Webkinz - Toy Review

Webkinz

Webkinz for kids all ages!

My daughter received her first Webkinz over six months ago. She thought it was a cute stuffed animal, but having just turned six she did not understand the new world she was being introduced to (I certainly did not).

In a word, Webkinz is wonderful. My daughter and I registered her kitten two months ago. We took the tag and logged onto the Webkinz website and created her user name and her password. My daughter proceeded to choose a name and gender for her stuffed animal and start her online life.

The object of the game: is to take care of your adopted stuff animal(s). Owners are given Kinzcash to buy pet food and items for your pet's room. Webkinz owners can spend time decorating their pets rooms, feeding them, gardening, chatting with other friends, or playing games and quizzes.

Every time your child signs in to Webkinz they have options on how to spend their online time. They can play games, enter contests, or answer trivia questions- after selecting their age range or level of difficulty. When the child logs into the website and goes to their pets room they are shown a little picture of their pet with symbols that let them know how happy, hungry, or healthy their pet is. It also let's them see the last time they visited their pet.

Why parents love Webkinz:

Children learn to take responsibility for something other than themselves
Parents can monitor what their kids are doing on the site
It's a safe activity children can do with their best friends together or securely via Kinzchat and Kinzchat cell
It makes for a great reward and incentive for doing homework, chores and for good behavior
The Webkinz website has a great parent area that offers a large variety of topics on safety, learning tools, parent chat rooms, and tons more
It is fun to see children of all ages (adults, too) taking turns playing games and caring for the Webkinz pets
Children are encouraged to read the Webkinz daily newspaper for the latest and greatest information

More about Webkinz around the Web:

Webkinz - Wikipedia

About the Author: The "Toy Guru" is Odette Cabrera, a mother of two with a background in education and child development, and a very personal interest in toys that are fun, challenging and educational.