droolicious : holiday toys

Ode to a Wheely Bug: The Coolest Critter on the Planet

Cathy Hale — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:38:00 GMT

Cute as a button;
As enjoyable as a hug;
No child should go without a ride-on Wheely Bug!
The bee is bright and cheery;
The lady bug is extra-sweet;
The cow, oh my goodness, is an absolute treat!
Scoot, spin and roll all over the house;
And thanks to special wheels, it’s as quiet as a mouse.

I'm obsessed with this wonderful ride-on toy! Can you tell? I was driven to write poetry about it. Now that’s love! My youngest son turned one last month and his big gift was a Cow Wheely Bug. (Not an easy feat to wrap it, but I improvised and it looked cute enough.) My little birthday boy loved it and my older son (who is almost four) was completely enamored with it. What a simple, yet innovative toy!

The Bee and the Lady Bug are cute, but you just can’t beat the Cow. There’s something about those little wooden horns that makes you grin. My boys weigh 25 pounds and 45 pounds, so we opted for the large Wheely Bug. After seeing the boys play with it I encourage EVERYONE to buy the large Wheely Bug. Your children will outgrow the small one way too quickly. Even if your kiddos are little, buy the big bug because they will grow into it in a flash.

If you’re trying to find an extra-special toy for that extra-special baby or toddler in your life, get a Wheely Bug! You won’t be disappointed. Oh, did I mention it’s eco-friendly too? $69.95

Meet Spike, Your Very Own Pet Dinosaur

elizabeth leach — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Fact: Boys love dinosaurs. Fact: Boys love remote control. Fact: Boys love robots. Fisher-Price’s Imaginext, Spike the Ultra Dinosaur is all three. Standing 27” tall, Spike walks, opens and closes his mouth, blinks his eyes, growls, snorts, rears up on his hind legs, and (if he’s being a good dinosaur) you can feed him a boulder!

Spike is as "ultra" as a dinosaur can get without going back in time to prehistoric times. The wireless remote is super easy to use with pictures on the buttons of what you want Spike to do. Recommended for ages 3-10.

Find Fisher Price’s Imaginext Spike the Ultra Dinosaur here for $129.99.

And Spike is at the top of Toys "R" Us Hot Holiday Shopping List. (Read that post here.)

Sneak Peak at a Must Have Holiday Item

AmandaHill — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:00:00 GMT

A recently released hot holiday item for this year is the Fur Real Friends Biscuit dog recently released by Hasbro. This adorable potty trained pooch obeys many commands such as "sit", "speak", and "lie down". If it isn't cute enough, the lovin' pup even wags his tail, barks, and raises his paw. Get a head start on the holiday season with Fur Real Friends Biscuit Puppy for just $149.99.

Busy Zoo by Parents Toys

elizabeth leach — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:30:00 GMT

If you're like me, you're already thinking about holiday gifts for your baby or kids and you're also wondering how you're going to deal with another gigantic mass of plastic. (Especially, if you're in small space!) The Busy Zoo by Parents is made of wood and is a great alternative to those plastic activity tables.

The Busy Zoo doesn't light up or sing, so you won't get all those songs stuck in your head and you won't need to change the batteries. Instead, your child can sing! This beautifully designed activity cube has five sides of toys that encourage abstract thinking, problem solving, and help your child develop motor skills. This toy is recommended for 12 months and up, but I think it would also be great for younger babies, too. Just plop them in front of the Zoo and let them play!

I have my Busy Zoo right in the middle of our family room. I love the color scheme! Find the Busy Zoo ($49.99) and the entire collection of Parents Toys at Target.

Very Big Toys: Razor PowerWing Three-Wheeler

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:04:00 GMT

In anticipation of the holidays, Razor rolled out its newest three-wheeler, the PowerWing, this week at Toy Wishes Preview 2008 in New York. While at first glance it looks as though someone slapped a hot-rod-style spoiler onto the back of the company's trademark scooter, that little extra in the PowerWing's rear end has some nifty functionality.

