Webkinz Trading Spaces

My daughters have asked me to tell more details about the following:

My children and I have taken two of our favorite activities and combined them into ONE super fun game that we enjoy so much that we now play it just about once a week. What are these two things? Webkinz and Trading Spaces.

We always start this homemade game when we have at least a couple hours available with no planned Webkinz maintenance downtime (so not close to the scheduled 2:00AM-4:30AM Webkinz time maintenance period). The rules are simple and similar to the television show Trading Spaces and we vary them depending on who we are playing with and how we all want to play.

Here are the basics:

• We trade for a certain length of time.
• Each person/team is given a certain number of rooms they are allowed to touch (usually 2-3). We agree to not touch any other rooms, but they can be looked at.
• Each person/team is allowed to spend a certain amount of money (and NO more unless they earn it).
  
• No one can sell any of the room owner's items, but they can reuse anything in any of the potential rooms.
  
• If there is extra time and/or money, the other rooms can be redecorated/reorganized also.
• The pets have to be kept healthy and happy, even if this means that extra food needs to be purchased during the game.
  

This game works best when we have at least two computers available in the same house, so that passwords aren't shared and everyone can see their houses quickly. I usually act as moderator, going back and forth between teams, seeing how everyone is doing and giving advice if asked.

This is SO much fun for all of us! Even if a person doesn't like their new room, the results and experience have always been good. We often take a "before" and an "after" screen shot, so rooms could potentially be recreated. What I enjoy the most is watching the process of the people involved. It is very interesting to see how the kids (and sometimes adults) work together to create rooms they truly believe the room owner will love. They often base the rooms on what they feel the personality of the pet is, unless the room is a garden, bathroom, family/living/playroom, or kitchen.

We love Webkinz so much we're considering hosting a Webkinz party. This activity would definitely be on our "must do" list.

Webkinz "Helpfulness" and Censorship

My daughters and I are HUGE Webkinz fans. We play on the Webkinz site every single day and we have quite a few pets. These little stuffed animals, and their virtual counterparts, are the best stuffed animals we've ever seen.

All that said, as a person with programming experience, I've been very disappointed with the Webkinz lack of testing. They keep putting out new and potentially exciting virtual products and games that don't work (for example, they just came out with "The Wheel of the Month" -- it never worked for anyone, from all reports). They've also become overly helpful to parents, to the point of being UNhelpful to all involved.

My older daughter had one of the cute Bullfrogs that she wanted to adopt. We were feeling a bit of time pressure to adopt this pet, since the Curio Shop was selling an extremely rare Egyptian item (and we needed the cash from an adoption in order to have enough money to buy it). [We've been building an Egyptian room for our black cat for quite a while now.] My daughter felt (and still feels) that the most perfect name in the world for this sweet little frog was Buttercup (named after "Princess Buttercup" from the awesome Princess Bride movie).

Webkinz, in their quest to save us from ourselves, wouldn't allow the beautiful name Buttercup to be used. It won't allow Butterscotch either (our dream dog name). See the theme? It actually took us a bit. Furthermore, this censorship has caused us to talk about "bad words" a lot more than we normally would. We especially couldn't figure out why our new gorgeous Library room wasn't allowed to be named "Library". Where's the naughty word in that name? We've figured it out, but it took a while... The room is now called the "Book Room" and here is a snapshot of it (my daughter and her friend made it earlier today). Of course, these are only guesses since Webkinz customer support never answers our questions...


Their customer support also leaves most users questioning whether or not it even exists. Their online FAQ and Customer Support within the Webkinz world only have trite answers that have never once been correct for the situations that we have e-mailed them about. I haven't found anyone IRL that has had one of their problems (NOTE: these are customers that are reporting actual bugs, not customers randomly complaining) answered or even acknowledged. It is offensive that they insist that we, the users, are doing something to cause problems when the problems are clearly that the test engineers haven't been given enough time to properly do their jobs. This makes me wonder just how many programmers and computer engineers Ganz has employed for the Webkinz project. Definitely not enough. We customers would much rather have a more stable and reliable game than all the new features and products that keep showing up. Isn't this always the case in software?

Crown of Wonder!

Today was a huge day for us in Webkinz World. After over 6 months of gem hunting, my oldest daughter finally collected the last of the 30 gemstones needed to get a "Crown of Wonder". Here is a picture of Fluff (our Lil' Kinz Lion) wearing the legendary crown. Fluff shares a room with Eshe (our Elephant) and Lumina (our Leopard).

Don't forget to look for leaves during October 20-26th during the Webkinz Fall Festival. We won a maple leaf sweater just a little while ago when we clicked on a floating leaf. Very fun!

Have a Vision: Vision Boards and Vision Boxes

Vision Boards and Vision Boxes are becoming very popular! They are similar to Wish Lists, yet significantly deeper. Vision Boards can encompass not only our material desires, but also our deepest and innermost wishes and dreams such as "more peace" or "a magical existence". With The Law of Attraction and "The Secret" so popular, we're learning that our thoughts and dreams really can come true! We just have to really want them.

My daughters and I have vision boards. We made ours out of cut peg board. We glued cork on different areas of the boards (different for each of us), strung wire on the back, and stained little wooden boxes that we later glued on the boards. We use the cork area for the material things and/or short term events we want (ours are evolving with us). The other area we've mod-podged things that make us feel good -- pictures of things, words, etc. that reflect who we are and who we want to be (I've put lots of calm, zen images on my board; my oldest daughter has lots of magical images; my youngest daughter has gemstones and ballet photos). Basically, we put things on our boards that we want to manifest into our lives. My youngest daughter cleverly hooked a cup onto her board that she fills with little homemade clay items.

