Categories: Parenting

Kidzui: The Internet for Kids

Kidzui, a new “Internet for Kids” browser, was introduced on March 19. Kidzui provides a downloadable browser for kids aged three to 12. The Kidzui browser enables children access to more than 600,000 websites which have been reviewed by Kidzui’s team as child-appropriate.

The fun part of Kidzui is the points earning system. The more your kids explore new videos, pictures and websites, the more points they build up to unlock new features to personalize their “Zui.” Children can also socialize with their friends with parental approval. The parental approval process involves the parent signing up for a parental account to control their kids’ web environment.

Kidzui is now free, whereas the website used to have a 30-day trial membership and a special Charter Membership for $4.95 per month or $49.95 per year. After downloading and playing around with the new kid browser, I have come to the reality that it is a safe haven for children to explore the internet with a colorful easy-to-use browser. To parents with young children, Kidzui provides a very safe environment without you having to watch over their shoulder every three seconds. The difference is that rather than using Internet Explorer or other browsers where your children can access pretty much anything and everything, Kidzui has a stand-alone browser outside of the normal internet environment that we as adults use. When I typed in youtube.com in the Kidzui browser, I was denied access and could only get in with parental permission.

Compared to other websites, Kidzui provides all kinds of educational, fun features with the click of a button. It also has an address bar at the top and a task bar at the bottom. If your children go to websites such as Webkinz and Disney, they can access those sites inside the Kidzui browser so make sure your children know that before you introduce the new browser to them. The new user process is fun for your children as they can create their own “Zui.” A Zui is a boy or girl that they can create using different colors, clothing, eyes, brows, and other features.

After creating their Zui they get to name it. Webkinz, Disney and Nick websites, also available through Kidzui, are normally brought up through a regular browser which in turns allows your children to go off the website and onto others which may or may not be age-appropriate or contain adware, spyware or popups. Offering your child a new way of the internet, they should feel as good about their browser, if not better, than the one they were using. There will be no more nagging mothers or fathers standing around to watch, which will make the children feel more comfortable on the internet to explore things that interest them.

Other “kid browsers” available on the internet such as Miss America Kid and Kidrocket only annoyed me. The graphics were not exciting and the format was not what I would be looking for. They were not as simple to use as the Kidzui browser, even though the Kidzui browser was loading web applications very slowly on a high speed internet connection. But, I think that kids will find that it is worth the wait. Hopefully Kidzui will get the speed up a bit to load websites more efficiently. Many other websites do not offer a platform to allow the kids a safe environment as many have third-party advertising. There is no risk of adware, spyware or popups using the Kidzui browser.