Anything that they submit - including essays - goes into a queue and is read by a human moderator before it is posted. They can chat with each other, but they can’t type naughty words. But he adds, “The idea is not to give kids chocolate-covered broccoli.” In this way, the site is built to reassure parents, who can take heart that their kids are learning something while goofing off on the site. The first time your kid hears about King Lear might be through a cartoon character in Secret Builders, Khan said. The idea is to make literature and other educational topics come alive through virtual worlds. He became an entrepreneur, but after he got married and raised three kids, he decided to focus on ways to promote creativity for children. Khan was a math teacher before he went back to school at MIT, where he enjoyed associating with creative writers and literature majors. After a couple of months of testing, the site has 5,000 members in 27 countries - all through word of mouth. The site is the inspiration of Umair Khan, who founded the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company in January 2007. Arianna Huffington (her avatar, to the left) has agreed to publish the winning submission on The Huffington Post on President’s Day. President” contest, in which players submit a photo and extended caption addressed to president-elect Barack Obama about an issue important to them.

10, Secret Builders is launching a “Dear Mr. They may not know it, but they will be painting over a famous piece by a well-known artist. Kids can paint black-and-white pictures by pointing a paint brush with the mouse cursor. But the integration of the learning elements can be clever. Everything on the site is focused on fun first, not education. It seems like age eight is the right target for Secret Builders.

Secretbuilders games