Christmas is inching closer, so get ahead of the game (and the queues!) with our top child friendly tech toy predictions for the festive season 2014. A magical gizmo that will read any book out loud to your little one and a child's smart watch are just two of our present predictions...
1. Spark Up The Magical Book Reader £39.99, 3+ years
Now here is a device that keeps the kids away from the PC but allows them share a digital experience whilst emersing themselves in a book, what's more you can clip it onto any picture book in the world. It reads out the story page by page, recognises if you skip any and continues the story. If you can't quite make commit to nightly bedtime stories, why not pre-record the stories so your tot can be soothed by your voice at night? Pre-recorded books are also available on the Spark Up's website.
2. Tamagotchi Digital Friend, £24.99, 6+ years
Do your kids keep nagging you for a pet? Keep them quiet with a classic Tamagotchi! It'll teach them to feed, care for and play with their little eggs by gaining points for items you can buy in the Tamagotchi shop. Plus they can learn to share as the hatched pet allows you to give and receive gifts with friends.
3. Tamagotchi Digital Friend, £24.99, 6+ years
Do your kids keep nagging you for a pet? Keep them quiet with a classic Tamagotchi! It'll teach them to feed, care for and play with their little eggs by gaining points for items you can buy in the Tamagotchi shop. Plus they can learn to share as the hatched pet allows you to give and receive gifts with friends.
4. Bop It Beats £21.99 Hasbro, 8 to 15 years
First you could Bop it, flick it, pull it…Now you can mix it and re-mix it! This new spin on the classic Bop It hand held game allows you to play along to music from artists such as Nicki Minaj and Avicii. It has five game modes: Classic, Classic Party, DJ, DjJ Party and Remix. Bop It! Beats allows you to play with or against your friends in the bid to gain the high score. Available from all good toy stores.
5. Furby Boom Crystals £64.99 Hasbro, 6+ years
Furby is back with a boom, and what's more the furry electronic pet has had a crystal makeover! It has to be kept healthy by cleaning it, feeding it and even taking it to the bathroom and depending on how you look after your Furby, its personality will develop differently. A great way to teach responsibility from a young age!
6. LeapFrog LeapPad3 Learning Tablet £89.99, 3 to 9 years
Designed to be kid friendly this savvy tablet has restricted access to the child-proof web and has personalised learning that adjusts to each individual. With a 6+ hours battery life and 4GB of memory, the kids will be entertained for hours! It comes in two different colours: pink and green and is available from Tesco.
7. Kidizoom Smart Watch £39.99, 5 to 12 years
Available in 3 different colours: pink, white and blue, the Kidizoom smart watch has a sensitive touch screen that allows you to watch videos, play games and take pictures. It also has practical features such as an alarm, stopwatch and timer. The fun doesn't stop there as you can even record your own voice and play around with the effects! Get this gizmo at Amazon.
8. Teksta T-rex £60.00 Hamleys, 5+ years
This terrifying dinosaur reacts to commands made through hand movements and can perform a bunch of tricks such as munching on his bone, burping and regurgitating. Yuck! He has a range of eye expressions aswell as being able to roar and shake his head. The kids will love it and you can bag one at Hamleys.
9. My Friend Cayla £75, 3 to 4 years
More than just a doll, Carla is the first doll to be connected to the internet so she can act like a real friend who can play games, tell stories, and even help your kids with their homework! Just sync her with any android or IOS device via bluetooth and she will use Google's speech-to-text technology to look up the answers and talk back! But don't worry she is forbidden from talking about taboo topics to stay child-friendly.
10. Xeno The Interactive Monster £100 Entertainment Shop, 5 to 9 years
If you're not a fan of toilet humour then we suggest you turn away when the kids are playing with this mischievous little monster, because he farts, burps and you can pull bogey's from his nose…charming! Despite the gory bits, the interactive creature has a huge range of movements and emotions, most of which are expressed through his LCD graphic eyes. If you pair him with another Xeno they will talk to each other and you can carry on the fun with his mini games app.
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