• Why ZooKazoo?
• Safety First: How does ZooKazoo protect my child?
• What age should my child be to enjoy ZooKazoo?
• What do you mean by "hang out" and "have fun"?
• What do you mean by "make their world a better place"?
• Why does it cost money to be a member at ZooKazoo and what does that buy my child?
• Who are "We"?
• Is all this time well spent?
• Contact Us

Why ZooKazoo?

ZooKazoo is an online environment of imaginary and adventurous destinations where children can safely hang out, have fun, and even make their world a better place. That’s a simple sentence but it contains several important ideas. Click on the questions to the left for further explanation.

More and more children, and ever-younger children, are spending enormous amounts of time on the Internet. Many children spend more time on the World Wide Web than they do watching television. Why? The Internet today is not only interactive but also very social. You can choose where you want to go AND you can communicate in a great many forms with friends you know well and new friends you have met only online. That’s great if the destinations that children frequent are safe, healthy, enlightening and uplifting, but that’s not always the case. That is why we are committed to building and maintaining ZooKazoo.

As parents ourselves, we want smart, fun, social, and inspiring experiences for our children, without the constant bombardment of ads or inappropriate messages and images. Above all, we want to know that our children are as safe as they can be. These are the things we care about in the real world, and they are the same things we care about when our children are online.

ZooKazoo is a Proud Participant

Safety first

We want to do everything we can to prevent bullies or criminally irresponsible adults from interfering with children’s experiences. We can do that best when you help us.

Our Responsibility

• We allow only registered users to play on the ZooKazoo site. That requirement applies to children who visit (and can enjoy many aspects of the site) without paying for a membership, as well as to paying members. Since an attempt to register triggers a notification to the parent’s or guardian’s email address, you will be informed before your child is allowed on the site. That email will contain much of this information about safety, about your rights to privacy, and the Terms of Use.
• We prohibit offensive language. ZooKazoo employs technology (a learning text filter) that doesn’t allow most offensive language on the screen. As children type in their messages, the filter catches the most common inappropriate words and their variations before they are displayed and warns their authors to abide by ZooKazoo rules. Depending on the severity of the inappropriate language or behavior, a child will either lose chat ability for a determined length of time or will be suspended from the site.
• We provide a Menu Chat option for very young children or for parents who are really worried about communication between players in online worlds. Menu Chat is a choice a parent or guardian can make when he or she activates a child's account. If Menu Chat is selected, your child will only be able to chat using the messages that are provided in an interactive menu by ZooKazoo. It will be impossible for your child to knowingly or unknowingly respond to requests for any personal information about him or her or about your family.
• We aggressively discourage the exchange of personal information and prohibit anyone from using email to contact children within the site. If we discover a child attempting to share information such as real names, addresses, email addresses or phone numbers, we remind him or her that this is a dangerous practice. We make it impossible for anyone to use any email system to contact children within the site. It IS possible for children to send a pre-prepared postcard about the site to any friend for whom they have an email address.
• We do not allow totally private communications between two users within the site. All messages within ZooKazoo are visible to the entire ZooKazoo community at the time the message is written.
• We make it easy for children on the site to report bullying or inappropriate conversations. Children can simply click the offender’s Zelf (their screen image), then click the button that appears. This action alerts ZooKazoo’s adult monitors. Monitors zero in on what the reported individual is doing and either send a warning or remove the offender from the site (for a specified time or even permanently). Our adult monitors are available 24 hours a day and are always scanning samples of user communication from the site. Anyone who is permanently removed for violating ZooKazoo’s safety rules is not entitled to any refund of membership fees. There are no exceptions.
• We store the parent or guardian email address that is entered by you at the time of registration. We will use this address ONLY to inform you about changes in ZooKazoo’s policies; new features in the ZooKazoo site; and, most definitely, any infraction of a ZooKazoo rule that leads to a warning to your child or to the dismissal of your child’s site privileges. And this leads to how you can help us maintain ZooKazoo as the safest destination for children on the Web.

