One of the recommendations is a simplified explanation terms and conditions. This should work about as well as telling your kids that they’ll have to read the manual that comes with their new bicycles!

But, what if terms  and conditions could be integrated as part of the “play” experience of a site or an app.  What if you got points for completing the brief “what could happen/what information we’re sharing” game?  Points that you could later spend on the game itself.

I’m no game designer, but I know the power of games to lure and engross.  So, how about creating an intro game to sites for kids that give a quick overview of the nasties or lack thereof — you don’t play them… no prizes for you.

For a good overview of the latest FTC findings on kid’s privacy: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/f-t-c-issues-report-on-apps-and-data/

For the full report: http://ftc.gov/os/2012/02/120216mobile_apps_kids.pdf

Skylanders Gen II: When I saw Activision’s Skylanders a year ago, it had all the makings of a crap shoot – a new technology that involved a solid state game piece combined with a complicated storyline. Even Spyro, the main character, wasn’t part of the title. And yet, here we are one year later, and I’m eating a bit of crow: Skylanders is a runaway hit.

The sequel is here and it’s big. There are eight new figures in a super-sized format and 12 new creatures in the original format. These giants have giant powers, too.  New chapters of the Skylanders story, light radiating from the toys as they near their portal destinations, and a variety of handheld and mobile apps versions make this new Skylanders a larger franchise than ever.

Hasbro Meets Zynga: There’s a certain sensibility that the folks who brought you Monopoly and Scrabble would look to the future by partnering with Zynga, the makers of popular virtual games like Farmville and Words with Friends. Hasbro is literally betting the “farmville” that you’ll want your favs with you in a variety of mediums. You should be seeing everything from board games to toys based on Farmville, Cityville and Words with Friends. Angry Birds from Rovio has enjoyed great success with a growing line of real world toys and I expect Hasbro/Zynga to do the same. (Ironically, these games tend to be played by young adults, and not kids, since they orginate on Facebook but as we’ve learned, few parents and tweens observe the +13 age requirement on Facebook)

The Brobos: Other new entertainment properties are starting out the gate across multiple platforms. Brobo is a children’s entertainment property for preschoolers. The concept involves a series of YouTube videos centered around flying Brobos that teach basic counting, reading and other skills. Product companions include lightup Brobo nightlights that turn on when you tap their hands to their hearts. Naturally each Brobo has their own personality from dirt-loving Dogs to pizza-loving Trex.

Nukotoys is one of the more artistically arresting products I’ve seen recently. It’s got all the elements of a winner, mixing trading cards with an app-based game. Set to ship this spring, the game Monsterology is based on the bestselling Ology book series, a set of illustrated fantasy books presented in a fictional encyclopedic format. Dragons, Sea Serpents and other stuff that kids dreams about are all cataloged in great detail. Nukotoys faithfully takes the book as its starting point, moves the play to the iPad and iPhone and creates a collectible card game with a turn-based strategy game. Built for kids ages 7+ the game comes with 100 cards consisting of 75 creatures plus 25 traps and magic elements. To play you tap your card against the surface of your iOS device and immerse yourself in a world that has elements of Risk and Chess.  You can  invite other players to collect, train, trade, and play in a quest, ultimately becoming a “Master Monsterologist”. This one could transcend gender and age and become a classic play for a digital world. The company is also launching a game based on Animal Planet which lets younger kids use trading cards to unlock animal life on the African Serengeti.

The idea is pretty simple. You buy a big ‘ole picture book (about $27) wherever books are
sold.  They’re hard-covered luscious looking books with topics like Bugs, Planets or Construction Machines.  The books all have special AR markers on their pages.

Each book comes with a DVD that installs the Popar software. The software takes control of your webcamera and brings the pages of your book
to life on screen.  You hold a page of your book up in front of your PC’s webcam and the marker gets automatically
recognized.  That’s when stuff on your display screen kicks into action.  In the Planet book the planets’ start circle, rockeships launch … in the Bug book
scorpions appear to carry their babies, butterflies flap their wings. Planets start swirling, bugs start crawling, and a narrator’s voice explains the
subject material.

But wait, there’s more. Each book comes with a marker (named Mark-E, of course) that reads the page aloud to you and sets things in motion when it’s held in front of the camera. And, in the back of each book there are cut outs that turn into AR digital toys that you can mix and match for even more action.   Finally, there are add-on packs of AR cards which are also markers.  Hold these cards in front of the webcam and even stranger things happen.

Few  little gotchas.  This is not an app – it’s a bigger installation.  You need a webcam and a PC. There’s a DVD to install the software. Little hands will grow weary of holding pages up to a webcam (detachable webcams might be a better alternative since could capture the pages
while they’re laying flat on a surface).  And getting used to the variations in what happens as your pair different cards with other cards or books with cards is
impressively mind boggling.  Plus parents have a hard enough time buying a book for the kids, there’s going to be a bit
of an augmented reality book learning curve.

That said the results are a fun read and an eye-candy full of 3D and printed delight.

