Twelve toys of Christmas: under £50 toys a hit this year

Last month’s industry research found that British kids are hankering for sub-£50 toys and games this Christmas.

That’s probably good news for cash-strapped parents.

A few old favourites get makeovers, including LEGO, Monopoly and Transformers.

The Toy Retailers Association found that the average price of a toy on the top dozen list was around £26. That’s £6 less than two years ago.

“With licensed toys combining the fun and familiarity of popular characters as well as collectable, pocket money priced toys making a big comeback this year, we are in for an affordable, family orientated Christmas,” said the association’s chairman Gary Grant.

“The list also reveals a trend towards nostalgic characters and brands which have been updated with a modern twist. Consumers are reverting back to heritage brands which will last longer than the Christmas season.”

The dozen is:

1. Bakugan Battle Pack
2. Battle Strikers Starter Set
3. Ben 10 Alien Force Kevin’s DX Action Cruiser
4. Bendaroos Mega Pack
5. Go Go Pets Hamster
6. GX Racers Tightrope Terror
7. Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera
8. LEGO Games 3841 Minotaurus
9. Monopoly City
10. Princess Peppa’s Palace
11. Sylvanian Families Caravan
12. Transformers Movie 2 Voyagers Figures

Internet Watch: adult games sold to kids, Internet addiction, Twitter challenge benefits UNICEF

Welcome to Family Relationships Magazine’s weekly roundup of news about the Internet, particularly as it relates to children and families

Adult games sold to British kids

Trading Standards recently discovered that a number of online retailers are selling “mature” video games to children.

“The teenage volunteer visited 16 separate outlets and found that a dozen of them sold games. Only U.K stores Gamestation, Game, PC World and WH Smith refused to sell the titles.”

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Children dependent on Internet

A new survey has discovered that Taiwanese children are more dependent on the Internet than ever before.

“Cartoon Network, from Feb 24 to March 23, interviewed a total of 1,001 children (aged between 7 and 14 years old) and 1,001 parents in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung in order to find out more about the local children’s lifestyle habits. It released its survey results yesterday and found that more than 90 percent of child respondents use the Internet frequently, with nearly 50 percent of children whose age falls between 13 and 14 years old using the Internet to play online games, download music, write blogs, send e-mail or use instant message services on a daily basis.”

It’s inevitable and a trend that’s likely to be reflected in other industrialised countries across the world.

It reinforces the need for parents to remain vigilant when it comes to their children’s Internet usage, including setting rules and boundaries.

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Twitter challenge raises money for UNICEF

Whether you’d heard of the “Twitter challenge” between Ashton Kutcher and CNN, or even cared, the real winners appear to have been children, as UNICEF announced on Friday that it has received $100,000 from CNN designated for the provision of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) meant to stem the spread of malaria.

Toy Watch: Hexbugs, Fruit Factory, Roary Racing Car, Lazy Town

A selection of the latest children’s toys and games to catch our eye.

Hexbugs

For your teenager (aged 14+) these colourful little robot insects could provide some amusement. They scuttle around, detecting and avoiding obstacles and shying away from loud noises.

Available in five colours for £9.99 each from I Want One of Those.

Let’s Cook 3-in-1 Fruit Factory

With the Let’s Cook Fruit Factory there are 3 ways to get your 5-a-day portions of fruit! Safe to use, the blender allows you to turn fruit into delicious juice and smoothies or you can pour into the special lolly cases, pop into the freezer and enjoy healthy, yummy lolly pops!

Try an apple lolly or a banana smoothie! What ever your choice you’ll have fun making them with the Lets Cook Fruit Factory

Suitable for ages 5+. £19.98. Available from Kiddimax

Roary the Racing Car Light ‘em up Roary Torch

It’s time to shine with Roary’s Light ‘em up Torch!

In the daytime you can play with Roary as a car and at night you can switch him on, pull up the handle and you will be able to see in the dark. His cap and eyes glow too.

Suitable for ages 3+. £9.89. Available from Kiddimax

Lazy Town Talking & Singing Stephanie Stylin Moves

Clip on the backpack to hear phrases & on the go music, You can also dress Stephanie for a sleepover party!

Includes:

• 2 Outfits
• Comb
• Hairclip
• Sleeping bag
• Pom poms
• Charm for you to wear!

Suitable for ages 3+. £19.89. Available from Kiddimax

Top Toys for Christmas 2008: Toys R Us announces list

Leading toy store Toys R Us has announced what it believes will be this year’s must have Christmas toys. Don’t be surprised that a lot of these are quite high-budget items, including Nintendo games consoles and an Asus Eee PC.

Having said that, it’s good to see some of the classics are still in place, including LEGO, plus some educational items from LeapFrog.

So here we go. (Please note that the links are to relevant searches on Amazon.co.uk. If you buy anything from Amazon directly from these links, we earn a small commission. Thanks )

• High School Musical Dance Mat
• Hannah Montana Tour Bus
• Baby Annabel Doll
• Ben 10 Action Figures
• Ben 10 Omnitrix Watch
• In the Night Garden Upsy Daisy and her Bed
• Dance with me Teletubby
• Lego
• Star Wars Clone Wars
• Dr Who Classic Figures
• Bakugan Battle Brawlers
• My Meebas
• Catcha Beast
• Fur Real Biscuit
• Silverlit Picoo-Z Helicopter
• Nintendo Wii & Nintendo DS
• Monopoly Here and Now; the World Edition
• Baby Chou Chou My First Tooth Doll
• LeapFrog Tag
• LeapFrog Musical Fold Up Trike
• Asus Eec PC 7" Laptop
• Nintendo Wii and DS Lite

Early Learning Centre gears up for Christmas with 450 new toys

The Early Learning Centre has announced a huge range of new toys coming into stock in plenty of time for Christmas this year.

