A Guide To NeoPets
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All About NeoPet Virtual Pets
Have your children been talking about NeoPets and you have no idea what they are? Here is help to determine if NeoPets are a good thing or bad thing for your child and what NeoPets are.
What Are NeoPets?
NeoPets are virtual pets that you care for while they grow up. They are virtual because they only exist in electronic form. Just like real pets, they need to be cared for.
What's Fun About A Virtual Pet
You may be wondering what is fun about a NeoPet. After all, you can't hold it or pet it but you can have the satisfaction of caring for him and watching him grow, learn and mature. NeoPets also help children learn about the responsibility of having a pet without having a real pet that the parent ends up taking care of if the child fails to nurture it.
Getting An Online NeoPet
You can get a free online NeoPet at NeoPets.com. You will be asked to register at their site, verify your email address with an activation code, and log in. Once you do that you can get your first NeoPet. There are several different types of NeoPets including rabbits, tigers, dragons and many more different types. Once you select your pet type, you can customize it by selecting it's name, color, and personality. Then you will be assigned statistics for your virtual pet such as health, strength and movement. Once you have completed this, you will get a page that congratulates you on the birth of your pet.
What You Do With A NeoPet
You have points to spend to take care of your pet. You can increase your points by playing games and earning them. For more help with your NeoPet refer to the help section. The NeoPet Tutorial is especially helpful.
The Up-Side of NeoPets
- Children learn about earning points (money) and taking care of a pet.
- Children can learn about the stock market, called Neodaq on the NeoPets site.
- Children can learn about html and css by keeping a Web page about their NeoPet.
- Children can learn about spending points wisely and saving points and earning interest on them.
The Down-Side of NeoPets
- Your child may feel bad if they forget to care for their pet and it dies (Neopets don't actually die - they become suspended in a dying state until you go back in and care for them).
- It may be confusing for young children to understand the difference between the real online store for NeoPet merchandise and the purchase points for virtual items.
- Children must spend quite a bit of time online to make their pet thrive.
- It takes quite a bit of time to understand the site and your child will probably ask for help if he or she can't figure it out.
- Children are rewarded with points for playing games, which is not what happens in real-life.
There are many NeoPet sites on the Web. Here are a few that will enhance your NeoPet experience:
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