We made these videos for an internal KidConfidence project, however parents (you) may find these informal write-ups and video clips about Club Penguin, Webkinz, Whyville and Neopets interesting as well. Take a look:

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CLUB PENGUIN
Club Penguin is an online game developed by New Horizon Interactive, which was bought by Disney for 700Million Dollars.

Using cartoon penguin avatars, players can walk around, chat, play minigames with or against other members, and participate in other activities such as environment puzzles in a snow-covered virtual world.

After beta-testing, Club Penguin was made available to the general public on October 24, 2005 and has today an estimated 800,000 paid subscribers and 14 million activated users, primarily in the U.S. and Canada.
Club Penguin shares similarities with (more…)

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Here is a great article about Webkinz in Knowledge @ Wharton. If you are a parent and are trying to figure out what Webkinz is all about, and wondering if it is ok for your kids to play, you should read this. It contains perspectives from parents with a variety of backgrounds including college professors and an educational psychologist. It also contains some nice vignettes of families and what the kids find to be so interesting about the Webkinz phenomenon. If you are curious about Webkinz, it’s well worth a read!

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Google just released the “Fastest Rising Search Terms” for 2007 and guess what? Children’s video games occupied two of the top 10. Webkinz and Club Penguin were the second and sixth fastest rising search terms on Google in 2007. I’ve played both of these games with my daughters, and found them to be safe, positive learning environments for them. And best of all, they are truly “fun” games.

Hmm…. I wonder if Video Games are becoming mainstream!?

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My kids, ages 5 and 8, continue to be fascinated by Webkinz. Many of their friends from school also have Webkinz and they are forming a little “community” by meeting each other online, inviting their friends to their virtual “rooms” and playing games together. I just ran across a very nice website called http://www.webkinzhub.com that has some good information for parents to understand how Webkinz works, and also has some tips and tricks for the kids.

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Webkinz are stuffed animals originally released by the Ganz gift company in 2005. The toys are similar to many other small soft toys, however they come with a special code on their labels that allows access to the “Webkinz World” website. Here the player can “adopt” a virtual version of the pet. After adopting, the player is given basic items such as a room, a welcome balloon, a food item, a piece of furniture and 2500 in “Kinzcash”. Kinzcash is the virtual currency of the game. Each pet has levels of happiness, health, and hunger that vary as time is spent with the Webkinz. The stats can be increased by feeding, playing, exercising and bathing the pet. Many of these activities require Kinzcash. Earning Kinzcash involves playing multiple minigames, including quizzes and arcade games. The game requires a lot of reading, we therefore recommend Webkinz for players ages 10 and up or with parent help for the younger ones.

Visit our Webkinz Review Page for Screenshots, Member Reviews and more.

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