If you aren't familiar, Webkinz are sort of like Beanie Babies with the added feature of an individual computer code included with each animal. You enter this code on their website to "adopt" your new "pet", which creates an avatar-like figure of that pet that you can then play with online. The new "pet" gets "KinzCash", so that it can buy stuff for its "room", play games to "earn" more Cash, or visit common areas to interact with other "pets" (although the chatting ability is highly restricted). It seems pretty addictive. And apparently, it's gotten quite big, with code stealing being a big problem - these things have to be kept behind glass in toy store, and once purchased, there can be no returns. My 8yo daughter got one last Xmas but had only played with it once. Suddenly, this summer she got into it. I figured "cool, a computer thing for girls". But no ... her 6yo little brother instantly wanted one to play with, too. We went to a neighborhood picnic last night, and I casually asked the five other kids there (boys AND girls, all entering 1st thru 5th grades) if any of them had these things. Suddenly, the room was alive with screaming - "oo, I have 9!", etc etc and parents rolling their eyes ("30 minutes at a time is my rule") and horror stories about a kid at a birthday party stealing the code of one that had been given to her son as a present ("and he already had 20 of them!"). Once the code is used, it's impossible to re-use it or switch it to another account. Yikes! Just wondering how widespread this is, and if it'll get even bigger now that school is starting up again.
If you have kids in elementary school, chances are you'll hear of them sooner or later. Well, I guess you have now, thanks to me. I'm still not quite sure if the whole idea is a good thing or a creepy thing. Just googled it: Wild about Webkinz http://www.nj.com/living/expresstimes/index.ssf?/base/living-1/1187238160196990.xml&coll=2 Webkinz is the word http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/Biz/708190468/1013/Biz Webkinz, the Newest Toy Craze http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=89451 and more ...
My youngest (starting second grade this week) received one for her birthday in June, but has been mostly distracted by other things, logging on only a couple of times to give it a whirl this summer. We'll se how this hold up when the winter turns.
My oldest is just starting kindergarten. So now if I get him one, he'll be the Cool One. Is that what you're saying? Excellent. It's a fool proof plan except that we're so darn geeky by nature! I'll keep my eyes open for this, though!
Um, I think its a girl thing - the girls in my sons kindergarten class have them but he wants no part of it.
While it's LARGELY a girl thing, it definitely isn't *just* a girl thing. They DO have animals that some boys might like (tigers, lions, etc), and the on-line activities - games, contests - are definitely engaging for my son. I think, generally speaking, the aspect of being on-line at the same time as your friends and interacting via your pet is more of a girl thing. I was as surprised as anybody that he took to it, but as I said above, when I asked a group of girls AND boys from our neighborhood if they knew anything about it, they ALL were into it.