Younger Kids  ::  Older Kids

Younger Kids

Build-A-Bear Workshop Experience (Build A Bear)  All Ages
"Build a Bear Workshop is a wonderful experience for the whole family!" reports Megan one of our mom testers.  "It is like no other toy store we have ever been in before. You chose, create, bring to life, dress, and name your new friend - this allows your child to bond with this toy in a very different and unique way. I felt like my children had a sense of responsibility and love for their new animals - I have never seen them truly bond with a stuffed animal!" Read The Whole Story

Disney Pixar Cars Fast Talkin Lightning McQueen (Disney) Ages 4+, $39.99
"My sons, age 4 and 5, love this toy!" raves our mom tester.  "It has provided hours of fun in our house.  I love this toy because all you had to do was open the box and take it out. (none of those twisted wires and plastic attachment you need to pry off while  your kid is impatiently waiting for his toy plus it come with batteries installed.) This car is so much fun to play with.  The child programs the car on how it wants to move and then he/she hits go and the car takes off repeating all the moves you programmed while quoting funny lines from the movie.  This car is a must!"  Requires four AA batteries, included

Bob the Builder – Can We Build It Activity Bench (Learning Curve) Ages 2+, $19.99
"My almost two year old son recently received this tool bench. He’s a big fan of Bob the Builder. Although I find the tool bench a bit simple, he loves it. The bench includes a detachable hammer, screwdriver and saw. The hammer is especially fun. When hitting the screws, they light up and make noise. This is a great for cause and effect learning. The tool bench is quite light so my son can carry it through the house himself. Our favorite aspect of this tool is the telephone button. My son loves mimicking what Bob says. Phrases include "Can we fix it?", "Rock and Roll", ...  Overall, I think this is a great toy for a 2 year old." 

Ariel's Under The Sea Keyboard (Disney) $29.99
This keyboard is a charming trio of Ariel, Sebastian & Flounder ..... they all dance as the music plays ! I have seen few toys capture the interest of all 3 of my daughters - ages 3,4 & 10 months! This toy is a great find. My 4 year old loves to try and follow the lights on the keys to play the music. My 3 year old loves to play the songs from the Little Mermaid and dance around the room; And to my disbelief, my baby crawls over and joins in to watch the lights and the trio dance -- she bounces up and down flapping her arms in excitement! If you have a Little Mermaid fan, this is a crowd pleaser! Ages 3+

Read Along Stories (ToyBox Innovations) $14.99
Here's a great way to pass the time in the car.  Instead of watching DVD's you can get your kids reading along with ToyBox Innovations Read-Along book series.  Each of these sets come with three beautifully illustrated 24-page books and a companion CD Read-Along of Disney’s hottest stories.  Our testers enjoyed them in the car and also listened to them as bedtime stories long after their exhausted parents were done reading.  It's a great way for older siblings to enjoy books with younger siblings since no one has to read aloud! Featured stories include Chicken Little, Brother Bear and Cars!

Curious George Tickle ‘N Giggle (Marvel)  Ages 2+, $19.99
Curious George has once again become the popular little monkey. Our testers children, ages ages 3,5, and 7 all wanted this giggly monkey to themselves. He has small buttons to push to get him to giggle. He laughs so much he even starts to shake, which really starts the children laughing!! "He has become my 7 year olds sleeping buddy and companion around the house!" states the mother of our testers.  "He's just an adorable toy."

Superman Inflato Suit (Mattel) Ages 3+, $19.99
According to our mom reviewer, "This is a real crowd pleaser!! Boy . . .Girl . . 3 yr old . .6 yr old or 8 yr old--all 3 of my children loved this interactive dress-up! We had many a laugh as each of the kids tried this on. Very realistic when inflated! Only tricky part was they needed adult help in order to inflate it, even then the mechanism to do the blowing was very difficult to manage. The hand-held fan blower was hard to attach and the fan sometimes fell off while the child was playing, however, that being said, the kids LOVED it!  A fun gift for a Superman or Superhero fan"

Star Wars Build Your Own Lightsaber   (Hasbro)  6 - 11 years, $34.99  
Although this isn't new this year, we just had to put this in again.  This is probably hands down one of the best toys our testers received.  Every boy we know owns one and according to our mom testers it is played with daily.  Here's last year's review: "Our tester absolutely loved this Star Wars Light saber.  In fact our tester built his own light saber and his friends had so much fun with it, that his friends had to get their own.  The hours of pretend play that seem to come with this simple toy are amazing.  The light saber lights up, comes with one hilt, two blades, two emitters, two caps, and three crystals.  You can make a bunch of different styles depending upon your mood or character.  Our tester agreed that this is a winner."  Got a Star Wars fan?  Get one of these today - you can't go wrong!

