- It’s easy to set up. I had no problems with the initial registration process, and it was easy to understand all the options while setting up the girls’ accounts. Almost everything can be customized on each child’s profile. You must adjust the grade levels for learning games, the categories of learning games your child is allowed to play, enable/disable community features, and language preferences.
- It’s strong academically. I was amazed at how many learning games are available that reinforce the things we’re learning with our curriculum. The girls get a fun “review” while using the site, and they learn new things too! (See #3.)
- It’s engaging. Both of my kids love Always Icecream and beg to play on it. They would love for it to be the only activity they have to do during the day, but I haven’t caved yet. My older daughter finishes her lessons in record time so she can get on the site, and then she runs back and forth to the school room, grabbing maps and books to use as references so she can pass to the next level. She’s going beyond this year’s curricula to learn things she’s interested in and wants to study. She has reviewed the states of the United States and is moving on to countries in Europe. She’s also learning how to label the human body!
- It’s fun! The girls are enjoying the games, and I love them too! For each educational game they play or video they watch, they earn “scoops” to spend buying pets, creating artwork (they can sell to other members), buying furniture to decorate their virtual houses, and other activities.
- It keeps kids balanced in their activities. Games and videos that are fun but aren’t heavy on educational value cost a certain number of scoops to play or watch. That keeps kids going back to the learning games and videos so they can earn the scoops they need to do the fun stuff! The activities that earn them scoops are clearly marked with an ice cream cone, making it easy to see what’s what.
- It’s safe. There is a “social media” (community) component to Always Icecream, but it can be disabled. If you do enable it, all posts are moderated. Children also must exchange friendship codes and enter them on the site to claim they know each other in real life. I helped my daughters confirm each other so they can interact on the site and discovered that “in real life” friends are marked with a heart to distinguish them from online friends.
- It informs you of everything your child does on the site. Parents have the option of receiving a weekly e-mail detailing the child’s activities. It is very detailed. If you don’t want to wait for the e-mail, you can log in to the parent page and click on each child’s profile. It will tell you what games she played, videos she watched, artwork she created, and interactions with other children on the site. It’s easy to know what’s going on when your daughter is online at Always Icecream!
- You can adapt it for strugglinglearners. This is huge for me because my younger daughter has learning disabilities. When we first tried the site, all games were available to all users. She got frustrated because she tried to play games that were much too hard for her. Since then (and it’s only been a little over a week), they have added the slider that allows you to choose the grade levels available to each user (hers are set at K-1st now). I’ve also heard that they’re adding more activities for younger users.
- It’s addictive. In my mind, this is a good thing! The girls are learning so much and having such a good time doing it that I have trouble getting them off the computer!
- There’s a sister site (or should that be brother?). If you stumbled across this review and are upset that you don’t have a princess to share it with, never fear! Clever Dragons is the site for boys!
This site really is as great as it sounds. The only thing on my wish list for the site is an option to have the questions and answers read to the younger/struggling reader!
I give Always Icecream five scoops! Visit the site and try it free today!
