Discovering the Wonder Rotunda

As kids become more Internet savvy, parents continually worry about IM predators, social networks and the overwhelming influence of ads. Thankfully, the creator of Wonder Rotunda decided to skip all the things that parents feared most and created a fun and information adventure site that's inspired by the thing that inspired him as a child, the 1964-65 New York World's Fair.

As a father of four in the suburban Washington, DC area, Eric Garfinkel used the Fair as a template to create 13 educational activities for 7-12 year olds.
So how does Wonder Rotunda survive without the ads and commercials that plague the web, each yearly subscription costs $45 dollars to start with a renewal fee of $35 for any continued subscription. That lets kids replay any session whenever they want, tracks when they've completed sessions.

From safari adventures in the Serengeti, conducting an orchestra, controlling the Apollo 11 lunar module, going deep with a submarine and discovering how the digestion system works (yes kids, you too can find out what makes you burp), each Wonder Rotunda adventure takes 15 to 25 minutes to complete with a Cliffnotes style education model that imparts real terminology in an artful environment to players that plays out with movies, how it works descriptions and summaries of the topics and terms discussed. At the end of each session, they'll earn coins called Wonder Dollars that they'll use to buy magic souvenirs along with activities like choosing healthy foods, running a smoothie stand and more.

After playing for a few days and learning about how our bodies work and getting a proper civics lesson in how the three branches of government work, we had a chance to talk to Wonder Rotunda's creator about his work, his intent and why parents will want to add Wonder Rotunda to their child's learning time.

PlaySavvy: How would you best describe Wonder Rotunda to parents who haven't heard about your site before?
Eric Garfinkel: The Wonder Rotunda (WR) is a virtual, educational theme park designed to open the eyes of youngsters to the wonders of our world, much the way world's fairs and expos did for prior generations. Through a balance of game play and educational content, WR is designed to get kids thinking about our world, finding things that they're passionate about, and exploring how they might make their mark some day.

PS: There's an interesting mix of adventures and educational aspects to Wonder Rotunda, including the exploration of the gastro system and how the U.S. government works. How were these adventures chosen?
EG: Some adventures were selected because they provide kids with an exciting learning experience in a place most people never have a chance to visit--- a moonlight safari on Kangaroo Island, a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti, diving the Great Barrier Reef, zip-lining through a rainforest canopy, or climate research at the North Pole.

Other adventures were chosen because they concern topical issues such as global warming, healthy eating/nutrition, American government, globalization or making a difference. We also wanted to cover other topics of interest to kids: the arts, space exploration, the human body/digestion, and business/money.

PS: The game also teaches children about money, can you tell us about how they'll learn that in the game? Do they learn about money management, banking or just basic purchase behaviors?
EG:In the "You're in Business Adventure" kids run their own business inside the WR selling yogurt smoothies. They learn about American currency (who is on the money, security features, and how it is printed and circulated) and explore the elements of running a business such as calculating sales, expenses, and profits. Once kids have made some money running their smoothie stand, they learn about saving it, investing it and giving to good causes.

PS: For $45 a year, players will get access to 13 adventures in an ad-free environment. Say my child completes all 13 in the course of a year; do you plan to add adventures to the mix?
EG:We do plan to expand the Wonder Rotunda over time, although the timing of any additions is uncertain at this point. We just launched last month, so we still have much to learn from the young people and parents who visit the WR before making additions.

With regard to the play value of the WR, in our experience, kids will typically visit an adventure more than once in order to successfully compete on the TV game shows, recover hidden gold coins and earn additional wonder dollars to outfit their Treepods. The 13 game shows are unlocked one at a time as youngsters complete the adventures, and kids earn wonder dollars for correctly answering questions put to them by the host, Mr. Wonder.

PS: Do you have study guides or ways to link players to more detailed information about certain topics?
EG: Currently we do not have study guides available, but if there is interest we will look into providing them in the future. There is a glossary that youngsters can use to look up terms they are not familiar with, or are interested in learning more about. And, there are the "learn more" journals which reinforce concepts explored in the adventures and provide additional details. We chose not to link from the game itself to outside sources (although sources are listed at the end of each adventure), so that parents would be able to exercise control over their children's use of the WR and the internet.

Parents can track a child's activity in the WR through their "my account" (adventure visits, learn more requests and game play) and then follow-up with books or museum visits to further explore topics of interest to their child.

PS: If you have more than one child at home, can each of the children log on as themselves or would they need their own account?
EG: Two children sitting at same the computer using one park pass can enjoy the Wonder Rotunda together. Each time a child enters the Park, he or she is given the option of creating a companion avatar for a friend. (Kids can even create an avatar for a parent).

However, only the Pass Holder's avatar will be able to collect rewards, certificates and Wonder Dollars for his or her account and personal Treepod. Each activated Pass is assigned a password protected user name. Certificates, badges, blimps, wonder dollars, souvenirs and banners are awarded to each personal user name, and saved after each visit to the Park for the duration of a Pass.

PS: While social networks are all the rage today, why did you choose to not include a social network in Wonder Rotunda?
EG: We felt that creating social network opportunities would distract kids from the core goals of the WR-- inspiring kids to think about our world, find things that they're passionate about, and explore how they might make their mark some day.

PS: One thing that we noticed that there might be a more male slant to the activities, have you tested Wonder Rotunda with girls as well?
EG: Our most frequent testers were my 9 year old daughter and her girl friends. The business, space exploration and the animal adventures were among their favorites in the Park. In our tests we found girls and boys were generally attracted to the same mix of adventures.

PS: Any plans to offer a more pre-7 version of the world for younger types or early readers and then ramp up the difficulty as they become older or more proficient?
EG: A pre-7 version is certainly something we will look at as we learn from youngsters and parents in the months ahead. We made the "learn more" journal text an option feature, but not mandatory. Younger kids can skip past the additional information for a faster paced experience and still compete successfully on the game shows.

PS: So do you look like the goatee-d host in the game?
I'm not nearly as cool or good looking as Mr. Wonder -- nor can I fly planes, helicopters, or hot air balloons