Childrens Gadgets

Kids just want to have fun, and what better way to learn than through toys and play? After all, don’t deprive your little one of his/her childhood with just books and more books – let them run wild at some point in order to go through the school of hard knocks. In the meantime, the Learn and Grow Robot might be just the thing to help them develop their mental faculties.

The Learn and Grow-Bot is soft and cuddly and packed with features for baby to explore. Each of the four buttons on his chest emits a different silly robot sound. Your geekling will learn cause and effect every time he presses a button and activates a wacky sound. His legs are hinged and attach with Velcro, so they can move back and forth or hold the robot upright. Yes, unlike lesser plushies, this one actually can stand on his own two feet! But we’re not done with awesome robot features. This robot’s arms and collar spin and the lace-up doors on his back reveal a panel of shiny, crinkly material. Got a genius on your hands? He can learn to tie his own shoes with the Learn and Grow-Bot!

Retailing for $19.95, the Learn and Grow Robot will develop sensory, motor, cognitive and social skills. Good only for babies aged 9 months and older – admit it, as a 32 year old you still can’t resist having a go at that crinkly materials plastered all over.

I’ve always known that Disney was capable of slapping their brand name on just about anything.  I just never really expected to see Disney themed USB cables.  However, they’ve officially done it and in a way that doesn’t look too bad.  Thankfully they also don’t jack up the price to a horrible amount either, making them parent friendly as well as great for the kids.

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Kids are notorious for leaving lights on.  They don’t have the burden of knowing how high that energy bill really is when they constantly leave the lights on within rooms they aren’t using.  This light switch was probably created to save the earth, but it might be nice to have purely to save your sanity.  With this visual reminder of how much energy is being used, it might help you keep your energy bill down.

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Those of you that thought some toys were far too sacred and classic to be updated should probably look away, because you’re probably not going to like this one.  Instead of your kids playing with the same old version of Etch A Sketch that’s been around for years, they can have a fresh new version.  A version that basically takes any and all challenge out of drawing pictures on the screen.

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For parents who want to make sure that their kids get a decent head start in life when it comes to education, the 3D Interactive Smart Globe might help in their quest a wee bit, at least from the geographical point of view.

Simply pick up the remote-control Smart Pen and get started – touching the control panel and any country will give you masses of useful info about whatever you touch. Currency, capital cities, national anthems, history, current leaders, in fact, anything you could conceivably want to know about world geography. We rather loved the ‘find the city’ game, where the globe announces city names and you have to find them and touch them with the magic pen as fast as possible – and there are loads of other games that had us wasting way too much time (but in an educational way). There are around 30 other similar games to keep you on your toes, too. What’s more, the pull-out map of the UK reveals another surface the Smart Pen can tell you about in great detail.

This interactive educational toy is much better than a regular textbook or encyclopedia – after all, you don’t have to fork out money every few years to update the information within as that can be done electronically through a USB cable that is hooked up to your computer. All you need to do is register your globe online, and your Smart Pen will immediately start to receive world news updates and any information changes. Truly fascinating, and for just £99.99, we’d say this is money well spent.

It used to be you heard about electronic and mechanical geniuses getting their start through tearing apart any gadget or motor they can get their hands on.  Purely to see what made it tick and if they could perhaps get the whole mess back together again.  Sadly, today’s kids get a little bit jipped in that department.  A lot of electronics once taken apart have a void warranty and on occasion can even have harmful materials within.  Well BigShot is a working camera that allows for the kids to build the camera.

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I remember this MAD magazine comic back in the eighties of a father who spends lots of money to get into Disney World, and his kids don’t seem to be interested in the rides. They are interested in the video arcade, and the last panel is the father sulking, probably thinking: “I could have just taken the kids to the arcade and saved so much money”.

Disney World has now figured out a better way to have their spectators play video games. They put them in the line at Space Mountain. Apparently, Space Mountain roller coaster has a reputation of being the ride with the slowest line. The cars aren’t designed with a conveyor belt system so passengers can just be loaded up while the cars are in motion.

As a result, spectators get very impatient in line. These video games are programmed to last about 90 seconds, and these games can accommodate 86 players at one time. I’m not certain if all 86 players are playing against each other, but it does look like a pretty cool game on the giant display.

It doesn’t look like the video games are too complicated. It reminds me of the Mission: Space ride at Epcot, where the spectators have to push certain buttons to go further in the ride. Not that the ride won’t go on if you don’t push the buttons, but it just creates a more interactive feel.

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As kids most of us enjoyed building things.  Even if it was just a sand castle or a Lego themed item that really didn’t do anything but sit there, it was still awesome.  For a kid to be able to build something that actually moves would be a whole lot more fun.  Especially if it’s a speed boat that they get to play with at the local pool or even in the bath tub.  Well this speed boat lets the kids construct it themselves and even teaches them about solar energy.

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