Ways for a 12 Year Old to Make Money Online

With today's modern technology, online gaming and social networking, many young people are becoming quite tech savvy as the Internet becomes a common hobby among adolescents. Enterprising, computer literate youngsters can turn their hobbies to cash and save their parents a bundle in allowance funds. With minimal adult supervision, you can find several ways for a 12-year-old to make money online.

Children's interests, education and knowledge expand at an accelerated rate in the adolescent stages, and many kids often lose interest in toys, video games, movies and other items while the items still are in good condition. Because kids develop rapidly in these years--and sometimes experience growth spurts--they may have items of clothing that have hardly been worn as well. With a little parental guidance a 12-year-old who is familiar with the Internet can make earn money online by selling gently used items on eBay. Using a parent's account, kids with basic Internet skills can list items, add photos and monitor bids. You'll have to assist your child in shipping items and accepting funds, but the majority of the tasks can be completed by an average 12-year-old.

If your child is whiz at advanced multiplayer Internet games, she can make money selling her online gaming accounts. Many fans of interactive Internet games like "World of Warcraft" or "Lord of the Rings Online" will pay to take over gaming accounts that have reached higher levels. A high level "World of Warcraft" account can fetch up to $200. If your kid is a player of "Second Life" and has a profile that possesses certain coveted items--or can digitally create high-demand items--she can sell her account to enthusiasts of the game right in the gaming site's blog and forum area. Even children's outgrown Webkins gaming accounts can be salvaged for a few bucks if she sells them to parents of youngsters just starting out with the game.

Many market research companies frequently conduct surveys related to children's games, snacks, clothes, toys and a variety of other kid-related products. By signing yourself and your children up with several online survey programs, your kids may find frequent opportunities to earn money filling out surveys with your permission. You can also allow your 12-year-old to fill out surveys in your own account--with your supervision--and pay him yourself like a sub-contractor. According to the MoolaDays website, most online surveys pay anywhere from $1 to $20.

Blogging is an ideal way for 12-year-olds to make money online because a great deal of them are already blogging for a hobby as it is. Kids love the Internet, and correspondingly major search engines love kids. If your child enjoys writing about popular topics among kids and teens, some basic search-enging optimization tutorials, a blog and a good keyword generator can turn her hobby into a valuable canvas for paid advertisers. If she's active in social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter she has an even bigger advantage; drawing more traffic to her blog and increasing her potential advertisement revenue.