Thursday Thirteen - Edition #27

Here are some great toys that are out for the holiday season.

#1) Hasbro has an actual-size dog called Biscuit who pants and responds to obedience commands.Very cool, maybe you could never get a real one.

#2)Playskool's Kota the Triceratops is so lifelike she responds to sound and touch and -- cool! -- kids can ride her too. My boys would of love this when they were little.

#3)Mattel's Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Gotta Go Doll teaches kids about potty training by going #1 and #2 (don't worry, you just get the sound effects). I'm so glad it not the real stuff.

#4)There are some really cool kid-powered green toys, like a penguin flashlight from Russimco that you pump to power, and this car made from reclaimed plastics by Sprig Toys that tells a story when you push it. Packaging is going green, too, as companies like Plan Toys and Russimco use more earth-friendly inks and biodegradable boxes.

#5)Other companies like Intellitoys bring the Internet directly to the toy when you plug it in and download new songs, games, and interactive stories onto it.

#6)The Internet + kids = worry for parents. Toy manufacturers are listening and have come out with products with online components that safeguard kids' safety on the web. Ty's Beanie Babies site includes chat rooms where only "Ty vocabulary" can be used (this way, no personal or sensitive info your child types in will show up).

#7)Changing the way kids will learn to ride bikes, we saw glide bikes go mass market this year with bikes from Melissa & Doug and Playskool that will make training wheels a thing of the past. This learn-to-ride bike is supposed to help kids learn to balance better than training wheels, so kids move right to a pedal bike when they're ready.

#8)A continuation of last year's big trend, there are lots of toys aiming to sneak exercise into indoor play (so no more couch potato kids). Kids can watch themselves with Playskool's Dance Cam, which hooks up to your TV.

#9)Kids can shake it with Tiger Electronic's U-DANCE game: an updated Dance Dance Revolution-style game without the mat.

#10)Moving way beyond Dora, bilingual toys were huge this year. Mattel's Manny Talkin' Tool Box talks to kids in both Spanish and English.

#11)Chicco's Bilingual Sing 'N Learn Kangaroo and LeapFrog's Learn & Groove line changes languages with the push of a button.

#12)For older kids, LeapFrog announced the Crammer Study & amp; Sound System -- essentially "electronic flash cards" for teens studying languages that not only helps them with translations, but pronunciation, too.

#13)Kids will love the lifelike D-Rex Dinosaur from Mattel as well as Fisher-Price's Spike the Ultra Dinosaur, which can walk, roar, and stand up on its hind legs with the press of a button. I saw this one at Target last week and it is really cool but it cost about $130.


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