As a Mother, I want to set my sons up for success.  One way I try to do this with Jeffrey is through playing, “school”.  I’ll buy those educational workbooks targeted for his age and try to make a game out of it.  My son loves playing games.  But no matter what I’ve tried, he’s really just not into those workbooks.  He’ll start a page and then get bored quickly.

I’ve turned to the computer for solutions.  If it’s on the computer, even if it’s educational, he seems to enjoy it a lot longer.

So when I was asked to review Wonder Rotunda, a virtual educational theme park, I was interested.

Set on an island in New York Harbor, the Wonder Rotunda features fifteen interactive and animated adventures covering an array of topics including rain-forests, animal wildlife, marine life, climate change, the human body, money and business, American government, nutrition, filmmaking, classical music, the visual and performing arts, space exploration, making a difference in the world, and globalization. Each adventure takes about 15-25 minutes to experience, depending on how often a child chooses to probe for additional layers of information.

The Wonder Rotunda was conceived and developed by Eric Garfinkel, founder of the classic toy company, Back to Basics Toys. As a dad of four, Garfinkel wanted to create something that replicated the sparks of inspiration he and many others experienced as kids visiting the 1964-65 N.Y. World’s Fair.

Garfinkel says “Our mission is to get kids thinking about our world, finding things that they’re interested in, or passionate about, and exploring how they might make their mark some day. What matters is stimulating a child’s curiosity and sparking new interests.  When they have interests and passions, youngsters feel good about themselves and have a zest for life.”

The game is designed for kids 7-12, so along with my son, I invited my Godson who is 8 years old to play.

They immediately got excited when at the start, they got to choose and design their own avatars.  Each ride was not only an adventure but a miniature lesson in different subjects including the human body, the wonders of the ocean and space.

My favorite game was the Big Smoothie stand.  In this game, they allow kids to go into business for themselves creating and selling smoothies.  Not only do they teach you how to make the smoothie, they also teach kids about profits and how it’s calculated.  I say your never too early to learn about profits and how to handle your expenses to achieve the most profit.

During each ride, kids can follow along on their checklist to determine what subjects they’ve covered so far.  At the end of each adventure, kids get rewarded with a certificate of achievement.  Then if they feel lucky, they can test what they’ve learned through a Game Show that quizzes them with the objective of earning points.

My Godson and son were both having fun without even realizing the education they were getting.

My only critique was that I would have loved to see an option to return to where you left off in each adventure.  My son had to stop playing in the middle of a ride and couldn’t return to where he left off.  He had to start from the beginning and was a little discouraged.  But other than that, this is a great fun way for parents to teach their children.  In fact, as I’m writing this, Jeffrey saw the photos and is now constantly asking me if he could play.

A one year unlimited access pass to the Park is $45. Passes can be renewed annually for $35.