Fun on the Go
Small and portable is hot, hot, hot -- so you'll have tons to choose from for that next interminable car trip. Parents Water Works is a snazzy take-along drawing board with leak-proof water pens; Hasbro's 20 Minute Game Breaks includes miniature versions of Scrabble and Monopoly; Play Along's Cabbage Patch Kids also come in a mini-me form called Lil' Sprouts; and there's an on-the-go version of Mattel's trivia game Scene It? for kids called Scene It?
Get GrossedOut
Burps, farts, puking -- gross sound effects are big. Little boys won't be able to contain their giggles over loud, obnoxious belching noises from Crayola's Burp'n Monster Sharpener (at left). Hot Wheels� Maniacs offer an appealing array of graphic retching sounds, more burps, and a few farts. Delightfully disgusting.
Head Outdoors
There's a bunch of new toys designed to get kids off their bottoms, away from TV and computer screens, and out of the house. Demolition Derby cars from Kid Galaxy are remote control cars that go off-road, crash, fly apart into bits, and get miraculously restored without losing a single piece. Tyco's� R/C Tri-Clops Interceptor Creature is a cool demolition car that looks like a bug (with a sci-fi third eye!) and is built to crawl over rough terrain. And for quieter outdoor pursuits,Crayola has a Sidewalk Paint Sprayer (at left), perfect for budding artistes to paint their masterpiece. (Don't worry about graffiti winding up on your car -- there's a safety feature that ensures paint gets sprayed downward.)
iPod Nation
The ubiquitous iPod has taken the toy world by storm, too -- many companies are integrating them into their new lines. Hook up your iPod to Hasbro's 2-in-1 Infant Gym (at left) and let baby groove to your tunes during tummy time. The Power Tour Electric Guitar (also from Hasbro) plugs into an MP3 player and lets teens and tweens download the songs they want to learn to play -- lights come on to show young fingers where to strum. And kids 12 and over can pit their play list against their friends' -- see how quickly you can find a specific song, title, or artist -- with Hasbro's i-List Music Party.
from americanbaby.com http://www.parents.com/parents/slideshow/slideShow.jsp?slideid=/templatedata/parents/slideshow/data/1171576465144.xml
