Childsplay

Griffin Technology and Crayola have joined forces to launch "an entirely new digital play experience" in the form of the Crayola ColorStudio HD. Announced at CES this week, the system brings together a custom-built Crayola iMarker digital stylus with an iPad application that gives a high-tech edge to coloring by allowing kids to interact with the animated pages featuring music and special effects. Read More

Back in 1982, when the original Tron was released, movie merchandising wasn’t quite as... robust as it is today. Therefore, there wasn’t much available in the way of Tron collectibles, much to the chagrin of Apple II-using geeks everywhere. Skip forward 28 years, and you can now buy Tron Legacy toys before the movie has even opened. One of the first out of the starting gates is Air Hogs’ RC Zero G Light Cycle... and yes, you're right, remote-control toys have become pretty much a dime a dozen. Ones that can be driven across walls or ceilings, however, are still kind of special. Read More

“Robobutterfly” may not have quite the same coolness factor as words like Robocop, Robowrestler, or even Robogecko. The fact is, however, you can now buy your own flying mechanical butterfly, and it looks pretty impressive. Marketed in Japan as the ChouChou Electric Butterfly, the fluttering electric bug-in-a-mason-jar was unveiled at this year’s Tokyo Toy Show and this month it became available to the public. Read More

In an increasingly tech-centric world, keeping kids interested in learning can be an uphill battle. With teaching that involves play recently attracting some powerful supportive voices, students from MIT's Media Lab have developed a system which merges technology and play to stimulate young minds. The Playtime Computing system uses infrared emitters and tracking cameras to monitor the position of a special robot within a play area. As the bot disappears into a hole in a panel, it appears to continue its journey into a virtual world projected onto the walls. Read More

The In Your Own Voice Storyteller lets children enjoy a bedtime story with a familiar family voice – even if there's no familiar family member around. A parent, older sibling or grandparent records passages of a book onto a child friendly pen programmed with specifically coded stickers that can be attached to the relevant pages of a story book. All a child needs to do is place the pen over the sticker on the book’s page and the recording will play. Read More

Parrot's AR Drone, the iphone-controlled, twin-camera packing RC quadrocopter we first saw in action at CES 2010 has now been released. The US$300 flyer features interchangeable hulls for indoor and outdoor use, flight stabilization, autopilot technology, plus it can be networked with other drones for multi-player gameplay. Read More

It’s just what every young boy with a messy bedroom has dreamed of – a robot that trundles across the floor, picks things up, and takes them away. WowWee’s Roboscooper can do just that, although it’s limited to small objects that weigh no more than an ounce. The toy robot has six rubber wheels, a cargo bed, articulated arms, and a WALL-E-like head with infrared eyes. Users can guide it to objects manually with the remote control, or leave it in autonomous mode, where it roams around (avoiding obstacles) and picks up whatever it comes across. It then takes the items to a location determined by the user, where it shakes them out of its cargo bed. Read More

Some people might see it as a natural progression in the digital age, while others might see it as kind of blasphemous, but LEGO is set to launch an online video game based on its popular building blocks. Using over 2,000 types of pieces in 26 colors, players of LEGO Universe will virtually create their own avatars and other props, joining fellow subscribers worldwide on interactive adventures in the Land of Imagination. Picture a kid-friendly version of something like World of Warcraft, but one in which players have to build all the structures, vehicles, animals and whatnot that surround them, and you get the idea. Read More

I know parents who refuse to buy cheap, plastic toys for their children. They prefer products that are natural, eco-friendly and non-toxic. The Hut-Hut Kids rocking stool is all that and then some – it’s a solid-wood rocking horse made from FSC-certified wood and it’s not only functional, it stands alone as a beautifully designed piece of furniture. Read More