Kidoodle.TV to the Rescue (And a Giveaway!)
Once upon a time, there was a toddler who considered TV to be just about as interesting as air, sleep, and mud. That's to say, Little Miss Alexis didn't care for watching television at all. Then she discovered a little Latina menace who likes to yell at viewers, and the good life ended.
The Latina was the gateway drug to a TV obsession.
These days, Alexis will happily stare at the black box 10 hours per day if left unchecked. Sure, she plays while she watches, but she occasionally will stop midway through drawing a masterpiece and stare slack-jawed at the screen. She looks super smart when she does it... or something.
The desire to create a little structure around all of that TV viewing is what prompted me to accept an invitation to check out Kidoodle.TV. Kidoodle.TV is a television streaming service built around kids, which means it has things like parental controls and lots of kid-friendly content.
I started by creating a trial account (which was free and didn't require a credit card) and then set up a profile for Alexis. She joined me so that she could pick an avatar. She, of course, went for the pink My Little Pony. Then she was able to say that she wanted to use the pink background, so her Kidoodle.TV is all up in the pink zone. Next I set her age for her profile. Since she was sitting there, she was able to talk me into giving her access to content intended for children up to 12 years old. I reviewed the titles that gave her access to and didn't see anything concerning, so it was a dual win. Finally, I set her viewing limit at 1.5 hours and she was off.
Alexis took off with the tablet and spent the next half hour watching a National Geographic show on whales. "This is perfect!" she told me. "We're studying whales at school!"
She would have never picked that show if she had been using the TV remote. TOTAL WIN.
There is a fair amount of National Geographic content, which I expect is what she will watch first. If I were to place bets on things like this, I'd bet that after that she will discover the Sabrina the Teenage Witch cartoons. She's never seen any of them, but it's safe to say that she will love them. After that, there's an episode of Jem and the Holograms that I plan to watch -er- plan to invite Alexis to watch with me.
So, yeah, I think this whole Kidoodle.TV thing might just work out. It should mean that I get to regain control over the big TV while banishing her to a tablet she can take anywhere. There are no commercials and no content that makes me want to roll my eyes, so we're coming out ahead.
And the best part? I think I now have a plot for steering the Tiny Human away from the little Latina menace.
If you want to check out Kidoodle.TV, you can go here to set up your 14-day free trial. You can also use the code BLOGHER25 to get 25% off of a 1-year subscription. The coupon code expires June 30, 2014. Otherwise, it's just $4.99 a month. Oh, and you can go here and enter to win one of 3 iPad minis that will be given away in March and April.
As if that's not enough, I also have a $100 Visa gift card up for grabs thanks to BlogHer and Kidoodle.TV. To enter to win the $100 Visa gift card, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what devices your kids use--do they use yours or do they have their own?
For more information you can also check out their Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest!
Sweepstakes Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
- Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
- Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#KidoodleTVBH” and “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
- Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
- For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US or Canada (excluding Quebec) Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 3/17-4/18.
Be sure to visit the Kidoodle.TV brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!
Monday, March 17, 2014
Reader Comments (167)
My children share a desktop computer.
They get to use the family ipad.
I let my son use my Ipad, but he is too young to call a device like that his own.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
tweet--https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/456020761703354369
My four older kids have their own tablets and laptops and my little boy uses my phone
my tweet https://twitter.com/neiddy_ruiz/status/456073400620810240
my nephew loves his kindle
https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/456113782423420928
My children use our old iphones (not turned on) or ipods. We share!
tvollowitz at aol dot com
My daughter has a laptop and iphone. She is on twitter, on her iphone, all day long.
https://twitter.com/smilekisses/status/456346119727898624
We let our daughter use our Asus tablet or chromebook, but only while supervised. She uses school-recommended websites for math and loves to watch rainbow loom tutorials!
all we have is 2 older computers that everyone uses
the family uses a desktop computer
we share one tablet... no other hi-tech goodies here!
4mariemh atgmaildotcom
My daughter uses my laptop and cell phone sometimes
my toddler plays with my ipad and iphone constantly!
my daughter is 5 and she has a pretend lap top that has some child games on it--she also has a play cash register
My children would have loved all the electronics but they weren't around when my kids were growing up. Now they have most of the significant items.
our family looks at the ipad together
My step-daughter is grown, but she uses her own iPhone for everything.
https://twitter.com/myfolly/status/456769926162677760
My grandkids each have their own devices, my grandson has a tablet and my granddaughter has an InnoTab.
Tweet - https://twitter.com/willitara/status/456791222221172737
My entire family shares a PC. For now...
My daughter uses our iPad mini...we all share it as a family and have passcodes, locks, and restrictions on certain things for her.
tweeted https://twitter.com/pittsy82/status/456827474379157504
Ours each have their own iPad.
https://twitter.com/ardy22/status/456845183871488001
We have an old android phone that is disconnected that the kids use. My kids broke my tablet. :)
No kids so I don't have to share.
This looks like a great thing for families.
Thanks for the contest.
https://twitter.com/slehan/status/456941717648703488
Our kids shared a computer
His own laptop, kindle fire, and iphone but he is older.
My kids are older. My grandson has a tablet and shares the computer, phone & ipad.
https://twitter.com/dddiva/status/456969403855171584
My kids use an iPad that is shared by them and I :)
My daughter has her own Kindle Fire, but she has limits and is supervised.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/HeartnSoulmom/status/456987804140965888
They use a Desktop and we share it. They do not have their own.
We let the kids watch TV and use the DVD player. On occasion we will let them use the computer supervised. They are young and don't have their own yet, but maybe we will let them when they get older.
susansmoaks at gmail dot com
My kids share the computer and ipod with the rest of the family.
https://twitter.com/aes529/status/457169568835051520
The grandkids loving using the tablet when they are here. They either share or one uses the desktop.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/njhhb/status/457174370893328384
I have a Kindle and My son has his own Tablet.
jewelwood55 (at) gmail dot com
When our daughter was young she had to have her own iPad and tablet.
https://twitter.com/JewelWood/status/457177878312939522
jewelwood55 (at) gmail dot com
My kid has own phone and snags my iPad every chance he gets.
My niece shares an iPad and iPhone.