Tiny Planets



Tiny Planets is a website designed to enhance learning for children ages 4-12.  They join Bing and Bong on their adventures through the Universe of Tiny Planets.  The website states: "With Bing and Bong, children are encouraged to think for themselves, assume social responsibility, take care of our planet and learn about the mysteries of space."

The website is free and available to anyone.  It is full of interactive games, books, and TV programs.  The primary user of Tiny Planets in our home was Hunter, my 8 year old son.  He loved it.  He was always asking to play "the thing."....."you know Mom, the one with the fuzzy guys." We used this website primarily as a reward for completing our more intense school tasks.  He easily could and would stay on the site for hours!

As TOS Homeschool Crew Reviewers, Tiny Planets gave us the option to access KEYs, to unlock the TV episodes, Books, and some of the game portions of the My Tiny Planets interactive community.  The access to these KEYs was completely up to us.  Since these KEYs are an item that would normally have to be purchased, I opted not to use the keys for my review.  I know that not everyone can afford to purchase extras for websites, so I wanted my review to be based on the free aspects of the site.

We were able to access one TV episode, two Books, all of the Labs ( games ), and all of the PDF downloadable Learning Pages.  We could also play the Tiny Planets and Moon Explorer games, but without the KEYs we didn't have access to 'better' ships.  My son did ask how he could earn KEYs to unlock certain features, and maybe in the future that will be an option, but for now I explained that those were something people needed to buy, and he didn't seem to miss the things that he didn't have.  His absolute favorite Lab to date is The Case of the Incredibly Large Diamond.  It is a sequential puzzle game that helped him think both critically and logically, and use his observation skills to find the Diamond.

As a free website, Tiny Planets is a great tool to use in your homeschool as a reward for a job well done.  It is entertaining, and the learning that happens sneaks right up on the kids, because it is disguised as FUN!
I do know that other TOS Homeschool Review Members did access the KEYs that were made available by the company, head on over to the Homeschool Crew Website to read what their experiences were like.

I recommend that you give Tiny Planets a try.  It even sucked in my high schoolers as they helped their younger brother play some games.  My 3 year old sat watching his older brother play with rapt attention every single time he played.  He loved to listen to his brother read the stories from the book section.

There is no information on the Tiny Planets website regarding the cost of purchasing the KEYs.  I did email  the company directly and here is their pricing break down :
10 KEYs $ 1.95
25 KEYs $ 3.95
85 KEYs $ 9.95
250 KEYs $25.95
600 KEYs $49.95

With a Parent Account, you can purchase the KEYs at your discretion, and again they are not a requirement to enjoy the site.  It is important to note that the KEYs can NOT be split up amongst family members.  They are only good for one child/ Cadet account.  You can NOT buy 600 Keys, and share them among your six kids. 

*** As a Member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was asked to create a free Cadet Account and explore the Tiny Planets website for the purpose of this review.  We were offered access to free KEYs to enhance our reviewing experience.  No other compensation was given.***