My kids were too young to fall into the Webkinz craze. But, with the new Webkinz Jr. educational products and virtual world, designed for children between the ages of 3 and 6, even they can reap the benefits of educational playtime! If you already own Webkinz, the concept will be familiar. With each Webkinz Jr. toy purchase, your child will receive an access code that unlocks content in an virtual world where they can practice navigating online while having fun and learning.

About the Toys: There are currently 6 Ganz plush toys to choose from, a brown puppy, pink puppy, blue puppy, brown monkey, purple monkey and orange kitty. I received the blue puppy to review. He is so much bigger than traditional Webkinz, making him more cuddly! He measures approximately 17 inches long. His eyes are embroidered on, no buttons that can fall off. One of his paws has a Rainblow Webkinz Jr. logo on it. He has a tag on his front leg, enclosed in plastic, that has the Webkinz Jr. Pet Code inclosed. You can use the Webkinz Jr Store Locator to find a Webkinz Jr near you . I found Webkinz Jr online at Amazon, with prices ranging from $21 to $40. I would say the average prices was $29.99.

About the Site: The site is relatively new, since it just launched in April 2009.  I love the Webkinz Jr. site, since I can log in, set the activities to my son’s skill level and I have management over the account. There are characters that help guide your child through the site – and there is so much to explore! In this virtual world there are many places to go and things to see at “Home”, “School”, the “Park” and the “Caring Center”.

My son is pretty savvy with computers and technology, so his learning curve was pretty quick with WebKinz Jr’s site. He loved it and I definitely will need to get him his own laptop to play, or I’ll never be able to  update theMomBuzz.com! Without a doubt, it’s a safe online environment that my son can imagine, create and learn. If I want to take it one step further, I can purchase a Deluxe membership that would send me  detailed reports about my son’s progress along with even more fun and games! And this site has already won an award from Children’s Technology Review for Excellence in Design.

OVERALL: As the holiday season approaches, Webkinz Jr. pets are a fun, educational, and affordable gift for a whole year of online fun. Not only are these plush toys soft and cuddly, they provide your child with the online skills that will prepare them for school. Overall, they are a buzzworthy find!

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

One Buzz Reader will win a WebKinz Plush

MANDATORY ENTRY: Post a comment here telling us which Webkinz Plush your child would love to cuddle! (brown puppy, pink puppy, blue puppy, brown monkey, purple monkey or orange kitty)

EXTRA ENTRIES:
To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must fulfill the first REQUIRED entry. But for extra entries, you can do the following – leave a comment for each:

• Add ErinTales to your Twitter and Tweet the contest. Leave your Tweet Link. (1 tweet per day is allowed)
• Blog about the contest – add a link to the Mom Buzz and the Sponsor
• Place the Mom Buzz Button (Right Hand Sidebar) onto your site OR add the Mom Buzz Feed to your Blogroll (Feed: http://www.themombuzz.com/feed/)

• Send a Free E-Card from Kraft – 10 Meals will be donated to Feeding America! (Let me know for an extra entry!)
• Where would you go to buy your WebKinz Plush? Check the store locator and let me know what’s by you! (http://storelocator.webkinzjr.com/html/locations/)
• Leave a valid comment on the Very Merry Disney Party Post!

Contest ends 12/31/09. This is open to the USA and Canada. Please refer to complete contest rules. The entries listed above are the ONLY entries for this contest. Winners will be notified by e-mail (if supplied in the entry or on profile page), as well as on the Winner’s Wall.

This is solely the opinion of the Mom Buzz. Other people may have different experiences with the product. And don’t forget to enter my other hot contests so you can win and try buzzworthy products! The Mom Buzz received the Blue Webkinz Jr Puppy for review.