Publishers of many major children’s Web sites should do a better job disclosing sales and advertising information to parents, especially as more kids at younger ages go online to play and meet friends, says a study released today by Consumer Reports WebWatch and the Mediatech Foundation of Flemington, N.J.

For the study, parents in 10 families used video cameras to keep journals, providing insights into the way children use sites such as Club Penguin, Webkinz, Nick Jr., Barbie.com and others. Footage from those journals, which can be viewed at www.youtube.com/cwwkids, illustrates how young children respond to advertising and marketing tactics online.

The study, "Like Taking Candy from a Baby: How Young Children Interact with Online Environments," used ethnographic methods and focused on young children, ages 2½ to 8. It can be found in its entirety online at: www.consumerwebwatch.org/pdfs/kidsonline.pdf

This study used ethnographic methodology and cannot be considered representative of any whole population. A total of 15 children participated in the study from ten families, all residing in Hunterdon County, New Jersey -- six girls and nine boys, ranging in age from 2 years 9 months, to 8 years 3 months, with the mean age just under 5 ½ years (5.36 years).

Among the report's key findings: Children as young as 2 ½ years of age are able to go online; the most popular young children’s sites are moderately to heavily commercialized; and the games we observed vary widely in quality and in educational value.

Further, Web sites frequently tantalize children, presenting enticing options and even threats that their online creations will become inaccessible unless a purchase is made; some sites show attractive options that invite a click, but lead to a registration form instead; and some sell a child’s prior experience – a room they’ve built for a virtual pet, for instance – back to them, using statements such as, "If you cancel your membership, then your belongings will go into storage and will be automatically retrieved when you re-subscribe."

Finally, most sites we observed promote the idea of consumerism. The most common technique uses a reward-for-work basis, awarding "points, coins or dollars" for success and achievement that can then be used to "buy" items such as clothing, makeup, big-screen TVs or other accessories for virtual pets or avatars.

The sites reviewed in the study include:

-AddictingGames
-BarbieGirls.com
-Beanie Babies 2.0
-Bratz.com
-Club Penguin
-EverythingGirl.com
-Hasbro MonkeyBarTV
-JETIX
-LEGO.com
-Littlest Pet Shop VIPs
-Millsberry.com
-MushABelly
-MyePets.com
-NickJr.com
-NOGGIN
-PBS KIDS
-Sesame Workshop
-Shining Stars
-Stardoll
-Ty Girlz
-Webkinz World