time that is well-spent.  The price is great and the benefits are even greater.

Photobucket

If you have a little girl in your life between the ages of 7 and 12, the Princess and I are pleased to recommend that you invest in an Always Icecream membership.   You can see for yourself all the benefits that are offered for free!  After your FREE Trial Period, you can purchase a membership and begin playing immediately.  The first month is only $0.99!  Other membership options are:  $4.99 a month; $9.98 for two months; $29.99 for the year OR $99.99 for a lifetime membership.  Wouldn't this make a wonderful birthday or Christmas present?

Photobucket

~~I was given the opportunity to use and review Always Icecream as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  The opinions stated are mine and mine alone.  I was not paid to share my thoughts and feelings with you.  I encourage you to check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the TOS Homeschool Crew thought of Always Icecream HERE.~~

  Pin It Now!

3 comments:

  1. free wordpress theme...

    Fun times with Always Icecream at This Day Has Great Potential...

    ReplyDelete
  2. nice wordpress Forex template...

    Fun times with Always Icecream at This Day Has Great Potential...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Needed this...

    A person essentially assist to make critically articles I would state. That is the very first time I frequented your website page and to this point? I surprised with the analysis you made to create this actual post incredible. Great process!...

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your heart with me!