Club Penguin is a fun online game aimed at children aged 6-14. You choose your penguin avatar and then play games in a virtual world. This is designed as an introduction to social media as there is a live chat element to the game.
Molly loved playing on Club Penguin. She enjoyed choosing her own penguin and the games were really suitable for a seven year old. She wasn’t very interested in chatting to other people but I think this would be better if you had friends who were on there art the same time. The game seems to be monitored very closely and there are pre-approved chat phrases to use and any other language goes through a moderator. In the time we played the game I didn’t see anything I would worry about. It is a good opportunity to discuss social media etiquette with children and how to behave online, within a safe environment.
Club Penguin membership costs
One month=£4.95
Six month=£19.95
One year=£29.95
You can buy gift cards in most supermarkets. There is also a free app for your mobile devices. The membership was a bit out of my budget especially when there are so many free games on the market. Molly did love playing Club penguin though so I have downloaded her the app to play.
If you have a Club penguin fan then the magazine is really great. It looks really fun on the cover with lots of bright colours. It comes with lots of free goodies on the cover, something which will be a big draw for children. The current issue has a water blaster and some badges as well as free items for inside the game.
The magazine itself features lots of fun comic strips using the Club penguin characters. This is a great magazine for fans of the game and I’m guessing it would be a great way to get reluctant readers to enjoy reading. The comic strip style is less intimidating to a reader who is put off by long stretches of text.
Disclaimer: We were given a months trial of the game and copies of the magazine for the purposes of this review.