Ever wanted a toy that can guess what you are thinking? You need to try the 20Q!

All you have to do is think of a house hold item and 20Q will ask you questions until it guesses what it is your thinking. The artificial intelligence is really accurate and normally gets it right everytime.

20Q will keep you busy for hours whilst you try and outsmart it. The device is only small so your kids will be able to keep it in their pockets to impress their friends.

You can find the 20Q in most toy shops and it retails at a reasonable price of under £10.

What do you buy a baby or toddler to play with? Although they wont take much in at that age, it’s always good to get them something that will stimulate their brain and get them thinking of numbers, words, shapes and colours.

Books are always good, although require the mother of father to spend time reading it to them. Even a simple book that shows colours and shapes will be good for your baby.

Other toys such as stacking blocks, magnetic letters, keyboards and activity tables are great and will keep your baby entertained for hours….or until they fall asleep.

As summer is fast approaching it is a good idea to let the kids have some fresh air and get them away from the TV screens. What a better way to do this than buy them a bike.

Bike’s are a great investment and the kids will love going on bike rides when the sun is shining, it is also a great way for them to keep fit and active.

You can buy bikes for reasonable prices from shops like Toys R Us and Decathlon and at the moment there are huge sales so you will be able to purchase them at a bargain price.

Oh My Gosh! I have just had a blast from the past, remember Cabbage Patch Dolls?!?! Well, they are now back on the shelves. It was the early 80’s when cabbage patch dolls became really popular, they were loved then and it seems that they are still loved today.

The dolls that are on sale now haven’t really advanced too much, they come with adoption papers which can make kids feel like the doll is a baby all of their own.

Each doll is unique, with different hair and faces and all have that baby power smell which makes them different from all the other dolls on the shelf.

Cabbage Patch Dolls will definitely go down well with children, just like they did all those years ago!

Retail giants, Toys R Us are today apologising to a customer who’s daughter found pornographic images on a computer for sale on a shelf.

Toys R Us are claiming that the system had been overridden and someone had accessed an inappropriate website before the mother and daughter had access to it. The company are now looking into the matter and have started investigating how this happened.

Mrs Aisbett has said:

“I am not a prude but I could not believe what I saw right in front of me in a children’s toy shop. She just touched the buttons and the screen sprang to life. There was no mistaking what I saw.”

The company are also checking CCTV footage to see if they can capture anyone trying to hack into the computer.

What is your opinion on this? What would you do if you saw pornographic images on your child’s computer? There would definitely be a long letter of complaint slapped on the managers desk from me if that was my child!!

With Computer games and TV taking up a lot of children’s spare time it is no wonder that today too many children are overweight. With healthy eating and exercise actively encouraged to combat this issue it can be a tough regime for children who are used to spending hours just sitting down being entertained by media technology rather than finding ways to amuse themselves.
One solution is to provide children with active kids toys. These type of toys can make exercise fun rather than it being a boring laborious task. When I say active toys I mean toys that can be used outdoors such as trampolines go-karts. When using these toys children have fun and don’t even realise that they are doing exercise. Its true that sometimes these types of toys can be expensive but there are many good toy sites on the internet, so its defiantly worth shopping around. It can often be worth signing up to a company’s business mailing lists which will inform you of any special offers they have. If you keep a look out you can find some good bargains which will help to keep your child fit and healthy without having to break the bank.

We all try and motivate and encourage children to work hard at their education but what about rewarding them for all that hard work. We all know the reward is in doing well and achieving something you’ve put your mind to, but for young children motivation can be achieved by knowing they could receive a prize at the end. Many toy companies now sell toy trophies which can be a great prize for any child, or school class. It is much better than giving your child something like sweets or money as this is something that they can hold onto and represents how proud they should be of their achievements.
These trophies take many forms such as a medal on a ribbon or the traditional stand with a figurine on top. Many of these trophies even have the option of getting a plaque engraved, making the award much more personal. Many of the trophies available could even be used for small achievements such as winning a game at a birthday party or simply for being well behaved. Search the internet and you are sure to find these trophies at reasonable prices, whether they be bought individually or in bulk for a classroom of school children.

We all know that in today’s society children don’t have the same freedoms as they did 20 years ago. Whether this is because the streets are actually more dangerous or just that parents are more protective is unsure to say, but with news stories such as the Madeline Mccann case it only goes to make parents more wary and leads to children having less freedom to explore and fulfil their adventurous natures.

There may however be a solution to this… and the answer is GPS. We have all heard of GPS being used in vehicle tracking systems but now it can be used to track your children’s whereabouts. The tracking systems come in various different forms, some are clips which look like teddy bears and can be attached to clothing. Others come in the form of wrist watches which function like a mobile phones.

These devices can be set with a safe zone so that parents can be notified once the child has left this zone. They can also be set to alarm if a child falls into water such as a garden pond or local stream.
Some models also allow for two way communications between the parent and the child much like a pager and there are even more rugged models for those children who are into outdoor sports such as skiing and snowboarding.

Rather than infringe on your child’s freedom these devices allow you to grant them the freedom they need while giving you peace of mind.

As family’s head off on their holiday’s this year there is always one part of the trip which can be a less than relaxing experience……the travelling. Children often become restless on long journeys and who can blame them? Even adults don’t like being cooped up for long periods of time with nothing to do. Whether its safari holidays or skiing holidays the solution is often to bring some toys along for the journey. Most of the toys that your child would normally play with at home aren’t suitable for a plane (I doubt the air stewards would be happy trying to dodge a remote control car being driven round the isles) so here I aim to provide some suggestions as to the most suitable toys.

Some of the more typical choices would be a deck of cards or crayons. They don’t take up much room and can keep your child occupied for hours. Another more unusual but equally as useful suggestion is edible toys. These serve two purposes…. while keeping your child entertained they also help to ease the pain of pressure on eardrums during the planes descent.

An interactive listening toy such as your typical mp3 player can be used. With a bit of preplanning yo can record some audio stories onto your player ready to help your child to drift off to sleep during the flight.

Lastly… the most effective solution of all is to interact with your child. Play cards with them, tell them some stories yourself or play simple word games.
The next time you set off for faraway destinations remember these tips and your holiday can start as soon as you step on the plane.

We’ve all been there; You’ve hunted around for ages trying to find that one toy that’s at the top of your child’s Christmas List. Luckily you managed to find it and now it’s Christmas morning. Your child opens the present and all the hunting around has been worthwhile when you see that big smile on their face. Immediately they want to play with their brand new toy, but then you remember…..you forgot to buy the batteries. The smile disappears from both their face and yours. All the shops are closed and so you can’t get any batteries until they open again on Boxing Day. You end up running around the house trying to pinch batteries from remote controls while your child ends up disappointed and you have to try and find some other way to keep them occupied for the day.
With the amount of toys on the market today and the number of batteries they require it can seem like you are buying as many batteries as nappies and baby cream, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Next time you need to buy some batteries take a minute to think….would it be better to buy rechargeable batteries for those high power toys? This could potentially save you a lot of money over the year.
Many people make the mistake of buying knock of battery brands or those battery types not recommended by the manufacturer. Even though you think you are initially making a saving you could just be pouring money down the drain if they don’t work. There are many good battery suppliers out there, especially on the internet so why not make sure that you have some disposable and rechargeable batteries on hand so that next Christmas both you and your child won’t be disappointed.