I had heard a lot about Webkinz here and there, but it was just recently when my own children started getting into them, and I must say I am completely addicted to their website now, and I am so glad we got into them because we are having fun.
What’s a Webkinz?
Well, a Webkinz is a stuffed animal made by Ganz, and it is anywhere from 6 to 8 inches tall, and they come in every animal imaginable. Frogs, cats, horses, dogs, and just about anything else. Not only does Webkinz offer stuffed animals, but they also offer trading cards, charm bracelets, charms, body spray, and bookmarks. Prices for the stuffed animals run in the $12 range, and the charms for the charm bracelet run about $3.99.
When you get any of the Webkinz stuff, you’ll get a code inside the package. When logging onto www.webkinz.com, you’ll enter the code and adopt your pet. Mrs. Birdy will help you name your pet, and then your pet will get its own room, with a welcome balloon, piece of furniture, some food, and 2,000 in Kinzcash. Now, when you use the codes on any of the other stuff, you’ll get other items, such as with the charms you’ll get a virtual charm of the same one you have that your pet can wear, and the trading cards usually have some Kinzcash with them.
What’s Kinzcash?
Well, Kinzcash is the ‘money’ you’ll use to buy your pet things in the W-shop. You can buy it clothes, paint for its room, furniture, food, toys, games, and you can even buy more rooms once you have enough money. We recently bought our Webkinz another room for $500 in Kinzcash, for the smallest room. That room we made into a bathroom and bought the Yorkie we have a pink toilet to which it said "I'm so glad you bought me a toilet."
How do you get Kinzcash? Like I mentioned earlier, you get 2,000 in Kinzcash when you open your account, but you can play the various games on the site to collect more money. The games are pretty fun on there, and there are plenty to choose from- the particular one I am addicted to myself is called Stack ‘Em Up Solitare, where you stack up cards that is either one above or one below the card on the deck. There are some sure fire win games such as the Wheel of Wow, where you can spin once a day and you can win something- something for your pet’s room, something for it to eat, or Kinzcash.
You need to keep your pet healthy as well, and down at the corner of the screen you'll see three little meters that you look at to tell how its feeling. You can interact with your pet by 'speaking' to it by selecting something from a drop down menu like: "how are you feeling?" and your pet will answer you. Your pet will also cheer you on as you play games.
You'll notice that your pet gets hungry a lot. You'll need to feed it at least once a day, and you want to make sure before your kid logs out of Webkinz to put the pet to bed, or else next time you log in you'll have a sick pet- but you can take your pet to Dr. Quack and get it back to proper health.
Your pet can also enroll in courses at Webkinz University, for $50 in Kinzcash, and your pet gets a little report card after you play various games at the University, and it can collect badges as well.
Some of the games are a little more educational than others, for example there are quizzes where you can win Kinzcash that ask questions based on age, and for the younger 5&6 group, they will ask rhyming words. But at least with all the games your kids are practicing computer skills.
Experience:
I was kind of concerned about this site, but it really is nice. With a lot of the other sites I let my kids play on, there were a bunch of pop ups and it was easy to get off the site, but with Webkinz, there are no pop ups, or any way to get off onto another advertisement.
All in all, I like Webkinz a lot, at least my kids are practicing their computer skills, and there is a lot to do that they don’t get bored- so many games, and other stuff to do. I would highly recommend Webkinz.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 12.95 perpet Type of Toy: Stuffed Toy
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