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.

On the cable itself there isn’t a whole lot that really broadcasts them as being a Disney product.  Each one of the versions of the cable has a bright color and an indention on the end.  One shows Mickey, another is Stitch, and then there’s the Cars version, Toy Story, and the Princess one.  The cable is about 70cm long.  You can purchase each one of these for $7 a piece through Brando.  They’d make for an affordable stocking stuffer for this Christmas.

Source: OhGizmo

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.

This Tio Ghost wall-mounted light switch system is a design by Tim Holley.  It’s actually developed with kids in mind to teach them about conserving energy.  When the light switch has only been on for less than an hour, it glows green.  Then after four it goes to yellow and after eight it turns to an angry red.  Sadly it is still just a design, so you’ll have to find some other way to motivate the kids to turn out the lights.

Source: Gizmodiva

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.

It used to be you had to work the two knobs and you would get a sloppy simplistic picture.  You had to work at it to get anything that looked remotely decent.  Now kids can have the Freestyle version that instead of having two knobs, it has one.  This one knob swivels around a full 360 degrees.  That’ll allow kids to effortlessly draw curved lines.  At least they still have to shake the thing to get rid of the picture.  You can purchase one for $14.99.

Source: SlipperyBrick

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.

It’s a great way to get kids interested in the technology world and gives them a camera of their own that they can proudly show off.  Once the camera kit is all put together it can be powered by either a battery or by cranking it.  To work the crank you just need to crank it 6 times per picture.  It also has lenses on a rotating wheel that allow for prism, wide angle and other type shots to be taken.  Right now the BigShot camera kit isn’t available.  BigShot hopes that they’ll be able to make the camera cheap and available to kids worldwide.  However, it’s too early to tell as to whether or not they’ll actually succeed at that.

Source: OhGizmo

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.

Perhaps all rides at Disney theme parks will have some sort of thing to to while waiting. Of course, we do have mobile device so keep us entertained, don’t we?

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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.

The project is easy to build and will work just fine for kids 8 years of age and over that.  When it’s all put together and outdoors the solar panel will give the boat all the power it needs.  Then when you’re indoors you can pop in 2 AA batteries and it’ll keep on running.  Just make sure to disconnect the solar panel before you put in the batteries, otherwise it’ll damage the solar panel.  You can purchase the Amazing Solar Speed Boat Electronics Kit for £9.99 or about $16 through Maplin.

Source: Envirogadget

Some people have this astounding ability to take a bowling ball and actually knock down all of the pins.  For those of us that don’t have that ability, there’s finally the RC900.  It’ll make sure those pesky bowling pins finally get knocked down where they belong.  This bowling ball is controlled by a remote and is easily able to dodge all kings of obstacles, like the gutter for example.

Alright, so it’s actually marketed towards kids and those with physical limitations.  Lack of hand-eye coordination is a physical limitation, right?  The bowling ball is able to steer by adjusting the position of the weight screwed onto a threaded shaft within the ball.  The sad news is, it’s a pretty obvious remote control, so there’s no way to fake out your friends on this one.  Plus it’ll cost you $1500 from 900 Global.

Source: Neatorama

Any toy that teaches kids about alternative energy in a way that makes it fun for them is definitely okay in my book.  I’ve seen some that are kits and a bit more complicated.  Honestly, I think that this car is one of the best approaches I’ve seen.  It goes for the subtle angle, it’s a fun remote control car and doesn’t need a single battery to run.

Even kids know the joys of searching for batteries in the house so that their treasured battery-operated toys will work.  Explaining to them that this doesn’t need any and why, is a fantastic way to teach them about renewable energy.  The car itself actually runs on zero-emission hydrogen fuel.  It also utilizes solar energy, so it’ll teach them about a couple of different methods.  It can be purchased for $147.95 through Amazon.

Source: GadgetGrid

This groundbreaking R/C mash up combines the thrill of helicopter flight with the excitement of driving a SWAT truck. Wow! It might look like a stealthy brute of a vehicle – and it is – but this macho truck features a cavernous cargo bay that opens up, upon your command, to reveal a fully-functioning micro helicopter sitting on an auto-elevating launchpad. Incredible! It’s like Thunderbirds meets Airwolf with a highly Hasselhoffian touch of 80s folly thrown in for good measure. Both precision-engineered machines are controlled via a single transmitter with smart shoulder buttons that allow you to switch seamlessly between truck and chopper.

It will take some fair bit of hand-eye co-ordination to keep on alternating between the two as you plan an imaginary assault on the enemy base. One thing though – what happens when the helicopter is in mid-air and you switch over to the truck? Will it just hover there until the subsequent instruction? Guess you’ll need to fork out £59.95 to find out!