Some people choose to make Vision Binders or Boxes where they put photos and magazine words/pictures/items into. We prefer our Boards that hang on the wall, so we can look at them throughout the day. The boards definitely lack the portability of a binder though. I've seen a variety of Vision Boards made out of cardboard, foam board, and other materials. The great thing about these is that there is no set way of making them. It is entirely up to you! Christine Kane wrote a really great "How to Make a Vision Board" blog entry for those interested. Some people even make computer wallpaper Vision Boards for their screen's background. This is a very neat concept!

We enjoy our Vision Boards so much that we held a "Vision Board Day" with our Girl Scout Troop (I'm a Girl Scout Leader for both of my daughters' troops). I've been amazed at the wonderful and creative ideas the girls have had! This also gave us a chance to share our collection of catalogs and magazines. Some of the girls put only words all over their boards, others chose only pictures. One thing is for certain: our boards have to evolve since we keep getting everything we hope and dream for! It is amazing how these things keep appearing in our lives.

With the Holiday Season just around the corner, I'm excited to see the items that are popping up on my daughters' Vision Boards. I know what they'll love to receive and I don't have to ask them.

Don't forget to periodically take photos of your Vision Boards. It is fun to look back over time and see how your dreams have come true!

Webkinz Talk

We speak Webkinz-Ease in our house, that is how greatly Webkinz has embellished our lives.

The Webkinz world is entered by purchasing a cute and lovable stuffed animal made by Ganz that has a tag that contains a special secret code that activates a virtual pet that looks similar to your stuffed friend (my daughter reminds me to tell people to not accidentally purchase a Webkinz stuffed animal that doesn't have a tag, and please do NOT throw away your tag!). Once you own one of these little pets, you are given a room to decorate and a world to explore (complete with games, jobs, and even a Post Office). You are also in charge of feeding your virtual pet so that it doesn't get sick. At all times, the pet has a meter that reads his health, happiness, and hunger level. The range is 0-100, with 100 being the highest.

Our conversations can go something like this:
How hungry are you?
I'm starving, I think I'm at about 60.
Well, I'm at a 75, so I'll make us a snack.

Then later:
I'm about a 95 on my tired level (we've made this category [and others] up), so I think I could stay awake a while longer.
Not me, I'm a 40, I'm going to bed now.

Then, of course, the games and their unique vocabularies have entered our world, too. Once a day, everyone gets a spin on the Wheel of Wow. We, however, call it the Wheel of Mom since WOW is MOM upside down. The wheel spins the word WOW, making it look like MOM. I often hear, "Wow, Mom! Look what we got!"

One of our current favorite activities is to sit and play the games on the (muted) Webkinz site whilst listening to audio books. Our second favorite activity is to play our homemade version of Webkinz Trading Spaces. Both of my daughters have an account. We log in on two different computers, show each other 1-3 possible trading rooms, decide on a KinzCash amount (usually 1000-3000 KinzCash), then switch places for an hour or two. We can't sell each others items without permission, but we can reuse items in the rooms we've chosen and we can do whatever we want as far as decorating goes. I go back and forth between the computers and I probably have the most fun of all. :) We've come up with some awesome rooms!

Oh, how we love Webkinz!

"I'd Unschool, but my kids would play video games all day..."

This is another unfounded "complaint" I receive when I tell other parents that we are Unschoolers. Silly complaint, since real learning comes whilst playing video games. I can't get my kids to play enough. ;) When kids are given the freedom to follow their passions, their lives become very well rounded naturally. Passionate lives thrive when seemingly unlimited time can be given to an interest. Remember the last time you had a new, exciting interest? Didn't it consume your mind? This is good - fantastic actually! This can make it temporarily look like that thing is the only thing that a person is doing, but this is not how things pan out over time. Just like a well balanced diet can best be seen over the course of a few days, a well balanced life can best be seen that way as well.

Don't forget that if your family is new to Unschooling, you'll all need time to Deschool. Please do not forget this step, as it is the most essential step there is to fully comprehending what Unschooling is all about and how it can help your entire family reach their full potential in life.

Still freaked out about video games? Check out these:

• Discover Magazine has Steven Johnson's article "Your Brain on Video Games"
• LivingJoyfully has Pam Laricchia's "Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Video Games" (Check out the references at the end, they are very interesting)
• Steven Johnson's book, Everything Bad is Good For You

Still have questions about your kid's games? Don't let them be "your kids" games. Join them! Play with them, right beside them. Read the manuals and fansites. Be involved. You, too, just might find a new passion and you'll be amazed at how much your kids are learning without being forced to. Proper Unschooling requires very hands on parenting.

My family's current favorite online sites with games:

• Webkinz (This is a wonderful online virtual pet website, buy the stuffed animal then enjoy the benefits of this amazing online world. I've checked out several imitative sites, and as of today none compare to Webkinz in quality.)

• Sand Game (This highly fun game is a perpetual favorite here. We had to try some of the combinations in real life. Check out the theme song, it's amazing!)

• Line Rider (There are many fan video clips on YouTube. There is also a really cool Line Rider Fan Site.)
• PBS Kids
• American Girl (We love the Mancala game in the Addy section.)
• Groovy Girls
  

My family's current favorite regular video games:

• Chemicus
• Physicus
• Nancy Drew
  

Still not getting along with your older child? Here are some additional parenting resources that I've gotten a lot out of. For best results, read them before your child is "older".

The Teenage Liberation Handbook
Grace Llewellyn

Guerrilla Learning
Grace Llewellyn

Parent-Teen Breakthrough
Mira Kirshenbaum