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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 5, age appropriate for kids over 8; suggested age 8.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Chart chores; play in a safe virtual world.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 8 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Life skills -- and accountability -- are promoted through the chores and tasks.

  • Messages:

    Promoting healthy habits and being responsible is definitely the goal here, although kids can roll their eyes or show an angry face to other users in HandiLand.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    No violence here, though some Cool Cat costumes offer weapon props (swords, knife claws, nunchucks).

  • Sex:

    Not an issue.

  • Language:

    Preset chat phrases, so no bad stuff gets through.

  • Consumerism:

    Keys ($1-$20 in real cash) to unlock HandiLand stuff are for sale on the site and link to Amazon to buy and some ads will appear on printed charts. HandiPoints are earned to buy real stuff (CDs, toys, iPods) through the site; Bonus Points are used to buy virtual stuff (clothes for an avatar, furniture).

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About HandiPoints

Parents need to know that this site's purpose is to help families create task charts as well as track and reward kids for doing their chores or doing something positive like not using bad language. Parents can join for free with a username, password, first/last name, and email; kid accounts only require a name for their "cool cat" avatar and a password. Kids input their progress and receive two kinds of points: HandiPoints (saved to buy stuff in the real world) and Bonus Points (used in HandiLand, the site's virtual world). The chat feature uses preset phrases so kids are unlikely to be snubbed via chat, but like in any virtual world, kids can be mean by simply ignoring another user. Keys ($1-$20) to unlock HandiLand stuff are for sale from Amazon; some ads will appear on printed charts.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the tasks required to keep their home happy and healthy and which are considered kid chores. Would keeping a weekly chart help your family? Is using the computer as both a tracking system and a reward system a practical way for your family to communicate about chores? Would earning points for an online virtual world increase motivation for completing chores?
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