The premise isn’t exactly novel, but the delivery system certainly is. Totally Amp’d, a sitcom designed for the interactive smartphone-carrying-tween set, provides a fun premise for serialized “appisodes”, plus some cool interactive experiences tied to the show. It’s one of the first serialized webisodes to integrate apps.

First, the background story. Five teens with talent, but each with their share of rejections, are brought together by a novice manager. Together they hope to win the new band contest. You’ll recognize the stereotypes if you’ve ever watched an episode of Glee.

But here’s the difference. Each appisode is 6 to 9  minutes  long. Each has its own cliffhanger. Each has its own original score.  Along with the appisode comes three interactive/shared experiences.  You can go into the music studio and create a Karaoke of the original soundtrack . You can head to the Movie Studio and do a camera-view mashup of a scene, or you can go the Design Studio and outfit the 5 talented teens with some customized creations.

Since kids are about as predictable as the weather (certainly they’re both talked about enough) it’s hard to guess how real tweens will discover, like and engage. Me, I find the storyline a bit too precocious and “been there” but I’m no kid TV critic. That said, the company behind the venture, Shaftesbury, is a big entertainment player  in Canada and they’ve been turning out some neat properties.

Watch this one closely.

Available on iOS – first episode is free and the, $4.99 for a season of  content.

• Only 14 percent – one in seven – was tagged for intended school usage.
• The average price of children’s apps has risen by over $1 since 2009, but still is under $2.50.
• 109 different publishers were represented within the sample; 89 of these publishers were not represented in the sample two years ago.

Much like the early days of CD ROMs, the marketplace is glutted by entries in the toddler arena – some better than others. The irony of a device that was created with their parent as the audience, and having so much content for toddlers was not lost on the audience.

For more on the study read this piece on the Huffington Post.

“Makes Me Want to Have a Baby” is how one women described the Origami stroller to a room full of people at the Last Gadget Standing Competition at CES.  This stroller is so incredibly high-tech, I’d love to own one just for the sake of opening and closing it all day long.  It’s touted as the first “power-folding stroller” that with “a touch of a button, folds itself”. It also has lights, an LCD screen, and best of all, a generator that recharges itself while you walk.  And while functionality is high, so is style.  The stroller is offered in a variety of fun colors, from hot pink to striking blue.  Find more information at http://www.shop4moms.com

Vinci , a complete learning system tablet for toddlers, announced at last year’s CES returned to announce  a “little vinci” – iPhone sized unit, for half the price.  The Mini tablet will cut the price in half.  Vinci’s focus is on leveraging technology to create a curriculum for kids with clear objective. The company’s CEO has often said that “every child should play their way into Harvard”. An Android with a touch screen, built in camera and WiFi comes with software that teaches everything from colors and shapes, to emotional thinking, to math and music. Priced from $379

Fuhu is a clever Android based device with a 7 inch screen. Designed for a slightly older child, the Fuhu comes preloaded with  Netflix and Angry Birds, both hits for the primary school kids. It has a book reader, pre-loaded music, gobs of math problems, and higher end features including HDMI out , USB, audio out for headphones and a camera.  An Ask Mom button sanctions buying when your child asks.  And Fuhu costs under $200.  Read what the Hollywood Reporter said.

Playbase  Go is another Android tablet with a clean simple design just for kids.  It too has a 7 inch capacitive touch screen and plenty of storage and RAM. The special protective covers for the unit come in various colors and actually convert to a book stand type cover. It’s got a built in camera and comes with its own version of special software including . Of the various devices, it’s capable of showing 3D  and is built to take a beating but still thin and light. Read the Pocketlint review.

LeapPad, introduced this fall is a $99 educational experience from Leapfrog.  LeapPad has quite a few features for the price , a built in camera, creativity like an art tablet, a music player, games, books and more.  The big difference between it and the other devices is that you can’t just download any apps.  The apps must be downloaded by connecting the tablet via USB to a PC and going to the Leapfrog site. Still, it’s tried and true content and was one of the most sought after products this holiday season.  See the live video from CES.

The PlayStation Vita is really a different beast, developed to take play to the next level.  It’s got more of everything: not just one, but two capacitive touch surfaces on both the top and the bottom of the mobile device. It’s got the traditional PlayStation dual analog stick controls, WiFi, 3D and front and back cameras.  This makes it an incredibly diverse game play experience – one that can grow with your child.  Demo games include augmented reality and lovely hi definition games.  See what USA Today had to say about the Vita demos at CES.

Finally, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC XO3)  is a totally redesigned tablet version of the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child that relies on a touch screen rather than a keyboard ). A Linux based device that runs open source games and programs, and a scaled down version of Wikipedia called Wikipedia slices, OLPC is being used mostly in developing countries to provide equal access to computing power. The focus of OLPC, a project of MIT and Nicolas Negroponte is to provide an environment where you can build your own games, explore source code for your applications, create and surf the web. There’s even a hand crank feature to generate power for the machine. Every feature, including a very special looking interface shaped like a spiral begs for exploration. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9675748.stm