Webkinz Jr. (www.webkinzjr.com)
© 2009 Ganz
Designed specifically for preschoolers, Webkinz Jr. (www.webkinzjr.com) contains excellent games -- on par with more expensive sites like JumpStart World or MyNoggin. In some cases, they’re better, especially considering the parental controls that let you tailor the experience to your child. For example, if your child is more adept at finding the geometric shapes in one game, but can’t yet tell the difference between an upper and lower case letter in another, you can adjust the games accordingly. Other games introduce musical instruments, plus there are drills for memory, counting, and an introduction to the number line. There’s also a letter and number of the day, and a once-per-day chance to spin a roulette wheel to “show your pet you care.” If you try for a second spin, you’re told to come back for five more days in a row, to win a special hat, borrowing a tried and true behavioral conditioning technique straight from the casino. The price of admission is a plush animal about a third larger than a traditional Beanie Baby, with a proportionally higher price of about $18. Each comes with a password good for one year of access to an online playground stocked with a dozen well-designed games. Parents, be warned. Children soon figure out that they can add more $18 pets to their account, and then switch between their animals. In other words, Webkinz Jr. collecting can be expensive, just as regular Webkinz has become (one of our test families owns 113 Webkinz, at $10 each. You do the math). A demo can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXK7y8rehDs.
$20, Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site, Smart Toy
Teaches: math, reading, logic, memory
CTR Rating: 94%