Tiny Planets – TOS Review

Product: Tiny Planets Website
Company: My Tiny Planets Ltd.
Price: Free to various pricing options.               Ages: 4-12

I’d like to introduce you to a couple of my friends. Meet Bing and Bong, the loveable duo who takes your child on a trip around their galaxy. Along the way your child will be able to visit 6 planets, learning “to think for themselves, assume social responsibility, take care of our planet and learn about the mysteries of space.”

Here are the six planets:

• Tiny Planets TV where you can watch any of the Tiny Planets television episodes.
• My Tiny Planets is the virtual world where your kids can adopt and care for their own planet.
• Tiny Planets Labs is the hub where you can play a variety of just for fun type of video games. This is what my kids enjoyed most. The website explains this as the place where they try out the NEW stuff!
• Tiny Planets Fun is just that, fun,  with all the puzzle games, coloring books and comics and such.
• Tiny Planets Books here you can read story books with Bing and Bong.
•  Tiny Planets Learning this is a place for parents, homeschoolers and educators to find lesson plans and science experiments.

When I first began homeschooling about a year and a half ago I had stumbled across this site. At the time it was just watching episodes from the BBC tv series (which I never got living in the US). I couldn’t believe the change it has under gone, there is so much more.
My 8 y/o son loved playing the games and my 22 month old daughter loved the books and episodes. I loved the lesson plans, it made it so easy to put together a fun lesson for the kids.

Much of this site can be used for free but to explore it all you can also purchase “keys” which give you access to extras in the different areas of the Tiny Planets Universe.  Only a parent can purchase keys. The pricing is as follows:

• 10 keys    $1.95 
• 25 keys    $3.95   
• 85 keys    $9.95  
• 250 keys  $25.95 
• 600 keys  $49.95

These keys go into your family account for your children to use.  There is also an option where you can deposit a monthly allotment into each cadets account. Once you buy something with a key it is yours no more needing to re-purchase it.  Most things are anywhere from 1 to 10 keys.
I personally found the site a bit difficult to navigate as it would log my child out whenever I switched planets but my kids found no difficulty with this at all. Maybe I am getting old after all! I also found my kids played the not quite so educational video games more than anything else, however if I started them on the videos or books then they would explore that with interest.
Over all this is a great site and really geared toward the younger set. A very enjoyable website for a together time with mom, especially if you use the lesson plans. I plan on doing just that with my youngest.
Check out what others have to say about this wonderful place here.
Mandy
Disclosure: As part of TOS Crew I have received a free membership and no other compensation in exchange for my honest opinion.