Dolls always seem to have the strangest features, yes there are still normal dolls out there, but there are just as many oddballs.  You can get babies that make noise, that pee their diaper and can even crawl away.  The strangest of them all is always the one that can soil a fake diaper.  Well now all the little girls of the world can have a doll to go with their Nintendo Wii.

The doll has an opening to allow a Wiimote to be jammed into its back.  It is created for the game Baby and Me.  Within the game it has the girl do the normal things like rock the baby, burp it and even teach the doll to walk.  It uses the speaker within the Wiimote to make the baby make the usual noises like crying and laughing.  Although the doll looks ridiculous to every rational full grown adult, I’m sure one toy commercial for this would be enough to hook quite a few little girls.

Source: CraziestGadgets

Girls have always been nuts for their Barbies.  No, not all girls are into them, but the ones that are always seem to have everything with a pretty pink Barbie theme.  If you’re looking for a unique Barbie themed gift for a little girl, this nail printer would be perfect.  They not only get to have another Barbie branded toy, but it’ll also let them play with beauty products.

This is one of those things that’s actually really good for girls in transition.  That period when they’re not playing with dolls as much, but aren’t quite ready for the makeup and purses teen stage.  The nail printer lets the girl create, customize and print different designs right onto her nails.  The printing itself only takes a few seconds and the printer helps you make sure the nail is lined up just right.  The down side is that this is a bit pricey.  It’s being sold through Amazon for $264.99.

Source: GadgetGrid

Perfect for scaring the local kids and giving elderly relatives a heart attack, the range of disgusting acts you can perform with this set is delightfully wide. All in all, you can take pleasure in making your audience (or just the cat if you can’t rustle one up) feel quite sick with these clever little tricks. You can snap bones in your neck, discover a disembodied hand, even tear someone else’s arm off – all with the help of the included instructional DVD. Of course, the Magic Circle might not approve of these secrets being divulged, but that won’t matter a jot when you’re merrily terrifying anyone watching you yank a blood-drenched and still-moving arm out of a box. Of course, the tricks are surprisingly simple and just require a little bit of acting (not method-acting) and rehearsal to make a convincing show. Included are all the props you could need for these illusions, such as a box (with one panel missing), a fake ear, a fake arm (with gore detail), a bone-click simulator, a fake hand and various other bits and pieces to create the impression that you’re doing yourself some irresponsible harm.

The Freaky Body Illusions will retail for £24.99 and ought to make for a really wacky gift set.

Instead of coming out with tons of fancy new models to add to their iHome collection, iHome is just adding a new finish for their old players.  This one to make their various iPod docks appeal to a much younger crowd.  Also a much younger very female bunch.  The ones that still love those tiny plastic Barbie shoes and find Ken’s bright white smile to be absolutely dreamy.  Thankfully they come in a range of sizes and prices to appeal to any parent’s budget.

Having more than one Barbie themed iHome iPod dock to choose from should make things a lot easier.  Although hopefully the girl you’re buying one for won’t grow out of her love of Barbie too fast.  The first choice is the small Barbie iHome Portable Stereo Speaker System that’ll only cost you $19.99.  Then is the Barbie Portable Water Resistant Stereo Sport Case that is priced at $39.99.  The middle sized dock is the Barbie iHome Dual Alarm Clock, set at $49.99.  That last of the bunch is the Barbie iHome Portable Stereo Speaker System for $79.99  all of which can be found through Toys R’ Us.  The nice thing with these is that you could easily read reviews on the original iHome versions of them to find out if these are going to be the right fit.

Source: ChipChick

Strap it to your baby’s crib and it will monitor for noise coming from your child. Enough cranky will turn the unit on – and that’s when the magic happens. Soothing womb sounds (actual recorded womb music) and three colored lights cycle on for ten minutes the moment it hears your baby cry. They’re the perfect combination to ease your baby into slumberland – which means you can get back to sleep, too.

Do you think it is worth forking out $14.99 for this bad boy? Certainly beats paying the pharmacist some money for over-the-counter sleeping pills…

Like the Leapster2, it is designed to be connected to the computer via USB for more interactivity. For example, kids can go online and trade the points they have earned for modifications in their game worlds. In fact, there was times that it demanded connectivity.

The Didj takes the connectivity further by allowing kids and parents to shape the learning online. So if a kid is having a hard time with certain times tables or certain spelling words, then he or she can have quizzes arranged for this. In short, it is customized learning coupled with entertainment where a child needs it the most.

Kids can also go online to create their own Didji characters in the online Didjerator. Think of it as a like the Mii channel on the Nintendo Wii. The Didj is available in many different colors, and requires 4 AA batteries. You should be able to pick it up at the Leap Frog website for about $69.99.

Source: Fareastgizmos