Always Ice Cream TOS Review

Always Icecream 

For Girls ages 7-12


Subscriptions range from Monthly to Lifetime   Prices start at $4.99 a month with the first month only 99 cents. Various subscriptions can be viewed at the Always Icecream website.
Always Icecream also has a free trial available.

The site can be used in both English and German.

Always Icecream is a site for girls blending fun, learning and creativity.  Activities on the site include games for fun and learning enrichment, designing furnishings for their homes and to "sell" in their shops, caring for virtual pets, and conversing with friends on the site.

One of the creative activities featured on Always Icecream allows the user to design furniture items and then "sell" them to other users.  These pieces are used to furnish their virtual homes on the site.

Games on Always Icecream cover the subjects of Language Arts, Math and advanced Math, Science, Geography & History, Music & Arts, Computers (including typing), Foreign Languages, and Christian Education.  Most of the games in all the categories have multiple levels so that users can advance in difficulty as their knowledge increases.

Language Arts games topics include synonyms, homonyms and homophones, and  "Melting Scoops". "Melting Scoops" is a hang man type game where the player has to choose letters to make the word before all the scoops in the ice cream cone have melted. Scoops "melt" or disappear when letters not in the word are guessed. There are several different subject categories from to choose and then words related to that subject are used. There is also a German synonyms game.

Math games include the four basic operations as well as percentages. The subjects in Advanced Math include fraction operations, exponents, simplifying terms and square numbers.

The Science category features a Basic Human Anatomy game, health, dog breeds quiz, and general science quiz available in both English and German.

In Geography and History you will find games that practice the states, state capitals, Presidents, Countries in the major continents, State shapes,North American and Caribbean flags, European capitals, and Geography facts.

The Music and Arts category has games to identify instruments and classical music and composers.

The Computers category provides typing practice games, and internet safety quizzes in both English and German.

The Foreign Language category features games in German and Spanish.  These games focus on vocabulary practice in the individual languages as well as going from one language to another. Like German to English and vice versa, and Spanish to English and the reverse as well as Spanish to German. 

In the Christian Education category you will find quizzes about the Bible, New Testament and Bible verses.

By playing these games, users earn scoops (the currency on Always Icecream) which can be used to purchase and take care of virtual pets, buy homes, and furnishings.

The graph shows how well  taken care of the pet is. Beneath are the options for taking care of the pet and items which have been purchased for pet care. 



Users can also watch a variety of videos:  how to videos teaching skills such as cake decorating and crafts to sports and others just for fun.  You can also find several videos which explain math concepts and procedures. Watching some of these videos is also a method of earning scoops.

In addition to the girls' account, it is possible to activate a parent account and link it to the girls' account. Having a parent account allows the parent to select the type of content which the girl has access to as well as which social features are enabled. Setting up a parent account also allows the parent to award the daughter  scoops for completing specific tasks of the parent's choosing or just because.  Weekly emails detailing activities used and progress are sent to the parent's email address.

 How We Used Always Icecream

My 10 year old daughter loved having the opportunity to learn and play on Always Ice cream. The games were so much fun, it hardly seemed like learning.

This is what she had to say:

"I really like to design furniture because you can design so many ways, but when you put a sticker 

on a line the line goes over it. I like the classical music quiz 

and I'm good at it because I play piano and I play some of those famous songs. "

I really like the large variety of topics available in the games and activities.  There is something for my daughter to do no matter what subject she is interested in that day. I am also pleased that so much of the site is knowledge or character focused, Always Icecream doesn't feature many activities which distract from learning or growing. (I don't mean to imply I don't like or allow my children to play computer games). 

I was also pleasantly surprised to see so many resources available in German on the site.  My husband is fluent in German so it is something which is heard at home and when we attend German language church service. My daughter has picked up some of language this way and playing on Always Icecream has increased her abilities and interest in the German language.

I would be very interested in a similar format for boys as my son has felt very left out.  He loves to use the computer in both educational and learning pursuits but says Always Icecream is too girly for him.

Please see what other TOS Crew members have to say about their experiences with Always Icecream at the Crew Blog.

Disclaimer: I received a free subscription to use for the purposes of writing this review.  I have not been compensated in any other manner.  All opinions expressed here are solely my own.