Toddlers
 Bebe
Do My Real Baby (Corolle
Dolls) $74.99
Our tester reports, "If you are going to buy your daughter a baby
doll, this is the one to buy! She comes tucked in her very own Moses
basket, with a little book and bottle. She is just precious. She
looks like a real baby and is a perfect size for your child to hold.
The only complaint from my 3 year old was that the bottle didn't fit
in her mouth, but she soon moved on and it hasn't bothered her
since." Age 3+
  Fisher
Price Little Mommy Toddler Doll &
Activity Center
(Mattel)
$38.00 / $49.99
"The interaction with the doll was great for my 3 year old," reports our
mom-tester. "She loved the fact that the doll called her mommy, and
loved feeding her the carton of milk. She also enjoyed the activity
center, which has a play yard, school house and bathroom all in a foldable
unit. The school comes complete with a dry erase board and marker. My
advice is to take the marker away unless you trust your little one with a
'real' marker. My daughter colored the whole play system, not just the dry
erase board! The best part about this toy is that weeks after receiving it
to test it's still played with. Sometimes my girls play with just
the activity center, sometimes just the doll. It's a really nice
grandparent gift" Ages 3+
Play Table (P'kolino)
$989.00
This is a serious splurge, and no, unfortunately we didn't get one
to review. We did however get some parts to check out and it
looks like it's amazingly made. This play table is for the
stylish grandchild in your life. It's made of beech and
vinyl and needs NO assembly! It's quite a design
feature that some lucky kid we are sure would enjoy!
Age 4 - 8
 Vespa
Scooter (Peg Perego) Ages 4-7, $249.99
Green isn't just the color of this Vespa scooter, green with envy is
the color friends of your grandkids will be! Our kid testers just
had a blast on this fun, perky little battery operated Vespa. Our
testers aged 5-8 all had fun riding this. The five year olds that
can't ride without training wheels definitely needed the training wheels
for balance. Our older kids that can ride without training wheels
had no problem riding, and really enjoyed it. Parents were impressed
with the ease with which their kids were able to ride this scooter.
Since it doesn't go too fast, 5 mph is it's max speed, it's very
manageable. Although the girl pictured isn't wearing a helmet, we
suggest one for all ride-ons. The Vespa's has a rear storage box,
rear view mirrors and vinyl capped non-skid wheels, as well as a glove
box, working headlight, horn, flashing hazard lights, and electronic
engine sounds. 12-Volt rechargeable battery and recharge included are
included. It arrives partially assembled, and is a quick and easy
build. It's definitely one of the hot splurge items this holiday
season!
 Polaris
Sportsman X2
(Peg Perego) Ages 4-8, $359.99
This is about as real as an ATV gets without the gas. Our kid
testers have been driving it on grass, dirt, sidewalks, in their driveways
and cul-de-sacs -- just about anywhere -- with helmets of course.
They all agree - this is the BEST big gift a kid can get!
Tested by a tough group of kids aged 4-12 the kids were quoted as saying
"this is awesome", "this totally rocks," "this is too cool!" Our testers
have been riding this off-road, on-road, up hills, down hills and they
have been loving every minute of it. The parents, those under 130lbs,
have even gotten in on the action! It easily holds two kids each
weighing about 40-50lbs and doesn't slow down. It goes two speeds, 2
1/2 or 5 mph, forward and reverse and has a high performance 12-volt
rechargeable battery and re-charger included. Assembly is easy and
we recommend building it and charging it BEFORE you give it as a gift so
that they can get on and ride right away! It provides hours and
hours of out door fun. The kids seem to share without complaint -
which is a big bonus! For kids on the go it includes a removable
rear cargo box and front luggage rack. There's also a working horn
and full suspension for a realistic ride. We can't say enough about
this fun toy!
 Savannah
Doll House (KidKraft)
$159.99
Grandmothers & Moms, do you remember when you were younger longing
for a dollhouse? Well our tester did and she reported that her
3 and 5 year old girls were just delighted to test this beautiful
doll house. She reported that "it has provided hours of
pretend play. The doll house fits many of my girls dolls from
their Barbie's to their Polly Pockets. It has wooden
furniture, a staircase, 4 floors of play including a bathroom,
kitchen, dining room and attic. It comes with 14 pieces of
furniture which was great - because so many toys require purchasing
extra items before you can even play! This house is sturdy,
really well made and was fairly easy to assemble."