Li'l Luvables Fluffy Factory (Spin Master) Ages 3+, 19.99
"It's like 'Build a Bear' in your own home" reported our mom tester.  "My three children ages 3, 5, and 7 each picked their own color bear, they filled the cuddly soft stuffing in the "machine" (no batteries needed)!! and with a little help from me attached the bear to the stuffing machine and cranked away!! they loved putting a little wishful saying into the bear and having their own adoption card. Very well done and simple for the kids to follow. Order more bears and fluff and it can be a lifelong treat for your child."

Ben 10 Metamorfigures-Heat Blast (Bandai) Ages4+, $12.99
The new hit show on Cartoon Network, Ben 10 has spawned a whole new batch of cool toys for boys. These action figures are very popular this season and should be even more popular when Season One comes out on DVD in February. Our 5-year-old tester just loved playing with Heat Blast -- who is two toys in one. You can easily transform him by flipping his head and arms and he becomes a flashlight. At $12.99 you can't go wrong!
 

Older Kids

Hot Wheels Radar Gun (Mattel) Ages 6+, $29.99
According to our mom tester, " this is an excellent toy for my 7-year-old.  I never felt like he was using a weapon which was great.  It's simply a laser which can electronically tell the speed of things. Whether it be a whizzing ball, a butterfly or a bike rider, he has such excitement finding out the speed of things. This is a great learning tool!  My son used it to calculate which things go faster and by how much."
 

Speed Stacks Stackpack (Play Along) $39.99.
Our testers aged 5 through 8 had a blast playing with this game.  "It's fun!" commented our 8-year-old tester.  Our mom tester, more skeptical wasn't sure, but when she noticed the kids enthusiasm said, "I can see what they like about it! It definitely encourages eye-hand coordination and concentration!"  Our testers liked practicing and thought it was great! It is noisy, but fun!  The set includes specially designed, "competition-ready" cups, an official StackMat, timer and instructional DVD. Ages 4+

Polly Pockets Bubble-tastic™ Lamp (Mattel) Ages 5+, $19.99  Our tester, a six-year-old couldn't wait to get her hands on this cool lamp.  She'd longed for a lava lamp (her mom reported) so this was a very nice alternative.  Both she and her mom think it's pretty cool.  It runs on electric as opposed to eating batteries and is fairly easy to set up.  It bubbles, has four different colors and can be customized as the child likes.  Our tester reported that she keeps it on her nightstand and although it makes noise it's okay.  She likes the fact that she can watch the pieces move in her room at night.  "Overall it's a hit" reports her mom, "with her -- and all her friends!"

Dodge Discs  (Wild Planet) Ages 6+, $19.95
Our tester reports, "This toy was a HUGE hit at our house! Our son spent hours outside running around chasing his friends with this toy--a great way to use up all that adolescent energy. Even his dad had to get in on the action! The set comes with two different colored launchers that hold ten soft foam discs each and are easy to refill. With a push of a button you can launch all of your discs at your opponent in seconds. Luckily, the discs come in bright colors so they are easy to find after being launched over 20 feet in the air. Plus, the discs never get stuck in the launcher, a bonus when you are chasing your friends around the yard."   Includes 2 long-range disc launchers with built-in shields and 20 soft foam discs. 

Atari Pocket Size Plug & Play (Basic Fun) Ages 8+,  $19.99 
Our testers both young and old(er) just loved these pocket sized games.  They have retro games like Asteroids, Pong and Centipede that provide take along fun.  Plug in the included 6 foot cable (on a battery powered reel) into the keychain and your TV, and you're set to play. Yes, you can play real Atari games, and are fully playable! This is the perfect thing to pack for overnights grandma's house when your grandkids need some downtime entertainment!  Note: Powered by 3 AAA batteries. (batteries not included)