Since a Wii is on my family’s Santa list, I took my review copy of EA’s Boogie Superstar (with microphone) over to my friend Maria’s house to have her fourth grader, Goldie, try it out. Maria was looking forward to previewing the dancing and singing Wii game, since she was thinking about buying it as a Christmas present for her daughters.

Strut your stuff and sing your heart out

In Boogie Superstar, you compete in the Boogie Star Show to become the next boogie superstar. First you pick your character, which you can customize to look a bit like yourself if you want. Goldie was able to change her character’s name to her own, which she loved.

In Boogie Superstar you can dance, sing or do both. The song list features nearly 40 popular tracks in the pop, urban, and electrodance genres. Goldie isn’t allowed to listen to rap, so she mostly played pop songs that she knew like “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne (one of Goldie’s favorites) and “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis.

There’s also a drama feature, the character of Vickie. You can turn her devilment on or off. She likes to say rude but G-rated things about your performance and cover up the lyrics when you’re singing. It was cracking us up!

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Are you involved with your child’s online life? Highlights Magazine and Glubble want to know. That’s why they’re inviting parents to participate in a short poll at Highlights.com.

If you’re like most parents, you want your child to ask permission before they get a snack or ride their bike to a friend’s house. So why shouldn’t they ask permission before visiting any site on the Internet? With Glubble, kids have to ask your permission to visit sites on the Internet.

What’s Glubble?

Glubble is geared to families with children under 12. Think of it like “Internet training wheels.” Glubble offers a safe online place for families where parents can be involved with their children’s Internet usage. By doing this, Glubble hopes parents can teach kids the how to use the the Internet in a positive and safe way.

Also, children are going online at a younger age. My five-year-old is constantly coming to me with requests to go to www dot something or rather and watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube with her dad. With Glubble, parents are able to choose web content for their kids the same way they choose books, television shows, clothes and movies. Glubble makes it easier for parents by packaging over 2500 kid-friendly websites like Discovery Kids or Sesame Street into “glubbles.” Parents can add to this list by easily adding sites they like.

Finally, you can see what Google search terms your children are using. What they’re allowed to search on can be filtered based on parent created lists as well. It’s also a way to find out what they’re researching for school. Think of it as a conversation starter, “So tell me more about your Greek mythology paper. Who’s this Zeus guy anyway?”

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I just posted a review of Manhattan Toy’s new Groovy Girls RSVP doll line and website on my other blog, A Mama’s Rant at Join the party with Groovy Girls RSVP. They’re great dolls and a positive alternative to Barbie or Bratz dolls. Check it out!

More Groovy Girl activities

Besides playing with the dolls, there are lots of groovy things to do:

• Your child can read from a whole line of Groovy Girl books.
• There’s a terrific Groovy Girl website with all sorts of online fun especially if your doll has Groovy Girl RSVP codes.
• Since having your child online all the time isn’t practical – mom needs the computer, too! – you should look into the Groovy Girl offline activities, too. There are downloadable scrapbooking pages, coloring pages and journal pages to print out.
• Parents can sign up for an email newsletter with money saving deals and the latest news on Groovy Girl dolls and accessories.
• There’s even a recipe for Groovy Girls Sugar Cookies (downloadable PDF).
• She can keep a journal in her Groovy Girls Lock & Key Diary.
• There’s also Groovy Girls Secret Keeper Treasure Box & Stationery Set and a Groovy Girls Sticker Tote to play with.

Way too much Groovy Girl fun.

Earlier this month, I reviewed the educational children’s DVD series Global Wonders at Global Wonders: teaching kids about world culture. The first four DVDs are being released on Amazon, and through Target and Toys “R” Us TODAY!

Global Wonders is offering a discount coupon for $2 off your purchase of any Global Wonders DVD. Click here to download a coupon.

When you’re on the Global Wonders website, don’t forget to register on to receive updates and promotional offers on a future library of titles covering cultures from around the world, too.

