It’s that time of year when folks start looking in earnest for holiday gifts for kids in their lives. And for a lot of folks, that means toys with a technology or science-y slant. There’s certainly no lack of ideas out there, but I thought the lists from Kris Naudus on Engadget and Max Dunn on Top Tech were both pretty good. Here are the highlights.
For the really little ones, there’s the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Game Controller that looks like a real game controller, if real game controllers looked like Fisher Price toys. This one lets those kiddos play along while you’re gaming, and learn numbers, letters, and shapes while they’re at it.
More old school than high tech, Fisher Price also has the Fisher Price Rockin’ Record Player. There’s nothing like putting a record on the platter and letting it spin. (Playing music digitally is overrated!)
Believe it or not, Tamagotchi has been around for 25 years, which means that some of the original Tamagotchi users will be looking for updated versions for their own kids. The latest is the Uni which comes with Wi-Fi so that your creature can meet up with their pals online.
Tonieboxes are screen-free audio players that let even very young children pick their favorite tunes and stories. The basic collection can be augmented with content from Disney, Pixar, and Marvel, among others.
Not willing to put your iPhone in the hands of your baby? The Leapfrog Chat and Count Emoji Phone gives your little one plenty to occupy them, without running the risk that they’ll accidentally place an Amazon order, make a bank transfer, or message your boss.
If you’d prefer your child’s puppet to be more than just a plain old puppet, Disney has the Real FX alien (from Lilo & Stitch) which comes with animatronics.
This is not quite a tech toy, but Barbie – yes, the Barbie – now has a career set featuring two Barbies as chemists. Could there be a Barbie-pink Nobel Prize in their futures?
The Hajimari Ball is a high-tech boomerang spinner that’s billed as a way to get the kids off of their phones, tablets, and gaming devices. Plus it gets them outdoors. The Hajimari is a bit pricey, but there are plenty of flying-floating-droning-boomeranging orbs out there for the asking.
Another toy that touts itself as a means to get the kids up off the couch is the Steer Falcon Jet Fighter Stunt RC Airplane. It can fly! It can glide! It can hover! And it can perform a few stunts, too.
For a more down-to-earth remote-control vehicle, there’s the Turbo Drive RC which can be operated using hand gestures (or the usual remote-control console). There are plenty of gesture-driven remote-control cars, but this one seems to get uniformly high marks.
Most of the gifts on the Top Tech list are for older kids, but the Crabby Cruiser has infants in mind. When your baby’s on their tummy, propping themselves up, and getting ready to crawl, they’ll want to make a grab at this cruising crab, helping develop motor skills. Toddlers will have fun chasing after it, too.
Back to the older kids, the Spark Cubix is a Rubik’s Cube on steroids. While with the Rubik’s Cube, users “just” try to get the colors to align, the Spark offers multiple games and comes with the requisite flashing LED lights.
Nothing especially high-tech or science-y about the Bubblemi Blaster, but who wouldn’t want to be able to make thousands of bubbles, one shot at a time. The LED lights would be good for a nighttime event, but even without the lights, this one just looks like good old-fashioned fun.
The Black Falcon 4K is a small-ish drone that comes equipped with a 4K camera. One of the best things about it is affordability. (You may be able to find it on sale for a bit under $100.)
I go back and forth about tech toys for kids, sometimes confessing to a bit of nostalgia for the firetrucks and baby dolls of yore. But today’s world is tech-infused, and our kids and grandkids need to be fully equipped to make the most of that world. The beauty of most of the tech toys listed here is that they offer an option to kids who are glued to their screens pretty much all day.
Enjoy your holiday shopping!