As a special offer, customers buying any product from the Star Buys range will receive another free toy.

The Brilliant Start range of toys is designed specially for babies, featuring black and white designs with bold colours and graphics.

Toys such as the Brilliant Start Activity Table help to encourage babies’ visual development and boost their strength and co-ordination.

The ever-popular Classic range of toys are made from wood, tin, and fabric, and include the Tin Spinning Top and Rocking Horse.

A number of Christmas toys are also on offer to encourage children to use their imagination and creativity including the Snow Queen Palace, featuring towers and balconies. Along with the Magical Figure Set, this is a Christmas must have for imaginative children.

Early Learning Centre

Turn”down time” into “family time”

Down time? What on earth is that?

Yes, I expect we all know what the phrase means, but there seems to be precious little of it around.

Despite this, it’s highly likely that there are small pockets of “down time” in between all of life’s busyness. These are the times that can be turned into “family time”.

We don’t need hours of time to enjoy being with the people we love,” said Lissa Coffey, family and relationships expert for Hasbro games and author of Getting There! 9 Ways to Help Your Kids Learn What Matters Most in Life. “Catching moments here and there, at home or while waiting at the doctors office, helps to create memories and will build strong, lasting relationships.”

She comes up with some ideas for making the most of short pockets of time that could otherwise slip past.

Green Therapy

To avoid “nature deficit disorder”, get outside – even for just a few minutes. Not only does it distract kids from modern entertainment, but it helps them to appreciate both the family, and the natural world around them.

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Early Learning Centre release their latest toys to create a wonderful Christmas

Christmas is always an exciting time for children and this year at Early Learning Centre there are more than 2,000 wonderful toys to choose from, with over 500 new introductions this season.

Christmas is about the magical realms of make believe, imagination and fairy tales. The Magical Fairy Toadstool (ages 3-8yrs), a pretty woodland home for fairies, is just one of the fantastic new Christmas toys available from ELC. Open the toadstool to reveal an upstairs and downstairs play area with two gorgeous fairies and their furniture. Children can just press the buttons to see lights and hear magical sounds.

Little mermaids can dream up under the sea adventures with the Mermaid Wonderworld (ages 3–8 yrs). This wonderful underwater kingdom has coral to swim around, shells to sit on, friendly sea creatures to talk to and a glowing palace. To add to this, there are glamorous sea princesses, King Neptune’s shell carriage and 4 beautiful mermaids who love to play under the waves. Rosebud Dolls House (3-8yrs) is a gorgeous three storey, painted doll’s house with fully opening front and attic. Children can arrange the room sets however they like and create their own family adventures and lose themselves in this tiny world.

Little cooks will fall in love with the Retro Kitchen (3-8yrs). A beautiful wooden kitchen in cool blue with an oven, two hob rings, dishwasher and sink. The roomy fridge freezer has plenty of space to store play food. With a kitchen as good as this children could run a top-starred play restaurant.

Evil alien Doc Tox is polluting the world with his smelly GLOBS (Gross Lumps Of Bad Smells). Only the brave Planet Protectors team (3-8yrs) with their clever vehicles can stop him. Children can choose Ice the arctic protector, Reef the sea protector, Kat the land protector, Eye the sky protector, Ridge the mountain protector or Ace the jungle protector. The Planet Protectors spaceship (3-8yrs) opens up into their HQ where Nuts the monkey is always on the look out for Doc Tox.

Brave knights will love the Castle of Courage (3–8 yrs) with 4 towers, turrets, battlements, flagpoles and working drawbridge. They can relive the old stories of knights in shining armour, wonderful wizards and epic conflicts with a range of accessory characters or come face to face with a Remote Control Dragon (3–8 yrs). He roars, walks and flaps his wings.

The magnificent wooden Pirate Galleon with cannons, crow’s nest, plank, helm, anchor and sails (3–8yrs) is a must-have for aspiring sailors. Who dares to sail into the cave on Skull Island (3-8yrs)? A fierce rocky outcrop with portcullis jaws, platform and rickety ladder across to the pirate landing stage.

Early learning Centre creates fantastic toys – toys that help develop vital skills, toys that help kids get off to the best possible start, and toys that are tremendous fun. A passion for learning through play and a commitment to quality make Early Learning Centre a wonderful experience for everyone this Christmas.

Early Learning Centre

Wanted: Top tots to trial Christmas toys

Christmas will come early for ten lucky tots, as a search gets underway to find the UKÂ’’s youngest panel of toy experts to play SantaÂ’’s little helpersÂ’, and pick out the must have toys for this festive season.

North West based Toy company, Martin Yaffe, is offering 10 children aged between three and six years old a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join its ‘play panelÂ’ – spending a whole day playing with hundreds of brand new products that wonÂ’’t hit toy shop shelves across the country until September.

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