For Christmas this year, the kids each ended up with a little stuffed animal called a Webkinz. At the time, I was clueless and thought it was just another stuffed toy, but apparently not. There’s a whole virtual world, and each of the toys comes with a special code that allows the kids to log onto a website and make a virtual pet there too. My girls love playing with the toys, online and off. Now there’s another site offering virtual pets, and this kind of webkinz doesn’t require purchasing a stuffed animal offline to have fun online! If faux pets aren’t your thing, the site has 800 virtual dolls you can dress up, or pick to represent you online. The site is popular enough to have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal Online, the Today Show, and ABC news. It’s the virtual pet sensation sweeping the nation!