Granted, we should all encourage our children to spend time outdoors with things that involve the senses and exploration… BUT these days our children do embrace technology and I have been pleasantly surprised with the our Webkinz experience. My mother discovered these cute plush toys at a local gift shop in her state and brought one home for each of the children during our visit. Little did we know that the stuffed animal was just the tip of the iceburg. My 7 yr old embraced the online experience. He has learned to create rooms for his cocker spaniel, to clothe him and bathe him and to feed him. He has learned how much certain things cost… because in Webkinz World you start off with Kinzcash and must earn more by playing fun and educational arcade and trivia games to earn more “cash”. SO he has played and earned cash in order to purchase a special bed or toy for his pet. He has learned to take him to the doctor and to communicate with him. My son really enjoys playing with other pets online…. he has learned such games as go fish, rock paper scissors, checkers, a version of COnnect 4 called LInkD… and many other games. He has learned how to cook by looking up recipes and writing down the ingredients, going to the food shop and purchasing those ingredients… mixing them together on his stove and feeding it to his pet. The trivia section has very age appropriate and educational subjects on art, science, math, etc. Everything is very friendly. You can chat with other pets and owners and visit their houses but the chat involves selecting very benign preprogrammed statements so there’s no “bad stuff” coming in. Plus in games like word scramble I noticed that they knock out typing in any “bad words”. My nephews who are ages 11 and 13 enjoy it and its’ a nice way for my son to play over the long distance with them. I find there is educational and life skill values here with this. Plus the pets are not very expensive when you consider how much is there on the computer to do once you log in. I don’t know if the membership expires or requires renewal after a period of time. That would be one thing to check but at these prices it’s still worth it.