Toys and Games – Reviews and News

There are some great items out there for your boys and girls this year, but we all know how hard it can sometimes be to figure out what they’re wanting and how to get it at any one time. Thus we thought we would bring you a few helpful tips on the most sought after girls and boys toys are for this Christmas. As ever, there are some fantastic and ingenious toys on the market, and all of them would make ideal Christmas gifts, but which is best? Let’s take a look at the best boys toys for Christmas first.

Merchandise from TV shows and movies is as big as ever, if not more so this year. Some of the hottest items in this arena include the Ben 10 Omnitrix, the Bakugan starter set and battle arena, the Power Rangers Overdrive Tracker and the WWE Raw Arena playset. Transformers have returned to Christmas lists thanks to the movie, the forthcoming sequel and the new animated series. Airhogs, Flying RC helicopters and Bladestar are there for young fans of flying machines.

Star Wars is big again thanks to the Clone Wars TV series and movie, with the Clone Trooper Voice Changer Helmet being one of the biggest draws this year for young fans. There’s also action figures and the great Star Wars Lego range available too. Wall-E fans have the Transforming Wall-E toy to look forward to, and Indiana Jones fans can now dress up as their hero with the great Whip and Hat replica. The Gormiti Island playset is perfect for children too, offering a great way to display their figures.

What about the girls? It can feel like an uphill struggle when trying to figure out what are the best toys for girls at Christmas, and the choice is always growing. The classics, such as dolls and animal toys, are always around and always evolving, with advances in technology meaning that these toys are ever more interactive and ever more engrossing. The problem is, which to get this year, from the huge range available? The best thing to do is check out ‘top ten’ sites, or see what is doing well in the charts on large outlets such as Amazon. Then you can compare prices of the items and the postage, and decide on what is the best deal for you this Christmas time.

While dolls and more traditional toys are always popular each year, the range of official media tie-in merchandise from movies, TV and games are proving to be ever more popular,. This year there’s a wide range of merchandise available to do with High School Musical, for example. There's an official High School Musical dance mat that will let kids learn the moves and lyrics, and there's also some great sing-along Fashion dolls available, as well as countless other items for the franchise.

Other classics back on the market include Barbie with the Singing princess Liana doll, Littlest pet Shop with the VIP pets, Sylvanian Families, Bratz and more. New hits this year include the Baby Born with Magic Potty set, the Chou Chou Doll who grows her first teeth, and I Love Ponies Honey my Baby Pony.

There are some great tech gifts available too, with items such as pink laptops, the new iPod nano, the My Life Virtual Console and even pink guitars out there now to make girls’ Christmas wishes come true this year. There are some great ideas for Christmas gifts for girls on the market this year, and lots of new items that girls will love for years to come.
There really is a massive range of items available for children this year, and we hope that our tips help you towards the best gifts Christmas ever. Good luck, and have a great time this festive season!

Where do you start with buying a learning toy for a child?

Are you the harassed Uncle or Auntie wondering what to buy a niece or nephew? Are you a puzzled Mum or Dad wondering what toy may connect with your child and develop them further?

Truth be told there are simply too many toys for parents to choose from and guess what the parents choice is typically narrowed by advertisers and peer pressure.

Look at every Christmas, there is typically a mad stampede for the en-vogue toy of choice, which inavriably ends-up in the obscure never-never land of the back of the wardrobe once the novelty wears off.

Another factor is are those buying presents actually that bothered whether a toy is going to have the right benefit for the child? My guess and experience is not, but you may disagree.

Do the likes of Argos, Woolworths and Toys R Us and the like actually give people the right choices? Or are mass marketed, mass produced, easy win, easy buy toys with attractive packaging co-ersing people into making an impulse purchase.

Have you ever tried asking a member of staff on whether a specific toy would be good for a childs reading, or writing or arithmitec skills? They haven’t a clue and subsequently a child is then in the hands of the gods.

Unfortunately this is endemic of society and the fast speedy world in which we live in which everything must be done at a pace. Thankfully there are a number of stores which do care about children and that do care about what toys they play with.

Traditional toys, wooden toys, retro toys, learning toys, educational toys call them what you like, they still have a place in homes up and down the UK, it is just a pity that so many people do not get to know about these stores.

I have purchased many of these ‘traditional toys’ but not from the big high street stores, I have always found the time to be purposeful about certain toy purchases. That is not to say that I do not enjoy a visit to Toys R Us? Of course I do, all that fun in one place. All I am saying is don’t expect to find toys that will make use of your child’s imagination and nurture their learning.

My favourite Toy Shops include Mulberry Bush Online Toy Shop which is great for Traditional Toys and Hamleys which is an absolute Aladdins cave!