CHRISTMAS SPECIAL TOP KID’S TOYS WITH AMANDA, SCOTT TWEEDIE & NAT HUNTER
1. FROM DISNEY’S FROZEN ICE SKATING ANNA & ELSA, $59.99 EACH AND TICKLE TIME OLAF, $39
Frozen was the smash-hit Disney film of 2013 – becoming the highest grossing animated film of all time! The film tells the story of fearless princess Anna, who sets off on an epic journey alongside rugged iceman Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven to find her estranged sister (Elsa), whose icy powers have inadvertently trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. Unsurprisingly Frozen toys are set to be a big seller this Christmas.
First up, ice-skating Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, $59.99 each. With just a simple push, Ice Skating Anna and Ice Skating Elsa glide gracefully back and forth, arms and leg moving in elegant ice-skating form, so kids everywhere can recreate the movie moment when Elsa skates to celebrate the end of winter, or they can make up icy cool adventures of their own. Queen Elsa wears a dress similar to what she wears in the movie with her tiara and braid in her hair. Anna is also in a traditional outfit. Both are easy to operate by gliding around with the wheel under their shoes.
Next, Tickle Time Olaf, $39. Standing 44cm tall, Olaf giggles when you tickle him, and also wiggles, spins and talks!
Stockist: Ice Skating Anna & Elsa – Big W / Tickle Time Olaf – Target
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2. BOOMCO RAPID MADNESS BLASTER, $138.99
This new blaster revolutionises the way you play on the battlefield. The blaster either blasts 20 darts in seconds for ultimate firepower or a single-shot for accuracy that fires up to 50ft.
The Rapid Madness Blaster is air-powered (no batteries needed!) and its 20- dart clip is specially designed not to jam, delivering amazing blasting action in seconds!
It also has push-button, removable transforming Smart Stick blaster shields - an awesome new material that's on the tip of every dart and in every round, that sticks to BOOMco. targets and blaster shields—so you see exactly where you nailed it and lets you capture your opponent's darts and use them yourself!
Team up with your buddies or go all out on your own— BOOMco. is ready to help you revolutionize the way you blast free.
Includes 30 Smart Stick darts, a 20-dart clip and a Smart Stick target.
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 3. MY FRIEND CAYLA, $98
My Friend Cayla is like no other doll on the market: thanks to the latest technological innovation she can tell stories and play games, and once connected to the internet via Bluetooth, she really does come to life.
Children can ask her anything from what the weather is going to be like this week, to maths questions involving multiplication, division and more. This is all made possible by Google's speech-to-text technology that searches the web for answers, which she then says back to the person interacting with her. So she’s a perfect homework buddy!
She features Google's SafeSearch technology meaning there will be no experimenting with "bad words".
My Friend Cayla acts like a real friend for kids aged 3-7 years and brings a new level of magic, education and fun to playtime, making sure she likely to be every parent’s best friend too.
NB. When you turn her on she tells a bit of a story about herself. You can’t ask her any questions until she’s done with her story. You can only ask questions when the white light is signing on her necklace. Best questions to ask: How do you make a cake? Who’s your favourite princess? What’s 12 divided by 4?
Stockist: Big W
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 4. MY MONOPOLY, 39.99
The new My Monopoly board game allows you to create a personalized Monopoly game in just minutes. It’s linked to a free My Monopoly app or a visit www.mymonopoly.com to set up an account and personalise property spaces, game tokens, Community Chest and Chance cards to use in the My Monopoly board game.
Players can choose your own photos from your computer, smart device, or popular social media sites such as Facebook. Have fun adding captions or descriptions to the photos. Then print them out on the included My Monopoly sticker sheets, place the stickers on the Community Chest and Chance cards. You can move your personalized tiles to different places on the board to create a different gameboard each time you play.
You can also play the My Monopoly game the traditional way, right out of the box using the classic Monopoly game property spaces that are printed on the gameboard. Just like the original game, the My Monopoly game enables gamers to buy properties, earn rent, and collect a salary for passing Go.