This month, Global Wonders introduces an educational DVD series that encourages children to share, compare and discover the cultures of their family, friends and the world. Designed for children ages two to seven years, the DVDs engage children with stories of fun-filled play dates where everyday activities are transformed into moments of wonder and discovery. The characters as they sample food, play games, learn vocabulary words and experience a variety of cultural holidays, music and traditions.

Global Wonders was created by Rashmi Turner, a working mother and former executive at The Walt Disney Company who previously led educational productions, product development for media lines of businesses, marketing, and communications, for The Baby Einstein Company.

Learning about world cultures

With Global Wonders, children can gain a more enlightened view of the world around them. It’s also a great way to start a dialogue about different cultures if your children are the type who ask embarrassing questions like, “Why does that lady have a red dot on her head?” or “Why do those people have dark skin and talk funny?”

My children know people from India, France, Sweden, Mexico, China, Taiwan and Napal. We enjoy shopping at Asian markets and Mexican carnicerias, and frequently dine out at restaurants that serve Vietnamese pho, Chinese dim sum, Pad Thai, Japanese sushi and Baja Mexican seafood dishes.  So learning about other cultures isn’t new to our children at all though as parents, we do get our fair share of embarrassing questions.

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EcoBrain is an online ebook store that offers thousands of titles from top publishers about sustainable, green living, home and garden, cooking and more. Since ebooks don’t use paper and ink to produce, or fuel to deliver, you’ll be saving yourself money while doing something positive for the environment.

What’s in it for you?

EcoBrain has a great selection of elementary, middle school and academic environmental science material like A Guide for using The Magic School Bus® Inside the Earth in the Classroom. Many of their ebooks would be a great resource for parents, teachers and homeschoolers.

Of course, they have cookbooks! One title that I’m considering downloading is A Fork in the Trail, a book of 208 lightweight, mouth-watering recipes to turn an ordinary backcountry trip into a gourmet adventure. I’m always freaked out about the over-processed junk that we bring camping “for convenience sake.” With recipes that you can cook and dehydrate before the trip or just add boiling water, it sounds like this book can help us do much better.

EcoBrain recently added some very cool titles like:

• Skinny Bitch
• Big Green Purse
• The Home Energy Diet: How to Save Money by Making Your House Energy-Smart
• The Compassionate Carnivore: Or, How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald’s Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, and Still Eat Meat

Check them out!

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The Vtech – V.Motion Active Learning System arrived on our doorstep a few weeks ago thanks to Vtech and the Parent Bloggers Network. You should have heard the commotion when I opened the box – squeals of delight, crazed jumping up and down, and lots of “thank you mommy” from Nathan and Lucie.

The V.Motion Active Learning System is an educational video game for children ages three to seven years. Basically, it’s like an educational Wii system for little kids. It incorporates learning about basic math, reading, science, and spelling with motion-activated gaming.

Features

The console plugs directly into your TV, DVD or VCR and while it can run on AA batteries, you should spend an additional $10 and get a 9-volt Vtech – V.Smile Adapter adapter to plug it into an outlet. (The adapter also works with Vtech – V.Smile Pocket Learning System, the LeapFrog® Leapster® Learning Game System, and a variety of other electronics.)

The V-Motion game console is also 100 percent compatible with the entire V.Smile Smartridge library. So if you already have a Vtech – V.Smile Pocket Learning System, you have games compatible with the V.Motion Active Learning System. (We’re a Leapster family so we don’t.)

It’s more expensive than most gaming systems for kids as it retails for $69.99 with the games going for around $24.99, online from Amazon as well as retail outlets like Target and Wal-Mart. However, it’s way cheaper than getting a Wii, which is around $250 if you can find one.

The V.Motion Active Learning System also includes a VTech V.Link™ that connects kids to VTech’s secure online site for kids to track their scores and unlock bonus gameplay.

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