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Animal Jam takes place in a fictional world known as “Jamaa,” containing nature-preserve type communities and cartoon player-created animals. Players can create an animal avatar with an invented name, such as "Twinkle DesertMonkey", dress it up with virtual clothing, and control it in the gameplay environment.
For my own animal avatar, I selected a rabbit, and named my character "Tranquil FrillyNinja."

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I crossed a small bridge and entered the land of “Appondale”. Animated animals, such as a Golden Mole and a Guinea Fowl, walked across the screen. If I clicked on the animal, an information window opened with the animal’s name and habits explained. These informational tidbits  were also collected in a Journey Book that is located in the game’s UI screen.

I then clicked on a small flag and was invited to a Masterpiece Gallery party, which I accepted and had the chance to interact with other players.

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Once I made my way back to the center of Jamaa Township, there were several paths I could lead my avatar along by clicking with my mouse. The World Map, an icon on the right side of the game UI screen, shows the gameworlds that are included in the free version: Jamaa Township, Kimbara, Temple of Zios, Crystal Sands, Crystal Reef, Deep Blue, Bahari Bay, Kani Cove, Coral Canyons, Sarepia Forest, Mt. Shiveer, and Appondale.

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The environments are incredibly interactive, and a player can spend many, many hours exploring all the features. To show an example of a game rewards screen:

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My impression of Animal Jam is extremely positive. National Geographic has created a wonderfully immersive MMO for children, and has made it interesting enough for us older people too!

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This picture shows Tranquil FrillyNinja entering her newly decorated den. Activities that occur in dens include chatting with other players, adopting pets, playing mini-games, buying furniture and clothing with gems and diamonds, attending parties, and leaving to go on RPG-style (role playing game style) adventures.

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My entrance into “Jamaa Township,” the center of the MMO world:

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My entrance into “Jamaa Township,” the center of the MMO world:

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Many in-game nature facts and activities.

Kids learn about eco-systems as they explore mountains, caves and waterways.

There is great opportunity for interaction among players, as long as the tools used support a safe, structured environment.

Kids are introduced to virtual worlds in a play-oriented way.

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One parent complained on a forum that the game was too addictive, and she was unable to get her child to do anything else but play it!

Another parent warned not to turn on the “full chat” mode, keep it more controlled with the bubble chat option. Her child was being exposed to swear words and inappropriate suggestions by the other “full chat” users.

Sadly, some interactions with other players were completely inappropriate and had sexual innuendos. It sounded like a creep got onto the site and parents went on the Internet to warn others. I didn’t experience one instance of this while playing, but the safest way to bring an MMO like this into a classroom would be to turn on all parental controls and turn off all chat functions.

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National Geographic’s Animal Jam is a massively multiplayer online game/virtual world that launched in 2010. The game currently has more than 70 million registered players,and is one of the fastest-growing online children's MMOs. Animal Jam is free to play, while it also offers a paid membership feature, where members gain access to exclusive dens, adoptable pets, additional animal characters, and more game-world adventures.

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Wikipedia Animal Jam introduction, retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Animal_Jam
Common Sense Media review of Animal Jam, retrieved from: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/animal-jam
Animal Jam site URL: https://www.animaljam.com/

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Animal Jam is associated with National Geographic’s Kids magazine. It would be easy to see lesson plans created where the magazine articles and the eco-friendly information on the site are  used as complimentary teaching tools.

Animal Jam is a virtual world/MMO environment that has millions of users. This game would offer many opportunities to teach cybersecurity, cyberethics, and cybersafety to students.

Introducing students to collaborative work, while engaging in settings that are not possible in the real world, are possible in an adaptive, virtual world.