REFERENCE RETRO TOY CLASSICS: Snakes & ladders - awholelotoflove, from $34 Silly Circus Humming Top - awholelotoflove, $24.95 Slinky Toy - Hasbro, $9.99 Operation - Hasbro, $39.99 Mr & Mrs Potato Head - Hasbro, $32.99 Tin Robots - awholelotoflove.com,au, from $34 Pic A Stic - awholelotoflove $6.50 Mouse Trap Board Game (new version released this year) - Hasbro, $29.96 Pin the tail on the donkey - awholelotoflove, $12 Dominos - awholelotoflove, from $8 Marbles - awholelotoflove, from $15 Retro Jacks - awholelotoflove, $13.95
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 5. KINETIC SAND, FROM $24.95
Kinetic Sand is fun, mess-free, sculpting sand that is 98% sand and 2% magic! (NB. The magic is a non-toxic, synthetic polymer.) • Leaves no residue • Your hands stay clean • Cleaning up is a breeze • Kinetic sand only sticks to itself • There is no mess • Kinetic sand never dries out – so no sandbox required!
Kinetic sand is an exciting new way to enjoy the beach without getting sand all through the car. The reusable sand is just like magic, soft and stretchy you can easily sculpt kinetic sand or mould it into various shapes.
While it may appear like wet sand, the magic sand is in fact completely dry and sticks to itself, saving you from a boring clean up job. Kinetic sand is non- toxic and anti-microbial to protect you from germs.
It's sand that breathes motion. Soothing to play with and excellent for fine motor skill development for your growing toddlers.
NB. Don’t mix with water.
Coloured kinetic sand - 2.5kg, $39.95 1kg kinetic sand, $24.95 5kg kinetic sand, $64.95 NB. Tools available for $12.95
Stockist: shop.AustralianGeographic.com.au
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 6. SEW COOL SEWING STUDIO, $49.95
The Sew Cool Sewing Studio is a revolutionary threadless machine that's perfect for a first time sewing experience for girls aged 6+ - there’s no foot pedal, no bobbins to wind, no needles to thread and has a needle guard to keep the kids’ hands protected as they sew. It has everything you need to start sewing right away and comes with 9 projects you can create from start to end - patterns and pre-cut shapes for stuffed characters, purses, pouches, pencil case and more. The Sew Cool Sewing Studio encourages imagination and hand eye coordination for kids aged 6+ There’s also an emergency stop button; It features seem alignment and a sewing guide so all kids do is press a button and move thread under the needle.
Additional sew cool patterns can be downloaded and refill packs of sew cool fabric are all sold separately.
Kids should take their time and eventually they will get the hang of it
NB. Requires 4 x AA batteries for operation (not included) Stockist: Big W
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 7. TRANSFORMERS CHOMP & STOMP ROBOT, $149
Transformers adventures just got a whole lot bigger! Chomp and Stomp Grimlock figure is a giant, 20-inch robot with a mighty sword who’s ready to take on any enemy.
This transformer changes in 1 step to a dino with a terrible, chomping jaw and light-up eyes! Team him up with the included Optimus Prime mini-figure for maximum mayhem.
Power Battlers and One-Step Changes figures (sold separately) activate different lights, sounds and weapons, and his weapons pop out for battle!
You can decide which mode to put him in for the most awesome Transformer action!
Figure comes with mini-figure and accessory, and the 20-inch chomp and stomp Grimlock robot changes in 1 step to dino mode.
Ages 5 and up
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 8. XENO TOY, $79.99 EACH
Have hours of fun with the Xeno Interactive Monster! It's disgustingly adorable, cute and cuddly – it’s basically the friendliest monster around.
He’s made out of soft, squishy, weird, Xeno-skin-stuff (completely non-toxic elastic material) and has expressive LCD eyes that let you know how he's feeling. He can move his body in many different ways: he can lift his ears, move his paws wiggle, open and close his mouth, shake his head and lots more. He has 8 different sensors that you can use to interact with him: head, mouth, tummy (he’ll burp if you push it), right hand, left hand, left pawfoot, tail (he’ll fart if you squeeze it) and snot!
You can play with him and look after him as if he were a real pet. Feed him, care for him when he gets sick, tickle him, blow his nose, cuddle him if he's sad, try to understand what makes him angry or happy and play music for him - he'll dance, although only if he likes it!
As well as looking after him, you can also play 5 mini-games with him – To make him do this you have to push and hold both his hands for few a seconds. He’ll ask if you ‘Wanna Play?’ – yes is his right hand (your left) and no is his left hand (your right). Then he’ll offer you games like catcha-catcha – where he’ll open his mouth wide and you have to try and put your finger in his mouth before he closes it.
But that's not all! If you put two Xenos close together, they'll start chatting to each other in their own funny language.
Xeno' also has his own app that you can download for free.
Xeno' comes in ultra violet, pacific blue and burnt orange.
Stockist: Toys R Us