Episode 43: The Zigazoo App: The Tik Tok for kids with an educational twist!

The new Zigazoo app is the new Tik Tok for kids!! Sneak in a bit of education & help your kids connect with friends without safety & screen time concerns.

 

For more info on the scavenger hunts I mention, check it out at THIS LINK! 

 

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FULL TRANSCRIPTION:

Speaker 1 (00:00):

It is the thing that drives the kiddo in your life to say, Oh my God, I need this right now. Is it alive in your house? Alive and well, the thing I'm talking about is called FOMO F O M O fear of missing out it's so, so huge with our kids right now, especially if they have friends who are allowed to do more than they are when it comes to having a device phone, all the different things. So today we are going to talk about one way that you can fight back against FOMO when it comes to one of the most popular apps out there that so, so, so many parents are allowing their kids to have at very young ages without realizing the risk. So stay

Speaker 2 (00:47):

Welcome to your source for tips, tools, and support to help you be that mom that is tuned in and proactive for yourself, your family, and for the wild ride of raising kids in this digital age, inspired by a mother's love with a relatable, real life. Proud to be that mom flair. This is the bead that mom movement with your host Dolly Denson. Okay. So I have to tell you that

Speaker 1 (01:14):

Most didn't record this episode today because it is the week of Christmas. If you're listening to this in real time, maybe you'll hear it before Christmas, maybe not, but you know, the good old closet that I record in, well, the closet has become a Christmas present storage facility. And I had presents piled up on my little chair and desk and everything else that I have set up in my little makeshift recording studio in here. And so I came in here and I was like, Oh my God, it's just like crazy. So I cleared a path and I cleared off my desk and I'm sitting here in my cozy little closet, again, recording this episode. But what I wanted to share with you today is something that I think that you might really be interested in. If you have a younger kiddos, maybe you have an older child that who's has already been introduced to the phone thing.

Speaker 1 (02:04):

And then you have this younger one that is watching things going on and wants so badly to have these things that their older sibling has, or maybe your kiddo has friends who have been given a phone because their parents don't know all the risks and all of the things, totally no judgment there because I was one of those parents. And if I could only go back, but it is such a strong thing, the fear of missing out and what it entails when it comes to our kids, feeling like they are missing out with all the digital things. But before we get to that, let me just say, if you didn't already check it out, check out what I mentioned. And I believe my last episode about a virtual scavenger hunt that your family can do in your hometown. They actually have multiple different settings where you can purchase this scavenger hunt and go out into the real world and find different things that they have highlighted in the scavenger hunt.

Speaker 1 (03:01):

I'll put the link in the show notes. I shared about it, I believe in my last episode, but it's a great way for you to do something with your family that is off of screens and off of all of the scenes up and active and out in the world and getting vitamin D from the sun and just spending quality face-to-face in side-by-side time together doing something that will create memories and all of the things. So check out the link in my show notes. It is a great, great, great option for an extra little gift for Christmas or birthdays or whatever. Okay. So check it out. Okay. So the thing that I want to talk about today is an app that you can consider using. And this is always, you should always use these in conjunction with your kids. Don't just let your kids have access to it without exploring it yourself and making sure it is okay in your mind, in your eyes and with your values and all of the things to let your kid have access to. But this app is something that is kind of like a, a safer tick talk app. I had to make sure that came out right, because I've talked about the tick talk watch, and then the tick talk app. And it's all kind of spinning in my head. And I apparently can't speak well with those particular words. But this app is called the Zig Azu Zig Azu app, Z I G a Z O O. It is an app that is set up very much like tech talk, but is geared toward younger kids.

Speaker 3 (04:27):

It is an app that is supposed to be more educational and to do less of like the algorithm. Let me just show you things and, you know, just having anybody and everybody accessible to our kids and vice versa, it is actually created by a group of parents in the U S and teachers as well that want to give families and educators tools that they need to make screen time like smarter, safer, and more social without it like being a police that controls them or a police where it determines their, you know, their thoughts and their life and what they think of themselves, all of the things around self-esteem and things like that. So the app is set up to where you can have like a private channel that is for your family or for a classroom, if you're a teacher, and then it is set up to where you can subscribe to different channels that can be educational.

