Neopets: A Virtual Pet Site for Kids

I recently did a review of one of my daughter's favorite sites-Webkinz. Neopets is her second favorite site. Neopets, like Webkinz, is a virtual pet site for kids. There are many ways kids can use these sites and learn at the same time. Most of the time, they don't even recognize they are learning. Here is what I discovered when working with my daughter on Neopets:

First, Neopets lets you sign up and pick your pet. It is totally free to do. Webkinz makes you buy a stuffed animal pet and then gives you a code to use online. So in a sense it costs you the price of the stuffed animal. There are currently over 138 million Neopet owners.

Second, there are over 13 lands you can take your Neopet to and go exploring. Pick your land and then choose your destination on that land from the map. I went to Faerieland and then clicked on the bookshop. The amount of money you have to spend is displayed along with the inflation rate. Then I went back to Faerieland and clicked on The Wheel of Excitement. I won 89 neopoints. There are numerous things you can do at Faerieland, and like I said it is 1 of 13 lands available to visit.

Third, there are so many games you can play it would take me all day to list them here. Some of the topics include: sports games, educational games, card games, puzzles, quizzes, board games, classic arcade games, luck/chance games, adventure, showcase games, strategy, word games, and more. Basically there is a game for just about anybody.

Fourth, you can participate in auctions. These list just like Ebay. It shows the item you want to auction off, how much time is left to bid, and the current price for the item. I thought this was a great way to get kids to understand Ebay for the future without them actually loosing any money.

Fifth, sign-up for your own bank account at the National Neopian Bank. You are told you will get the best interest rates in town along with 30 free points for signing up. The signup form is much like you would find an adults. It asks your name, your neopets address (not your real address), your current employment, your annual salary, account type, and how much you want to make your initial deposit. I think this is a great idea to teach kids early about banking.

There is so much you can do on these sites that it will take your kids quite some time to learn how to navigate around and explore all aspects of the site. I do think this site is a little more advanced than Webkinz in what kids will understand. I would recommend this site for kids age 10-15.