When I've written about the sites 'tweens are hanging out on (Webkinz, Club Penguin, Barbie Girls), I've mentioned that part of the "fun" is amassing online currency through games, puzzles, and buying more products. But here's a closer look by the New York Daily News at how kids can accrue money online and then decide how to spend it.

I've been concerned these sites are really slyly (or obviously) designed to teach kids to be consumers early and often. But I suppose it's not much different than accruing enough money to buy Park Place in Monopoly or deciding how to spend your salary in the Game of Life. But kids are playing online games like Webkinz for far more hours than I remember playing board games.

One good thing, Children's Technology Review editor Warren Buckleitner points out in the piece, is that the interactive tools on sites like Webkinz and Club Penguin provide kids with a variety of ways and reasons to save and spend their money. They have more choices in these online worlds than in a board game.

I'm not sure I'm convinced, but the reality is many of our kids are enamored with these sites and spending is at the heart of all of them. So the more we talk to them about real-world money decisions, the better.

LINKS: Webkinz: Big money lessons for little kids [Daily News]
Milking Money From Kids: Selling Toys Both Physical and Virtual [Wired]