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Kerpoof Gets Better!
February 8, 2008

Do you Kerpoof? When I first reviewed Kerpoof.com a few months ago, I was very impressed with the potential for creativity and literacy explorations on the site. With some new additions, this web application is an even better choice of an activity of children in libraries.

The first really big change to note is the addition of groups. These password protected buddy lists allow users to share creations in a safe environment. If you would like to join other librarians exploring the site, you can set up an account and become a part of the Librarians who Kerpoof group. Joining is very simple, just log in with your account and go to Play Kerpoof. Under the My Stuff section, you will find a drop-down menu for groups. Select the Join a Group option and enter the group name "Librarians who Kerpoof" and the password "books". Now you are ready to share!

While on the My Stuff page, you might also want to take a minute to set up your avatar. Kerpoof makes it easy to create a reasonably accurate (if quite younger looking) version of yourself. They also give you the power to go a bit crazy and re-create yourself as a Manga character (it's all in the eyes - go with tiny slit/dot eyes or huge eyes with all pupil) or even a pirate with a patch. You can also change your skin, hair, eyebrows, and clothes on your male or female avatar.

Kerpoof seems to be on the right track for creating a great creativity suite online. It includes many of the aspects of traditional PC based drawing and creativity applications for children, while adding in new social tools. For example, Kerpoof has combined the new groups and their new Super Doodle paint  tool to create a Buddy Draw application that lets two users share a single canvas.

I think that Kerpoof is certainly a site to check out and add to your library's list of fun, safe activities for children.

Posted by Chris Harris on February 8, 2008 | Comments (0)