By Courtney Phillips

The fun, educational opportunities awaiting you in virtual worlds isn’t just limited to adults. Parents may be concerned about the safety and security of their children online, so here are 25 safe places for kids to play online. Kid-friendly and kid-only virtual worlds are available in almost every niche, from fashion to pirates to sports. Read on for more of these safe, fun and educational virtual worlds for kids and teens.

Younger Kids

Younger kids will enjoy losing themselves in virtual worlds that feature pirate ships, adventure worlds, the Wild West, and more.

1. Tootsville: Customize your little Toot, kind of like an avatar, to make friends, play games, shop and more.
2. Neopets: Neopets is an internationally-used virtual world and game site for kids. The world of Neopia has updates on "world events," features a Neopian pound, and more.
3. Puzzle Pirates: Kids can learn strategy, meet friends, find sunken treasure and do other pirate-y things in this virtual world. Pirate ships are full of other players to work and play with and battle other ships.
4. Bang! Howdy: Bang! Howdy is a "fast-paced tactical strategy" platform that features worlds like Frontier Town and Indian Trading Post for kids to play games, meet friends, and develop critical thinking skills.
5. Whirled: Whirled is full of cute and crazy characters and features a virtual networking world with games and arcades. Top games include Corpse Craft and Bella Bingo, and players can even create their own rooms to invite friends over, decorate and just hang out.
6. Disney’s ToonTown online: Create your own space, collect Disney icons and widgets, play games, earn badges, go on Disney-themed adventures, and more. From the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana to Phineas and Ferb to Pirates of the Caribbean, all the Disney favorites can be found here.
7. Mokitown: Mokitown is a virtual world by MobileKids. Members are called Mokis and explore their own city together, learning about traffic safety, playing games, discovering geography and more. Mobility Points are earned and then cashed in for cool stuff you can do or buy around town. Kids can chat, send postcards, invite friends and more.
8. Lulilab: Formerly Playdo, Lulilab lets kids and teens explore their creative side in a virtual worlds like Spine World, where players can travel, explore, chat and build their own communities. Lulilab has won awards for its graphics and community, and players can create their own home pages, upload their own artwork, play with artistic online tools and more.
9. Nicktropolis: Nicktropolis boasts over 8.6 million citizens, who actively surf, skateboard, snowboard, play games, create avatars and meet friends. It’s sponsored by Nickelodeon, so you know it’s kid friendly.
10. BarbieGirls: This girls-only hangout lets kids create their avatar, play games, experiment with fashion, go to lunch with their friends, communicate via BChat and more.
11. Handipoints: Younger kids can enter the world of HandiLand to adopt their own cat and watch movies. An upgraded membership lets kids play with furniture, clothes, play newer games and more.

Teens and Tweens

Introduce your teens and tweens to these virtual worlds, that let you open up your own fashion boutique, hang out with friends on the beach, decorate their own rooms, and more.

12. Whyville: Whyville lets kids create their own animated avatar. The virtual world is for kids only and lets them visit the Greek Theater for special community events, hang out with friends at the beach, write for the local paper and start up a business.
13. Vanguard Saga of Heroes: This highly addictive game from Sony features a community, advanced character search, very organized game stats and rankings, fan club and more.
14. World of Warcraft: Anyone who’s into World of Warcraft will tell you that this is more than just a game. It’s an entire virtual world where building characters, upholding reputations and understanding the whole history of World of Warcraft borders on the obsessive.
15. SecondLife: SecondLife is a sophisticated community of virtual worlds that even caters to whole institutions, training programs, educational facilities and businesses. Individuals, including teens, can also create their own identity and meet other members, experiment with jobs, go on vacation, hang out with friends, and more.
16. Why Robbie Rocks: Turn your avatar into a serious fashionista with Why Robbie Rocks. You can get dressed in logo and band t-shirts, dresses, awesome shoes, and different hairstyles and beauty products. Players can also open up their own shop and save their avatar for icons on their blogs and other social media sites. Why Robbie Rocks also features fashion contests and a concept store, which highlights new designers.
17. Habbo: Habbo is a virtual world for teens that currently has over 4,700 members. Bond with friends over favorite TV shows, bands, and more.
18. The Sims 2: The Sims 2 is immensely popular and addicting and has all kinds of societies, communities, games and opportunities for meeting friends and experimenting with lifestyles and future dreams. You can download cool cars, exile yourself to Ying-Yang Island, download music, send postcards and more.
19. Cybertown: Cybertown is a place for teens to get a taste of life on their own, but way cooler. Set up your own home with a virtual pet, get a virtual job, attend awesome concerts and clubs, listen to music, and even set up your private messages and inbox.
20. The Palace: The Palace is a visual chat platform that lets you create your own avatar and then use it to create your own chat server. You can also create The Palace logos for your website to advertise your avatar and community. Palaces include the Mansion, Kids Nation, Palace in Wonderland, Ocean Boulevard, Haunted Palace, and more.
21. Voodoo Chat: Join Voodoo Chat to take advantage of the graphical chat community with rooms like SinCity Family Room, No Boundaries and MojoMatch Hangout. Players communicate with gestures, animations and sound files, like Bites, which are an audio version of an emoticon.
22. VP Chat: This virtual world has special chat rooms for different ages, where avatars can play Checkers, Battleship, Backgammon, Spades and more. The tournament system makes this world highly addictive, and members earn currency or points in the form of Chat Chits for add-ons and more.
23. Fashion Fantasy Game: Girls can become fashion designers and boutique owners in this virtual community. It’s a free virtual world that features contests, lets you play dress up, dress like a celebrity and design your own clothes.
24. Empire of Sports: Empire of Sports is a sports universe where real-life players compete. Sports include tennis, track and field, football, basketball, skiing and bobsled.
25. There: There is a safe environment for teens to be independent and meet new friends. You can create, start a new fashion line, travel, play paint ball and other games, go to barbeques, visit CosmoGirl Village, and more. For teens 13 and up.

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