Experience Manifesto: Where Sydney Spends Her Time

Not surprisingly, given how much time I spend on the computer, Sydney, my 6 year old, spends a great deal of time on the computer as well. We do try to make sure she has balance with other activities, but the last couple of days she's been home with chicken pox, so she's been on the computer more then usual. But it's given me a chance to learn more about what she does online and the sites she likes to visit. So, since we're home for the day, I decided to ask her about these sites and what she likes about them:

Me: What are your favorite sites?
Sydney: Barbie.com and pixelchicks are my favorite web sites because they have lots of games you can play. I also really like Webkinz because you have your very own, special pet to take care of and I also like it because you can buy stuff at the Webkinz, like going to the gardening store and buying seed so you can plant your very own garden. I also like the games there, especially the word find.

Me: How do you learn about these web sites?
Sydney: I learned about Poptropica and Funbrain from school, we use them in the classroom. I really just found Barbie.com and pixelchicks because there are so many other sites at Barbie.com. I learned about Webkinz from my friends having them and I saw my friends playing on Webkinz after school and that's how I learned that they weren't just stuffed animals and that you can go online and play with them.

Me: What makes these sites fun for you?
Sydney: Hmm, that's a pretty tricky question. Because you can feed your pets and give it a bed in Webkinz and because I like when we go to the clubhouse with my friends in Webkinz. We can chat with each other and we can jump on trampolines if we're outside and we can send each other notes and packages with things in them, like hats, bathing suits, sunglasses and games. My friend Annie sent me a Connect Four game and a table and chair.

Me: What about the other sites?
Sydney: The other sites are fun because on Barbie.com there's a missing bunny and you can say where you think the bunny is hiding. You get to look for clues to see where the bunny is hiding. Its also fun because you can play video games too, like Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. In Pixelchix it's fun because there's a hamster game where you have to get the hamsters across to the other side before time runs out. And because of this new mystery game. My favorite game is Monster Baby, because you have to jump over stuff and there are 12 levels in all, but I can still can only play half the game because it doesn't let me get to the higher levels.

Me: How do you learn how to play the games?
Sydney: I read the directions! But I knew exactly what do on the 2nd and 3rd levels of Monster Baby because I knew it had to be similar to what I did on the first level. The things that you have to do get more interesting and harder to do as you get higher and higher up the levels.

Me: Is it important that you can play games with your friends online?
Sydney: No, but I really like it when I get a chance to play with friends online.

Link: Poptropica.

Link: FunBrain.com - The Internet's #1 Education Site for K-8 Kids and Teachers .

Link: Barbie.com - Activities and Games for Girls Online!.

Link: Welcome to Webkinz - a Ganz website.

Link: PixelChix.com - the official Pixel Chix™ site!.