The PowerWing's 68mm rear inclined caster wheels keep your weight behind the handlebars (the front wheel is 125mm, or around double the size of a typical skateboard wheel), and to accelerate either down hills or on flat surfaces, you just move from side to side on the "wings" and let gravity do the hard work. Obviously, this makes things a little complicated when going uphill, but at that point you can just push the PowerWing like you would a regular scooter.

Tricks, on the other hand, become much easier with the PowerWing: You can lean to zip around tight corners, and shift your weight to pull off side drifts, wheelies, 360s and spinouts. There are around 8 million amateur videos of the thing in action on YouTube, but here's the PowerWing's trick potential captured in a little over three minutes:

There's a front-wheel hand brake, too, so you don't need to rely solely on foot power to slow down, and the PowerWing folds away for storage when you're done tearing it up. Best of all, though, those wings accommodate up to 220 pounds of grown-up, so you can pull out the PowerWing to play while the kids are at school.

$99.99 at Target.

ViewMaster Enters Previous Century Via Projection, Infrared Remote

Aaron Burgess — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:02:00 GMT

When I was a kid, ViewMaster's 3D reels were the ultimate in high-tech kiddie gadgets. Now, of course, even ViewMaster's talking and singing "Super Sounds" reels are positively low-tech, but with the ViewMaster Super Sounds Projector ($22.99 at Amazon.com), you can take the classic toy reasonably close to this century, complete with projection imagery and infrared remote.

Essentially a glorified slideshow projector, it allows kids to beam images and sound from their Super Sounds reels onto walls or ceilings (up to 8 feet high). And if you prefer Stone Age-style play, you don't need to add sound: The projector can handle even your ancient, audio-free ViewMaster slides, as well.

MapleStory iTCG Bridges Trading-Card Geeks' Digital Divide

Aaron Burgess — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:32:00 GMT

Your kids (or you, for that matter) may already be familiar with the massively multiplayer online game MapleStory, but if not, imagine Yu-Gi-Oh! with anime-style cuteness to match its deadly force, and you're halfway there.

Now, with the rollout of its MapleStory iTrading Card Game, Wizards of the Coast has introduced a line of Internet-linked trading cards to supplement the MapleStory universe -- and if you're thinking to yourself this is just way too much geekdom for one person to handle, your kids probably disagree. Integrating the game's online world with a new, offline one, MapleStory iTCG offers codes that players can redeem for online rewards and virtual game experiences (from new quests to virtual pets), as well as an expanded gaming experience. If that's too unwieldy for their age range, kids can also use the cards to play turn-based games much as they would with Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh! -- or, if they're like my brood, they can just collect 'em with no concept of either the offline or offline gaming complements.

The MapleStory iTCG Starter Set is available for $9.99 basically anywhere your kids can lure you away from the checkout counter, including Wal-Mart, Target and Meijer Foods, while booster packs are available for an additional $3.99 each.

Tooth Tunes Put Voices in Your Head Without Need for Messy "Insanity"

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:02:00 GMT

If you've ever thought to yourself, "Wow, how awesome would it be to have the main title theme from Star Wars pumping directly into my skull while I'm brushing my teeth!" and you aren't already hearing voices, Tooth Tunes are the singing electric toothbrushes that'll get your party started. Vibrating bristles send the music right into your head. Brush harder, and the music gets louder -- but only to you.

Hey, and speaking of getting things started (ugh), the line also features Black Eyed Peas ("Let's Get it Started"), as well as Queen ("We Will Rock You"), Destiny's Child ("Survivor"), two songs from totally not-pregnant-anymore Miley Cyrus, and many others. Brushes are $9.99 each, and if you order from Hasbro ToyShop before Dec. 13, they'll even throw in a freebie.

All joking aside, it's a pretty ingenious way to get kids into brushing, even if the technology is a little creepy.

"Must... get... this... party... started..."

Razor Bumper Buggie Puts an Amusement Park in Your Cul-de-Sac

Aaron Burgess — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:33:00 GMT

Between its electric wagon and these motorized bumper cars, Razor is ensuring that our kids will never know the simple pleasure of wheeling around in a Radio Flyer. Like Razor's wagon, the Bumper Buggie ($129.99 at Target.com) packs dual 65-watt motors and gives you up to 40 minutes of vroom-vroom time on a single eight-hour charge.