No matter how careful ZooKazoo staff members are, we cannot guarantee absolute safety for your child when he or she is on our site. Other children and criminals can be devious and find ways around our safeguards. Just as when your child is outdoors, at a friend’s house, or on the way to school, his or her safety continues to depend on your vigilance. We ask that you use this same vigilance for your child’s activities when in the virtual world.

• You should review ZooKazoo’s three simple rules with your child at the time of registration. The rules are there to protect your child. Explain to him or her why these rules are so important — especially about sharing any personal information with anyone on the site. Our very simple rules are:
1. Respect other players and treat them as you would want to be treated.
2. Do not use offensive language or discuss offensive topics.
3. Do not, under any circumstance, share your real name, address, phone number or email addresses with anyone on the site.
• If you receive communication from ZooKazoo staff about a problem involving your child, you should discuss the note with your child and encourage proper behavior.
• You should supervise their play on the site. Ask who is on their buddy list (a list of friends within the world with whom your child communicates). Ask interested, friendly questions about what your child is doing on the site. Visit and become familiar with ZooKazoo yourself.

With your help, we can minimize the chance that your child will experience anything negative within ZooKazoo and maximize his or her fun. If you have suggestions for more that we can do, or more that parents and guardians can do, please let us know! You can always email us at hello@ZooKazoo.com.

What age should my child be?

We have designed the site with children 6 to 12 years old in mind. We know that younger brothers and sisters may come along with their older siblings, and we think they, too, will find activities that are fun. Children who can read and write will be able to make the most of ZooKazoo.

Hang out and have fun

Children love to play with other children who are about their age and with whom they share interests. This is obvious in school, sports, clubs, camps, and your own backyard. This is equally true in the online world. Inside ZooKazoo, children can easily locate their real-world friends who are playing on the site and they can also meet new friends.

When children "hang out" on ZooKazoo, they travel around the site in the form of animated Zelfs (such as robots, fairies, aliens, animals, or many others the child can choose). They type or select messages for other Zelfs on the screen and can see what they write back. Children can participate in constructive single-user activities or multi-player games that require cooperation with other players for success. Moreover, they can contribute their own ideas for new worlds, characters, games, or other activities within ZooKazoo. The best of these ideas ZooKazoo will adopt and publish, enabling children to create articles, art, and music for themselves or to share through contests on the site. The emphasis in all of these activities is "fun," but we also guarantee their quality and positive, constructive nature. We believe socializing and creative play lead to learning. There will be some of that, too.

Make their world a better place

We do not use the phrase "make their world a better place" in any specific religious, metaphysical, or political sense. We simply have observed that children in their pre-adolescent years can demonstrate enormous concern for the less fortunate in the world, or the environment, or endangered species, or many other causes that, well, aim to make the world a better place. Children can and do have real impact when they are actively engaged in helping to solve real problems about which they care.

Beyond all the pursuits that are purely fun, you see in ZooKazoo opportunities for children to make positive differences in their world. They can express their concerns or ideas for solutions through creative projects, or by competing in a variety of ways to benefit their favorite cause or charity. To this end, ZooKazoo makes real-world cash contributions on a quarterly basis as determined by children on the site. Save an animal? Plant a tree? Protect the rainforest? Wouldn’t some of these kinds of outcomes be great while kids are, at the same time, having a great time? ZooKazoo really does beat TV.

Why does it cost money?

We want ZooKazoo to be a terrific place for children. By charging a minimal membership fee, we are able to keep the site completely free of advertisements and product placements (these are common means of income for other children’s sites). At the same time, we can maintain and constantly improve ZooKazoo and pay the artists, writers, game builders, and safety monitors who are working hard to provide great experiences for your child. We want to be in business a long time. We think a nominal fee for membership will allow that while preserving the quality of ZooKazoo for your child.

