New Web site is emoticon central for kids

How do you like your emoticon? Smiling? Quizzical? Screaming?

Mindspark's SmileyCentral.com, which provides the smiley faces that grace the e-mails and online correspondence of more than 9 million unique monthly users, has created a free Web site for children and tweens.

SmileyCentralStudio.com, geared to the age 13-and-under crowd, allows users to create custom emoticons, save them and then e-mail them to friends and family. Or they can use them to create online greeting cards, invitations, calendars and computer wallpaper.

Amelia Herdrich, marketing director for Techno Source, which is partnering with Mindspark to create toys featuring some of the licensed emoticons, said the children's site has seen steady growth and is picking up about 1,000 users a day.

"It's been a good response, considering we haven't been up very long (since late July)," she said.

The concept is simple enough. Users start with a smiley head and can choose from more than 50 colors. The eyes, mouths, hands, feet, hair and accessories can be mixed and matched.

Then, art tools such as Draw, Spray Paint, Paint Roller, Stencil and Spin Art may be used to customize and individualize the emoticon.

Already, there are more than 50,000 smiles posted on SmileyCentralStudio.com's gallery, according to Ms. Herdrich.

"It's been interesting to see how creative the kids have been," she said.

Since smiley faces don't have noses, Ms. Herdrich said, the most interesting posts have added icons such as hearts and flowers to complete the face of their posted emoticon.

The toys, including collectible plush, bobblers, figurines and charms, began appearing in Target stores this month ($4.99-$9.99), she said. In addition to allowing children to express their favorite emotion, the items feature a secret code to unlock premium content such as smiley accessories and new online tools.