Why Are Webkinz So Popular?

If you’ve seen the Webkinz and Lil Kinz pets, you may understand that they’re as popular now as Beanie Babies were a few years ago, or even more popular. But unless you hang out with kids a lot, you may not know that the stuffed animals are only one part of the Webkinz craze. Webkinz World, the virtual playground for Webkinz pets and their owners, is the other part of the equation.

Webkinz are adorable stuffed toys. Adults, as well as kids, love the little pets, and find them extremely cute. That’s a big part of the appeal. They’re very fun to collect, they’re all unique, and they are cuddly and sweet, which makes them very lovable.

But when you ask a ten-year-old why she loves Webkinz so much, she’s likely to say something like, “It’s like taking care of a real pet.” She’s referring to the online community Webkinz World, where Webkinz owners adopt their pets into the virtual world and interact with their pets, their friends, and their friends’ pets.

Every Webkinz comes with a special “secret code” that the owner enters in the website to adopt the pet. This gives kids virtual copies of all their pets in Webkinz World, as well as rooms for their pets, pet clothing, pet furniture, and cool virtual stuff for themselves. Each pet comes with different items, and there are special items for the Pet of the Month.

Webkinz owners can also “buy” virtual stuff for their pets online, by earning Webkinz money. They get this virtual spending cash by playing games, answering quizzes and doing other fun activities on Webkinz World. They can then spend this “cash” in the World, and upgrade their pets’ environment, clothing, and so forth.

The catch is that while kids think they’re just having fun in Webkinz World, there’s more to it than that. When they read Webkinz News to find out what’s going on in Webkinz World, they’re actually reading, which many kids won’t do in the real world. They use logic and math skills, as well as other knowledge skills, in taking quizzes and doing other activities.

And in learning to interact with their pets and friends, they’re building their social skills, as well as learning to type and get around in an online environment.

Of course, the kids don’t know it’s educational; they just think it’s a whole lot of fun, and want to spend as much time doing the activities on Webkinz as possible. And as online activity goes, this is right up there with the best of it.

Parents may wonder if Webkinz World is safe. Ganz, the folks behind the website, have put so many filters in place to protect kids that it is virtually impossible for anyone to say anything inappropriate. Exchanging contact information is also nearly impossible.

Webkinz offers a combination of fun, loveable, soft stuffed animals to play with in the real world, and a great interactive website. Kids love the animals as much as the website, and with the combination of the two, Webkinz is extremely popular with the younger set.