Remember every player on ZooKazoo has to be registered. Your child, even before becoming a member, will be able to travel throughout ZooKazoo, converse with other players, and play games. But beyond that, membership brings additional privileges. Included in the monthly membership fee are options such as owning, building and outfitting a tree house or condo; dressing up and gearing up Zelfs; voting on where ZooKazoo should send its charitable contributions; and many other enhancements of your child’s experiences and his or her opportunities to play, create, and contribute.

Who are "We"?

At the leadership level we are parents and grandparents, a team with decades of experience in creating constructive (and fun) experiences for children. Our backgrounds are in education, game design and implementation, and technology. We have a vested interest in making ZooKazoo successful. We want the site for our own children and grandchildren, and for friends’ children.

At the production level we are artists and writers, designers and programmers, technology specialists, support people, and safety monitors. Together we are a tour de force in children’s entertainment!

John Kim, Founder Mr. Kim has extensive experience in corporate strategy and development and in direct investments. He has managed investments for both hedge funds and private equity funds. Prior to his investment experience, he was involved in strategic planning at major media companies including the Walt Disney Company and Sony Pictures where he was responsible for new business initiatives in the home video division, including diversification into video game distribution in nine countries. Mr. Kim received his A.B. in Economics from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Kim has three children, ages five, eight, and ten. Although they complain about the daily focus group around the family table, his children continue to provide the inspiration for ZooKazoo.

David Dwyer, Founder Most recently, Dr. Dwyer was the Chief Academic Officer and Vice President for content development at Apex Learning, a leading producer of web-based digital curriculum for high school students. He was Vice President of the Education Enterprise Group at Computer Curriculum Corporation, a division of Simon and Schuster. He worked over 12 years at Apple Computer, first as Distinguished Scientist for Education and then as Director of Educational Technology. He was a classroom science teacher for 11 years and was twice recognized as an Outstanding Secondary Educator of America. Dr. Dwyer received his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a father of identical twin daughters and a grandfather of three lively preschoolers.

Sherry Gunther, Founder Ms. Gunther spent the past twenty years producing some of television’s biggest animated hits and feature release classics, including "The Simpsons," "Rugrats," and the "Family Guy." She also executive produced "The Powerpuff Girls" and "Dexter’s Laboratory." She has served as a high-ranking executive at the largest animation studios, including Fox, Warner Brothers, Disney, and Hanna Barbera. She has received numerous awards including two Emmy Awards and a Cable Ace Award. Ms. Gunther received her B.S. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and will receive her M.B.A. from the University of Southern California.

Michael Carter, Chief Playwright Dr. Carter is Co-Principal Investigator on a three year ethnographic study of "Kids’ Informal Learning and Digital Media," a managing editor for the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning, and Director of Special Projects for the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE). Throughout his career he has focused on applying technology to learning: shaping the curriculum that Oxford, Stanford, and Yale delivered to their alumni online; creating courses with faculty from leading business schools for corporate knowledge communities; and directing education research at Apple. His academic career includes professing European history at Dartmouth and directing Academic Systems Development at Stanford. Dr. Carter received his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Is this time well spent?

ZooKazoo is a place where kids can pretend. They can take on different appearances and personalities from a cast of imaginative Zelfs. Through the eyes of these alter egos, they explore ZooKazoo’s worlds and find games, adventures, and lots and lots of friends. They can change their characters from day to day or game to game and experiment with lots of ways to express themselves and play and work with others.

Time well spent? Would you consider reading and writing, playing at art and music, gaining small motor and coordination skills, and solving puzzles through thought and memory time well spent?

Would you consider learning about cooperation and collaboration, practicing personal responsibility and fair play, building knowledge of, and compassion for, endangered animals, plants, and lands time well spent?

Or, how about learning to reach out to those in the U.S. or abroad who may be less fortunate or the victims of natural disasters?

These are the curriculums hidden behind all the fun in ZooKazoo. It’s all about healthy personal and social development — not in any heavy-handed way — but through plain and simple fun, challenge, and the joy of learning and helping others.