Each new generation has fad toys, from hula hoops to Chia Pets to Cabbage Patch Kids and Beanie Babies.

This generation of kids is no different, and one of the current fads reflects the Internet-driven world in which children are growing up.

Webkinz are stuffed animals that are sold with individual codes. Children can log onto the Webkinz Web site and enter the code. Then the stuffed animal comes alive in the digital world and children can feed, clothe and care for their pets.

The concept has caught on with kids in the digital age and become all the rage with children across the country and in Norman.

"I don't know any kids who come in here and have just one or two," said Roxanne Avery, manager at J's Hallmark in Sooner Mall. "They have a lot. ... I even have kids who have 50. It is a craze."

Webkinz have been around for years, but it took a little while to catch on.

Avery said her store started carrying the pets at Christmas 2006, but sales started exploding into the beginning of 2007.

"It's kind of the Beanie Baby of 2007, 2008," she said.

Linda Angel, owner of Kidoodles at 2266 W. Main St., has carried Webkinz in her store for about a year and a half, but the craze hasn't passed yet.

"Their popularity hasn't really gone away, even though there's a lot of brands out there trying to mimic what they do," she said.

She has tried to slow her orders down a bit in recent months though.

"'Cause I'm afraid that the craze is going to end and I'm going to be stuck with them," she said.

But that doesn't mean the fad looks to be going away any time soon.

"Just as we think that it's slowing down, we sell more," said Jill Brown, toy buyer at Copelin's Toy Zone, 425 W. Main St.

Buying a pet in the store opens up the whole Webkinz world online, which features games, trivia and chatting with friends.

"You could just toss the pet," Avery said. "What you really want is that code to get onto the net."

And now the Webkinz line includes more than just the original stuffed animal. Local toy stores also sell outfits for the pets, Webkinz lip glosses and Webkinz book marks. Every Webkinz product comes with code that can be redeemed online.

For example, when children buy an outfit for their stuffed animal, the code will give the stuffed animal that same outfit in the online Webkinz world. The lip glosses come with a code for a piece of furniture in the pet's home and the book mark's code gets the pet a book from the online library.

But Webkinz, which sell for about $10-14 are about more than just consumerism, vendors say.

"They're not just a stuffed animal, they're very educational," said Brown, whose two children, ages 4 and 7, love to play with Webkinz.

The toys teach children practical life skills, Brown said. Children have to take care of their Webkinz pet online, feeding it, playing with it and even taking it to the doctor when it gets sick.

It teaches them responsibility without having to buy them a real pet, Brown said. Some teachers even buy a Webkinz to have as a classroom pet, she said.

Webkinz also teaches children about money. Kids can play computer games with their pets to earn money, then use that money to buy things for their pets. When they run out of money, they have to go earn more, Brown said.

Angel agreed the Web site teaches kids important skills.

"Because they have to take care of the pet, they have to nurture it," she said. "It really goes a long way I think in teaching the kids some basic life skills."

It may be educational, but the Ganz company, which makes Webkinz, has figured out how to turn its pets into a cash cow.

Most kids who play with Webkinz don't have just one. The company has built in incentives to buy more. The company is constantly coming up with new Webkinz pets and accessories.

The pet-of-the-month program offers bonuses to users who buy the specific pet of the month and redeem the code online that month. Also, users' online Webkinz accounts expire after one year unless they buy another pet.

Other brands have launched similar real/online pets, but none have achieved the popularity of Webkinz.

"It was a brand new concept," Avery said of Webkinz. "No one had ever had a pet that was interactive on the Internet."

The popularity of the toys shows that the concept won't be going away any time soon, Brown said.

"We keep thinking that some day it's going to die down, but it hasn't."

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com