Speaker 3 (05:28):

Like there's some channels that are a zoo that puts out information, or has a video about a certain animal and education about that. And then ask a question and your kid can video themselves answering that question and post it to that channel in to that question. So it's a way for them to kind of interact in an educational way and it not just be like, you know, mindlessly scrolling and also them not being shown things based on how they interact, because we know that that is like a, what do I want to say? A rabbit hole that we all go down when we're on social media, you know, where all of a sudden we are scrolling along and we see something and then it takes us to something else and something else. And before we know it, we don't even know why we got on the app, you know, or we don't know why we get on the app.

 

Speaker 3 (06:15):

It's like pointless scrolling just to see what's going on in the world. But this is a way for them to interact with this app in an educational way that, you know, doesn't control them so much. Now I will say that looking at it, I wish there were more settings for safety and privacy and things like that because I get on and I can look at a channel and I can see all of the kids that have posted videos. I don't know that there's any like innate danger to that. There's no GPS tracking or anything like that with the app that I can tell. But at the same time, I would feel better if my kid was interacting and it would be a private video, but I don't know if that is necessarily something that can be set up with the nature of the app. But I really like how you can set up classrooms.

Speaker 3 (06:59):

You can set up like family pods and things like that, so that you are more in control of what they are doing, what they're posting, what they're consuming. And then also that there are educational things on here. Like I'm just looking at the different educational channels that they have right now. They have the Philadelphia zoo, the center of science and industry, the tech interactive museum, Glazer children's museum, the American Federation of teachers, the Phoenix zoo lit world, the Grammy nominated alphabet rockers, the Grammy nominated Brady Reimer, and then sweet farm and beings in pot. So the different channel options. So it's really kind of a cool app that you might want to consider as something that your kiddo can use a younger kiddo and use it on your phone. You know, not like I'm not suggesting, like get them their own phone and put this app on there.

Speaker 3 (07:51):

Of course, if it's geared toward younger kiddos would be something that they would use on your phone or your tablet or something to that effect, but it's smarter screen time activity and gives them something to do. That's similar to all those social media stuff, but much less risky and dangerous and impactful in, you know, all of the things. So highly, highly recommend you check it out and connect with me. If you have any questions, suggestions, any of your own insight on this app, if you've already used it, or you're a teacher I'd love to hear from you on that. Of course, I love feedback for anything and am looking for new ways to share information on this podcast. So always open to suggestions, but if you need support in this area, connect with me on social media, connect with me in my email, dolly@dollydenson.com, keep listening to the podcast.

Speaker 3 (08:43):

And if you're able to support the podcast by any of the sponsored information that I share with a scavenger hunt, with the pinwheel phone, with bark, all of those things help me to keep producing this information and being able to come to you with it. In addition to all the other things I have going on in my life, but highly, highly appreciate your support and love your feedback. I would love to see you in my, be that mom community. I have one currently on Facebook. I don't know how things are going to go in the next couple of months with that, but it is a large community on there. We're there to support moms in this whole path of raising kids in the digital age. And then I also have a channel on telegram. If you would like to subscribe to that. Telegram is a messenger app, similar to Facebook messenger, but it's not connected to any social media, what you do on there.

Speaker 3 (09:31):

Isn't tracked, you know, like on Facebook messenger, if you converse with a certain person, then when you go to Facebook, you will see their posts more. And if you talk about certain things and suddenly you'll see ads on Facebook related to those things. So telegram is just another way to get information without it being tracked through one of these large social media platforms. So I have made a channel on there. I don't have very many followers right now, but if I do get followers on there, I will be sharing more information on a regular basis, just like I do on my social media platforms. Okay. So hope this was helpful. And please let me know if you use this app and how your kids like it. If there's any pros or cons that I didn't mention, I'd love to hear from you. I can share it in a future episode. If it's something that you think needs to be shared and added to what I have shared here, okay. Hope you have a Merry Merry Christmas. If you were listening to this before Christmas gets to us, I hope that you have joyous and restful holiday season and that you find some peace and joy in this time of the year with your family and the things that matter most in your life. Okay. Thanks so much. Chat with you next.

Speaker 2 (10:41):

Thanks for tuning in being that mom isn't easy, but together we can be that mom strong. Don't forget to leave a review, connect on social and join Dolly's free community till next time.