Grandparents, if you're giving this as a gift, and you live near
your grandchildren our tester recommends you set it up before so
play can begin right away! "This is a great splurge gift for
the holidays, birthday gift or any special occasion!"
Ages 3+ Available at
BlissLiving.com
 Magic
Castle (Playmobil) $129.99
"This is a spectacular play set" commented our mother of three
tester. The set, which was easy to assemble includes a
Prince and Princess, a horse and some furnishings. "My
daughters really enjoyed playing with this - especially since they
are into the whole "princess" thing. What would have made
this better (or best) though would have been if all the rooms had
been included. There are enough accessories for the set to
be fun right out of the box, but it would have been better if some
of the furnishings that are sold separately were included.
If you are giving this as a gift you'll want to make sure you
assemble first (for immediate play) and purchase the following
accessories: Royal Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom. That
ups the price but makes this a GREAT gift!"
 Disney
Princess &
Cars MP3 Players (Disney
Store) Ages 6+, $99.50
Older kids, aged 6 and up, will love these MP3 Players. They are a
little bigger than the new iPod shuffle, but the are kid friendly.
The princess is adorned with rhinestones. is pink and features Belle,
Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty on the back.
The Cars MP3 features Lightning McQueen on the front and back. Both
feature a built-in FM radio with 20 pre-set channels, a 65K full color
display and holds up to 512 MB. Younger kids will definitely need
help uploading songs and images, but older kids will be able to do it
themselves. The nice thing is that for a little more than the
shuffle you can a lot more stuff. We didn't try this, but apparently
you can download music videos. Maybe we'll have a chance to try that
too! It includes a rechargable lithium battery, USB cable. Our
testers liked uploading pictures of their friends, and storing stories for
longer car rides. "My daughter liked the fact she could listen to Hanna
Montana in the car and High School Musical. She loved that she
didn't have to listen to my music" reports our mom tester. Our
9-year-old boy tester just "loved to have his own MP3 player. He
didn't upload pictures, but liked having his own music - just like Dad!"
Age 8 and up
 RC N.S.E.C.T (Tyco) $99.99 "A great toy to
play with OUTDOORS. (Darts are surprisingly strong and do shoot over
20ft). The makers of Tyco RC are truly amazing when it comes to this.
The N.S.E.C.T robot moves amazing fast and transforms from a
"bio-bug" to a "bio-missle." There are two shooting modes - single
or rapid fire. It also has working claws for capturing action and laser
like eyes. They simulate the insect’s movement flawlessly and add in
assorted “EXTRAS”. This is a wonderful toy for outdoorsy kids and for RC
lovers. This toy comes with all batteries needed but requires a 5 hour
charge for the larger one of the batteries."
 Pedre
Watches -- Over the years we have been fortunate enough to
test a couple of these watches and they are always raved about. They
are trendy and feminine and very durable. They appeal to people of
all ages from tweens and teens to moms and grandmas! This year we
were able to review a very stylish black leather watch with rhinestones.
Our grandma tester thought it was "just gorgeous" and was thrilled to be
able to wear it and review it. She loved the leather strap,
and commented that she constantly gets compliments on it! They
are made by Pedre and they have been
featured by in "O" Magazine, InStyle Magazine and Vogue. This watch
retails for $82.50 and can be found at
pedrewatch.com
or call Toll Free (800) 969-2151 for a retailer near you.
 FLY
Pentop Computer (Leap Frog)
Our tester had this to say
about the FLY Pentop Computer, "What I like about the fly pen is its map,
calculator, fly tones, and buzz phrase game. The map is fun and easy to
study with because I can touch a state and it tells me the capital, and it
is easy to be quizzed on a geography test because it has a game that asks
me the capital of the state or vice versa. The calculator is awesome
because I can just draw a calculator when I don't have one, and it even
tells me what I punch in so I don't mess up. Fly tones is my favorite
program because all I have to do is draw a keyboard or set of drums and
then tap them to make music and I can even record the music and make it my
start up sound. The buzz phrase is fun because it can tell me jokes or my
fortune by just writing the command and then tapping it twice and it
answers any yes or no question in the fortune telling program. Overall, I
think this is a great learning tool and a very fun gadget for kids!" Included with the Pentop are Earbuds,
a Carrying Case FLY Launch Pad Guide, 17 Games, 35 FLY Paper Pages, 3
Interactive FLY-FX Cards, Interactive Map, 1 Silver Face Plate and 1
AAA Alkaline Battery. You'll want to purchase the FLYstyle:
Speaker a $14.99 accessory so you can hear it better. Ages 8 and up $99.99
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