For safety's sake, it goes a wee bit slower than the wagon (2 mph as opposed to 3), and it also includes a safety belt and a breaker switch, just in case. You really do need two or more to get the full bumper-car experience -- but with the holidays coming up, there's always a chance you'll spot another one scooting through your neighborhood.

Recommended for ages 3 and up, although with a 38" length and a maximum rider weight of 55 lbs., budding racers may outgrow it by their 6th or 7th birthday.

On-the-Go Creativity: MEGA Brands' smART Easel

Aaron Burgess — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:33:00 GMT

For those kids whose creativity literally knows no bounds, MEGA Brands' smART Easel ($39.99) is a cleverly designed, easily transportable personal studio that's as suitable for art time at home as it is for a playdate or a weekend at Grandma's place. Simply fold and go when you're ready to take it on the road, and plunk it down wherever and whenever your muse comes knocking.

Built around an easel that includes both a dry-erase board and a roller for drawing paper (one 50-foot roll included), the set also features two multi-compartment washable pockets for storing markers (eight broadline washables also included), paints and other supplies, as well as an easy-clean art tray and a roomy lower compartment for odds and ends. It collapses, tent-style, to fit the accompanying travel bag (see below), and its metal frame adds sturdiness and support not found in everyday plastic easels.

Point, Shoot, Play: Polaroid Pixie for Junior Photographers

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:32:00 GMT

New in Target stores this week, Polaroid Pixie is a line of relatively high-end digital equipment housed in chunky, kid-alluring shells that, in case your gender alarm didn't register at the photos above, are clearly divided into "his" and "hers" colors.

Priced at $79.99 each, the 3.0 MP Digital Camera (above) and the 1.5 MP SD Digital Video Camera (below) allow kids to preview their shots through full-color TFT LCDs, and the dual viewfinder in the former is a wonderful touch for shutterbugs who haven't yet mastered squinting. (The video camera makes it similarly easy to frame your subject via its flip-out screen.) Bonus points for the oversized buttons, too.

Both cameras come with 16 MB of built-in storage, which isn't exactly massive, but their SD compatibility allows you to add extra memory for all the bad shots you'll no doubt acquire. The digital camera even includes eight video games kids can can play through a TV, even though they'll be too busy snapping pictures to bother. And while batteries are included (as are wrist straps, photo-editing software, and USB and A/V cables), here's hoping we'll see a rechargeable Pixie someday.

Droolworthy: Crayola Beginnings for Babies and Toddlers

Aaron Burgess — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:32:00 GMT

If you've ever tried to color with babies or toddlers, you've no doubt spent more time keeping crayons away from open mouths than you have actually creating art, and even if your kids aren't prone to gobbling writing implements, you know how frustrating it can be for little hands to manipulate the things. Leave it to Crayola to come up with a fix in Crayola Beginnings, a line of fun, finger-friendly supplies designed for budding artists ages 12 to 36 months.

TaDoodles Washable First Marks (pictured above) and TaDoodles Washable All-in-One Paint (both $5.99) are chunky, egg-shaped tools that toddlers can easily grasp in a palm, and as a bonus to those of us who have to clean up afterward, they have no caps to choke on (the markers also contain six times more ink than Crayola's regular washable markers). They'll dry out between uses, so you just dab them on paper to reactivate the ink or paint supply.

TaDoodles Washable Crayon Buddles ($4.99; pictured above) hold triangular crayons in their noggins and safeguard against broken tips via their chubby frames. As older kids graduate to something a bit more their size, Crayola Beginnings Washable Triangular Crayons ($2.99-$4.99) ease toddler grips into a natural tripod position to help with early writing skills.

In a clever if slightly incongruous twist, the TaDoodles characters also double as Weeble-like figures that wobble but won't fall down, and kids can wheel them around in the Crayola Beginnings First Marks B.U.V. (a.k.a. "Beginnings Utility Vehicle" -- $14.99) when they tire of coloring. The all-in-one Creativity Central ($19.99; pictured above) is a double-sided easel that uses gel-filled surfaces and water to simulate fingerpainting and ink drawing without the mess.