Invasion of Poptropica!

Poptropica has invaded our homes!!

I guess we all need our guilty pleasures, mine was "The Bachelor"(and those of you who watched that know how that turned out. Yeesh. I don't even want to talk about it.)

My girls' guilty pleasure is the computer game- Poptropica. I have a mixture of feeling about this new love (or should I say obsession).


Here are my top 5 reasons why Poptopica is bad for kids!
1. They become addicted and beg to play all of the time instead of reading or doing creative activities.

2. If there is only one computer available, this causes a lot of bickering over who will be playing Poptropica.

3. Your child becomes zombified!

4. They scream and have a tantrum when you take them off of the game for dinner, etc.

5. They complain when their cousins don't let them have a turn at their house playing Poptropica and that they are ahead in the game and so and so on.....

Here are my top 5 reasons why Poptropica is A-O.K. for kids!
1. Reading skills- In order to progress through the game you need to read the clues presented by different characters. (This frustrates Peanut who is unable to read. I've even heard her struggling to sound out the words.) Also, educational/learning info. on the game.

2. Decision Making- What will my avatar look like? What shall she wear? What color hair will she have? and so on. They choose their character! Also, many decisions need to be made throughout the game which is a lot of fun for them.

3. Good weapon to use for discipline! "Go to bed or no Poptropica tomorrow!" This works, I've tried it! I should have said, "Go to bed nice for Mommy and you will earn extra Poptropica." I'll try that next time. :)

4. Keeps them out of trouble when Mom's putting dishes away, etc.

5. Computer skills- lots of practice with maneuvering the mouse and simple keyboarding skills.


Peanut having fun on her game!


Sunshine very much involved in her game.


Dueling Computers!


Cousin fun!


More fun with cousin who is fixated on his game!

Well, go check it out at www.poptropica.com! You might enjoy playing yourself. This happened to me with the whole webkinz craze. I actually enjoy dressing the little pet online and decorating it's room, etc. Don't tell anyone!

Have a fun day!
Jen