Webkinz Clearance

Today, children are beginning to wade into the waters of social networking as soon as their little fingers can type, exploring digital communities, many of them designed primarily to feed their fascination with such toys. New sites launch ever, addressing an audience younger and younger.

KINDERGARTEN by the age of the Little School

Emphasis is placed on the common video game and earn points to buy virtual things, rather than socialization. There are messages with friends, but most sites allow young children to post messages using predefined phrases or words from a generic dictionary very limited. Children can not share personal information like home address. Among the most popular:

Webkinz.com: Free for one year with the purchase of a toy or Lil'Kinz Webkinz. Owners feeding and clothing digital versions of their plush "animals" and play games to earn virtual KinzCash. "They can play games against other children or take quizzes designed for players ages 5 +. They are rewarded for spending time on the site, so you may need to impose time limits. Security-wise, children can not type messages that go beyond the selected sentences unless a parent approves their access to the "KinzChat PLUS" region. In this area (recommended for ages 10 +), children can use words from a dictionary site.

Clubpenguin.com: This very popular Disney-owned site charges a fee (about $ 5 per month, depending on the plan you choose). Children are represented by penguin avatars rather than images of themselves. By playing the game, they earn virtual money to clothe and accessorize their penguins and decorate their igloos. They may send to other penguins a buddy invitation "to visit their igloo, cat using predetermined sentences, unless they obtain permission from parents to freely discuss and sending postcards between things. (They can also rolled up each other!) Designed for children 6-14, but open to all ages.

MIDDLE AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Scallyroo.com : free, designed for teens and tweens 8-15 years. As Webkinz ClubPenguin and it is extremely safe and has elements that involve the parent company. Scallyroo takes a different approach to all others. This site seeks to better connect parents to their children in an online world, by providing tools that bridge their communications. The children can set goals with their parents can buy in a responsible manner with parental control and share calendar events with friends and family. In fact, parents can even peer into the profile of their child and help them manage their account, such as acceptance or rejection of requests from friends and monitor their daily agenda. Scallyroo takes a more academic approach and its tools with other schools and may be useful for younger and older because it addresses a broader age range. This site really strikes a balance between what is cool for kids and parents want that to the extent that online safety is concerned.

Young teens AND BEYOND

MySpace and Facebook was once the realm of college students and adults, but high school and even college kids have discovered. Facebook is now open to anyone 13 years and the minimum age is 14 on MySpace. Sound far? Your children may already be seeing the brothers and sisters of their older friends to use these sites, or they may even have doctored their date of birth to register! If you're not using them, learn about them.

Both sites offer great freedom to write words, images, audio and video. So the first step is to talk with your children about the importance of not sharing personal information with strangers, not the display of photos that could embarrass themselves or their friends, and steering clear of cyber-bullying . But the spirit of risk.