technology toys

Kids Gaming and Gadgets Gift Guide

By in Gift Guides & Seasonal, Uncategorized 18 Comments Tags: , , ,

kids gaming and gadgets gift guideThe holiday season is approaching and for many older children, technology and gadgets will be on their wish list. Even my 5 year old has already started getting interested in gaming! The boys dad is always into his gaming and gadgets too, so when I want to get him a present he will really love, I know to focus on this kind of category. Here are my ideas for the Kids gaming and gadgets gift guide!

Technology Toys

My boys love any remote control vehicles. There are some really cool ones available which you can control by using your iPhone or iPad like this Interactive Monster Truck. I’m sure this would appeal to both children and adults so it’s a nice one for families to play together.

kids gaming remote control carYou can also get versions with a camera installed like the Bee-Wi Scarabee

Or what about this Drum Kit Playmat

drum kit playmatIt’s battery powered and comes with a headset. A great way to combine technology and creativity.

For the very youngest children, they could get started with something from the LeapFrog touch magic range like this rockin’ guitar (my boys have this and it’s really cool). The touch magic surfaces reacts like a smart phone screen.

Good Gaming TVs

For children or teenagers who are that bit older and starting to get into console gaming a lot more, a good gaming TV is a must so this could be a gift idea to consider.  It’s essential to have a wide screen and HD makes a big difference to a lot of the graphics.

samsung gaming tvWe have a Samsung 32″ TV which does the job well. They don’t have to be too expensive you can get some great bargains in suitable gaming TVs these days.

Gaming Headsets

Another idea to consider is a good quality gaming headset. This can really add to the gaming experience because of the enhanced sound quality and has the added benefit of keeping the house quiet for the rest of the family! Whilst there aren’t many options out there for the new generation of consoles just yet, Gioteck are due to release some PS4 gaming headsets in next the few weeks.


Gaming chairs

Gioteck also do some really cool gaming chairs which would be ideal for a teenagers living room. I am sure we will end up turning our playroom into a teenage living space when the boys are a bit older and I would be thinking about putting these kind of chairs in

teen or kids gaming chairConsole Accessories and Games

If you have XBox and don’t have Kinect, then this is definitely something to think about buying. I find Kinect enables the XBox to be more of a family entertainment by playing active games all together, and it can also make some of the games more appealing and accessible to the youngest gamers in the house. Some ideal Kinect games for families and young children are:

One which is likely to be really big this Christmas is Disney Infinity

disney infinityWe haven’t got this yet but it looks great, it is definitely on my wishlist!

Some ideal game ideas for younger players which don’t require Kinect are:

If your child has their eye on something really expensive like a new iPad air, their own iPhone 5s or even a 3d TV – then they might also be able to make use of a more low tech and traditional gift – the good old money box, like this Morph one, to help them save up and achieve their dream gadget!

morph money box*This featured post also contains some affiliate links

Battroborg

By in Toy Reviews 14 Comments Tags: , ,

Battroborg is a new range of motion controlled battling robots, made by Tomy. They are very cool and Mr Z was lucky enough to be sent a set to review.

battroborgsetThe Battroborg Arena sets come with one Arena, 2 Battroborg robots and 2 sets of controllers, 4 training drones, stickers to decorate, and instructions.

Mr Z’s set is Clubber Vs Scaldor, which is a green and a red robot. There are other varieties of the robots if you wish to expand your collection further or to have more robots battling in the arena at once!

The battle arena is pretty easy to set up, you just attach the rope pieces to the side. The battle robots need to be charged for 20 minutes before use, and then they have power to fight for 20 minutes. Charging is really easy, you just plug each robot into one of the wireless controllers. (The controllers take 4x AA batteries each)

When playing with the robots, you hold your wireless controller and simply punch with the left or right to control and move your robot and it follows what you do. It was easy enough for Mr Z age 5 to grasp the concept quickly and easily and he really enjoyed it. To win, you need to keep getting hits to your opponent robot which will make their lights chance colour. Once they lose 5 lives, they are out and your robot will be the winner! Of course they will be trying to beat you at the same time!

We found Battroborg great. It’s a lot of fun for Mr Z. Now he is 5.5 years old and in Year 1 he wants to play with older and cooler toys than what his younger brothers are playing with and Battroborg is perfect for him. It’s something that can really appeal to all ages from 5 and half -6 upwards, I heard Mr Z’s dad playing Battroborg with him yesterday and seemed to be enjoying it as much as Mr Z was! 😀

battro2

You do need to keep it away from younger siblings. The robots are quite delicate and intricate and I don’t think it would stand up well to being handled by prschoolers. The suggested age range of 6+ is pretty accurate and is there for a reason. When playing, you also need to make sure you don’t accidentally touch the face of the robots or they will loose a life as that’s how they register hits! So if you need to move the robot, you have to pick it up by its flag. Mr Z learned this after a couple of times accidentally losing lives!

Our verdict is that Battroborg is very cool, and very fun! I would recommend it.

The Arena packs are £69.99 and individual extra robots are £29.99, so not cheap but it is a very advanced toy! It would be a great Christmas present.

Battroborg will be at selected Entertainer stores this month. You can go along for the chance to see and try out this amazing toy and take part in their “Beat the Boxer” competition where there is the chance to get a limited edition Golden Battroborg!

The Entertainer Birmingham – Unit MSU10A, Lower Mall Bullring, Birmingham, B5 4BE – Saturday 16th November

The Entertainer Kent Blue Water – EVU06, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Greenhithe, DA9 9ST Saturday 23rd November

The Entertainer Whiteley Unit B8, Whiteley Shopping Centre, Whiteley Way, Whiteley, Fareham, PO15 7LJ Saturday 30th November

Also follow the new UK Twitter page @BattroborgUK for lots of videos and competitions!

To see the Battroborgs in action have a look at this video:

If you want the chance to win one of these Arena Sets, go over to ET Speaks from Home blog as my friend Eileen is holding a great competition to win this! Enter here