Virtual worlds are really continuing to grow in popularity and there are now platforms available for people of all ages and all interests.

My son is 6. And smart. A little too smart for his own good sometimes. I’m happy for him to watch me when I pop into Second Life. I’m happy for him to sit with me and watch as I build, give me his feedback and even help. If there was a version of Second Life for the under 13s, would I let him join. HELL NO.

That’s not because I don’t believe the platform has any value. Because I do! I’ve said it before (and you’re getting sick of hearing it, I’m sure)… Second Life is a creative collaboration tool with unrivalled potential. But I wouldn’t let my son take part without supervision.

However, it was only a matter of time until he approached me about Second Life… I’ve noticed his interest growing as he’s watched me build. This morning, he asked, “Dad? Can I get a cartoon person in Second Life as well? One of my own?”

I explained to him, honestly, that Second Life is for over 18s and that the one that is for under 18s is for 13 year olds and over.

“Well which games can I play then?”

That was a question I didn’t have an answer to and so I took to some research. It seems that when it comes to virtual world, there’s plenty for teens and not as many for children. The virtual worlds for kids that do exist tend to be educational (no bad thing) but my lad’s a bright one and rather more advanced than his age would suggest. He wasn’t amused by some of the elementary level virtual worlds out there.

However, we finally found a few that we’ll try out – he’s enthusiastic. So for any parents out there in a similar situation, here’s a few I’ve come across. I don’t know much else about them at present, as we’ve only been looking today and he’s not yet had chance to try them out. But here they are anyway….

Virtual Worlds for Children

Action Allstars

A sports based game for children aged 6 – 14. There’s various sports themed games that can be played and the platform shares sports news too. There’s team games and of course kids in this game can make friends too. This is one that my boy is particularly keen on trying out.

Xivio

This is perhaps the one I have come across that is the most like Second Life. Xivio apparently has its own currency. They reckon the average age of the members is 8. Kids can shop, make friends, customise their avatars and their apartments. They can also collect items within the world. What I like about this one is the fact that there are a number of visible ‘guardians’ in Xivio, who screen uploaded material and essentially mute/ban/warn members for any behaviour that is against the ToS. I think that level of presence of adults who are maintaining the safety of the virtual world environment for children is reassuring. I’ll keep you informed about this one as my son gets into it.

Poptropica

This one boasts 76 million registered members…. I’d never heard of it until I started researching today, however. What’s more impressive is the fact it’s clocked up that number of members in just 3 short years. It wasonly launched in 2007. It offers kids the opportunity to communicate, read and learn online, compete in games etc.They say the average age of children in there is 9. My lad seems less enthusiastic about this one for some reason.

Franktown Rocks

This is apparently an educational, music based virtual world. There’s not much info about it available on the site to be honest and as my son has yet to try this, but it certainly sounds like something a bit different.

EcoBuddies

A virtual world designed to educate children aged 5 to 12 about green and environmental issues. That’s all I know at the moment.

Those are the ones that my son will be trying… though I limit is computer time quite tightly and insist we do more outdoor activities than anything else, so it will  probably be a while unti he has tried them all. However, I cannot realistically use Second Life and try to tell him then that he cannot use virtual worlds. So of course there’s been the lecture about keeping safe online and he promises me “I know, Dad. I’m not stupid.”

That’s me told, then.

Tags: virtual worlds for children
Categories: Second Life

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 at 7:03 pm and is filed under Second Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.