Neopets – Your go-to Place for Virtual Pet Games

Every Christmas, my kids would ask Santa for a puppy or, failing that, a kitty. Or a feathered pal at the very least. Only an exceptionally hard-hearted Santa would fail to be moved by their pleas for a pet but a small apartment isn’t exactly the best place to house a menagerie.

But things changed when they discovered Neopets – a website devoted to virtual pet games - and the joys of caring for a host of furry friends online. My kids’ digital pets require feeding, grooming, playtime, walks and all the things that real animals need in order to thrive. But they don’t poop in the kitchen or chew the carpet ragged, nor do they require expensive vaccinations and we can take a vacation without worrying about finding a pet sitter. If that sounds like bliss, perhaps you’d like to check out this awesome virtual pet games site for your little gamers.

Courtesy - http://www.neopets.com/

About Neopets

Neopets has been around since 1997 and is one of the most popular virtual pet sites on the internet. It has everything a pet lover could ask for – cool games, pet stores, a fun Neopets community where you can hang out with other pet lovers and an entire virtual world where you can indulge your love for cute and cuddly creatures.

Neopets is a virtual world where all kinds of strange-looking creatures (a.k.a. Neopets) are up for adoption. Neopets resemble unicorns, dogs, cats, snakes and other familiar and not-so-familiar creatures. Registered users can foster up to 3 different pets, care for them, play games and build a home for them, fight with other pets, run a shop, solve puzzles, play the stock market, join a guild, get a job and do loads of other fun things.

There are absolutely no expectations about what you should do on Neopets and that’s what’s so appealing about the website. My five year old loves to decorate her cat’s pretty home while my entrepreneurial ten year old would rather spend time running a pet store and making Neopoints. Occasionally, both love to shop for clothes, books and furniture when they’ve racked up enough NPs. Neopets looks like it was designed for kids but you’ll find people of all ages, from college students to grandparents playing on it.

Neopets has a variety of games and most of them are suitable for kids of all ages. Some of the virtual pet games, however, have betting, gambling, lottery and virtual stock trading, so you might want to monitor your child’s screen time. Another thing you should be aware of is that the Neopets community attracts hackers and scammers so make sure your child is careful when talking to strangers.

Other than that, Neopets is really a wonderful place if you love pets but can’t have one for any reason. 

Travel and Kids

SIA A380-800 Interior Panorama by Mads Bodker

A lot of families hesitate to travel internationally with kids. They are afraid kids will find the food unpalatable, they might fall ill or that it might be plain unsafe. Any one of these reasons would make the trip unpleasant for the adults. 

The pros for traveling with kids far outweigh the cons. Kids can learn:

• to appreciate other cultures and people
• to be tolerant of occasional discomfort, which makes them more adaptive
• they learn to handle long journeys where one cannot do whatever one wants to do
• they learn to adapt to new food and ways
• they learn to communicate sometimes while not knowing a language very well
• many a time kids help adults in looking up maps and information, which helps them learn map reading and sourcing information via timetable, boards or asking at counters
• when a plan falls through, they learn to adapt and move on
• while looking at museums or other such sights, they learn about history at the place it was made
• on seeing ancient buildings kids can comprehend how man has grown over time
• the flora of other countries helps kids understand how food on our table is from someplace very far away

Interestingly it is getting quite common for families to go on multigenerational trips. Three generations travel together and do a bit of everything that members of the group like. It is also a great time to bond with family. 

Kids always have a unique view and opinion about places adults travel to. They love some and hate others. At the end of the day the travel shapes them into who they are. 

English Games for Kids

Language is acquired in many ways by younger children – by paying attention to what is being said, by responding, by being exposed to language. But once kids get to school they have to get into the details. For these rules to be absorbed, a sustained effort is required and this means many rounds of practice and drills.

For this reason, English lessons often include activities and worksheets. English games, which give kids adequate practice but in a fun virtual environment, have also gained favor among educators. But can language be learnt via English games? The answer is both yes and no.

“OLPC” by Lizette Greco is licensed under CC BY 2.0

·         Grammar – Often viewed as a dull subject involving many rules, grammar is one area where online games can work magic. They not only provide simple explanations but offer practice as well. They are designed to be entertaining, which makes kids more receptive to learning and practicing the language.

·         Vocabulary – “A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker…If you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.” These words by Henry Hazlitt emphasize the importance of vocabulary. Kids are like sponge and they absorb new words easily. English games to improve vocab and spelling can include puzzles, online board games and more.

“Colors Typing Game” by Peter Pumkin is licensed under CC BY 2.0

·         Reading & Comprehension – With interactive apps in the market, kids can enjoy reading with their help. A larger vocabulary also helps them in these reading activities.

·         Writing – Not all online games help kids write but we do have apps that get kids to practice handwriting and tracing letters.  There are apps that help with the writing process, story structure and building sentences. Online tools like writing prompts and blogs can be used to get kids to practice writing.

“student_ipad_school – 093” by Brad Flickinger is licensed under CC BY 2.0

·         Listening & Speaking – These are two skills that need to be built through active participation and online English games can only take you so far. Activities and offline games are the best way for kids to learn to listen and talk well.

You can make the most of the English games available to teach the basics of language like grammar, vocabulary and reading. A sound foundation in this will help kids write, talk and speak better!