• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 6, age appropriate for kids over 8; suggested age 8.

• Is it any good?

  4.0

• Common Sense says

  Safe virtual world promotes positive environment.

Why We Rated This for Ages 8 and Up

The good stuff

• Educational value:

  Many of the games test kids ability in problem-solving, math, and social studies.
• Messages:

  Build-a-Bear runs a program called Love, Hugs, Peace that encourages people to pledge love, hugs, or peace to promote fellowship and understanding around the world.

What to watch out for

• Violence:

  Not an issue.
• Sex:

  Not an issue.
• Language:

  Safe chat offers a list of common, friendly phrases; open chat is checked against a list of approved words.
• Consumerism:

  To access all features of the site, users must own a Build-A-Bear. There are some links to the Build-A-Bear product site. Also, kids can collect virtual money and use it to buy clothing, accessories, etc. within the game.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Not an issue.

How safe is it?

• Personal privacy:

  To register, visitors must only provide an email address (under 13, a parent's email address) and name.
• Online interaction:

  There are two chat options: safe chat, which limits users to a pre-approved list of common phrases, and open filtered chat, which checks chat against a dictionary of approved words. (Open chat is only available to users with a Build-A-Bear code.)
• Parental controls:

  Not an issue.

What Parents Need to Know

About BuildABearville

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