Webkinz.com Review

As a teacher for 17 years and a mom of an active 8-year-old, I really recommend Webkinz.com.  There are so many opportunities to practice reading skills. They have story books that you can buy and read online as well as a newspaper.

 They have a great section called Quizzy's Corner where kids can earn Webkinz cash for answering questions.  The categories are by ages and include the following subject matter:  Math, The Arts, Social Studies, Health, Language, and Science.  For example, one of the Science questions for ages 7-8 was, "What does the word 'endangered' mean?"  It gives four multiple choice possible answers.  Another reason I love this so much is that my school district recently went with a computerized math and reading assessment that we give to our students 3X a year.  This was the first year my son took it [second grade] and when I asked how he thought he did, he said, "It was no problem, mom, it was just like Webkinz."  Pretty cool!

The stuffed animals that you buy have the access code so that you can play with your pet in their virtual world.  They are high quality and offer a tangible pet for imaginative play.  They are also very reasonably priced, usually under $15.00.  Get a manatee, dolphin or a fish and you automatically get an underwater room, talk about fun!

I also like Webkinz because it teaches responsibility.  If you feed you pet nothing but junk food, it will get sick. You can't go on vacation or buy things if you don't have the money saved.  If you spend all your money, you have to earn more.  If you don't take care of your garden, it dies.  Natural consequences that transfer to the real world.

I do recommend limiting computer time for any child, but Webkinz is a great and safe place to spend that time.