Get me away from these Webkinz!

January 9, 2009 7:21 PM

What are some brain-building alternatives to Webkinz?

Stepkids are into Webkinz, but I hate the UI, hate that it's nothing but a money sink, hate the whole idea in general. But the kids love it, want their dad to get them one or two so they can play online together when they're not with him.

What are similar online activities? I like the idea of buying them something tangible and then having an online interface. Bonus points if it's educational and not just another dumb commercial kid suck. Extra extra bonus points if the online interface doesn't give you instant retina burn like Webkinz' does.

Kids are 5 and 7, mom is not into promoting dad/kid relationship, so the less adult help needed to navigate the site, the better.

posted by messylissa to computers & internet (14 comments total)

Not being with your dad is hard enough when you're a kid. If Webkinz makes them happy and dad's game, let it be. It's not the best Web site in the free world for kids, but it's harmless. Parent/kid time is what matters, not squeezing maximum educational value from every interaction.

As for the ugly UI, yeah, it's bad but dad's looking at it, not you.

Oh, and at 5 and 7, the kids are old enough to navigate that site just fine without adult help.
posted by _Mona_ at 7:32 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Oh, should have specified, all 4 of us will be playing.

Mom currently tells 5 year old that she's too young to play Webkinz.
posted by messylissa at 7:38 PM on January 9

I'm with you on hating Webkinz. It basically trains your kids to be good little capitalists.

Any other site where you have to buy something to get online (that my daughter has proposed) has been very similar to Webkinz. The educational sites she uses that I approve of the most are http://www.linktolearning.com and http://www.TVOkids.com, although both of those are Ontario-specific. They're still fun though.

Your next big challenge will be convincing your stepkids that they don't need 15 Webkinz. Good luck with that.
posted by Bobby Bittman at 8:30 PM on January 9

The 5 year is probably too young for it, but Puzzle Pirates is a family friendly game and has lots of puzzles mostly of the Bejeweled type, but it's definitely got to be more mentally stimulating than Webkinz (my wife has been addicted to both)
posted by ill3 at 8:32 PM on January 9

My daughter really likes Poptropica.
Funbrain has several educational games.
Maybe tryOrisinal.
posted by Sailormom at 8:57 PM on January 9

I forgot to mention Club Penguin.
posted by Sailormom at 9:03 PM on January 9

Neopets. It has a merch tie-in, and the ads are sometimes annoying, but it's free, and there are tons of games, both educational and challenging. (And as an adult, I enjoy the site myself!)
posted by polyester.lumberjack at 9:23 PM on January 9

Seriously, what they need are some books and some LEGO's.
posted by dunkadunc at 10:19 PM on January 9

Webkinz really isn't that bad. I know it can be annoying for adults but kids love it and I wouldn't say that it is "nothing but a money sink." Yes, there is a huge temptation to continue buying Webkinz after Webkinz but that can happen with other toys, too. Mostly it is a safe place for kids to play a variety of games, many of which are "brain building." There are trivia games, loads of quiz games and -- while I agree rampant consumerism is a bad, bad thing -- there is something to be said for teaching kids that if they want certain things, they have to earn the money (in this case, 'kinz cash) to pay for them.
posted by atropos at 11:06 PM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Pet Society on Facebook is super cute. Dragon Wars there is less cute but pretty addictive, and both are free. Brain building? Lego Mindstorms robot. Or books.
posted by msalt at 1:28 AM on January 10

dunkadunc, I think you missed the part of the question that seemed to indicate a solution that allowed them to play online together, WHEN they are NOT TOGETHER. I don't think lego and books really accomplish that goal very well.

Webkinz may seem like a money suck, but if you consider that for about 12 bucks you get access to a very comprehensive site for a year, I didn't think it was too bad. Compare that to Club Penguin, which, last time I checked, wanted 5 bucks a MONTH to be a member (and my girls certainly found it's not much fun unless you are member) I think Webkinz is a fair deal.

I've seen the online versions of Littlest Pet Shops, Sea Pals, as well as Club Penguin and Webkinz, and I would say that webkinz is the best of the lot. In terms of sites which everyone can log into and play at once that is. It does seem to struggle with multiple users on multiple machines, in one house (i.e. more than one active account coming from one IP address). I have been able to play with my oldest while she was at her grandparents (the ones who keep buying more and more and more toys with online presences) and it's actually kinda fun. Of course, you have said that you don't like it. I doubt that's likely to change, but I thought I'd share that in my experience, there isn't much out there that is better, especially when you consider the being-online-together aspect.
posted by Richat at 6:28 AM on January 10

Be wary of Neopets for younger kids. Lots of corporate sponsorship is annoying, but it's the occasional "April Fool" style jokes that have caused me to no longer recommend it for little ones.

Not sure if they still do these things, but they've done pranks with various effects on pets and accounts that really alarm youngsters. The one I remember most clearly: pets were turned into mutant varieties and a bunch of kids were really wrecked over seeing their beloved pets transformed and then spent their hard-earned points to get paintbrushes to fix it only to find out it's a site-wide change and now they've wasted the points and their pet is still "ugly". I had multiple friends emailing me (at the time, a huge fan of the site and major proponent) to find out if there was a way to fix it. This is one of many types of jokes along those lines, and each time more friends would just decide it wasn't worth the freakouts the kids would have.

I finally ended my many-years run there because of a particularly mean-spirited prank that had a young friend in tears, even after I told her it was probably just a site prank and that it would all be better the next day. She felt that meanness shouldn't be rewarded, and I really couldn't argue with that, to the point that I abandoned my account.
posted by batmonkey at 10:19 AM on January 10

I hate to not have a good answer to your question, but I feel obligated to mention that when they are specifically asking for a particular thing that they already know and use you are probably better of getting them precisely what they want, or something completely unrelated.

Almost the same is NOT the same, and it has the added drawback of saying to them that you are either not interested in, or not capable of, understanding them and their interests. There are lots of ways to get them into non-commercial and/or educational activities. Just don't conflate it with this well-established thing they already know and want to involve dad in.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:47 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]

Moshi Monsters.
posted by lhall at 6:58 AM on January 13