Toys

Parents and Kids Love Pillow Pets and Dream Lites

CJ Products, the creator of the iconic Pillow Pets brand continues to create innovative plush products that have made them a family favorite for over a decade. This popular dual-function stuffed animal by day, pillow by night toy delivers even more fun in 2017. Pillow Pets continue to be a must-have with parents because of its original new products like Sweet Scented Pets and the ability to adapt television’s top preschool properties and engaging hit family movies into stuffed animals kids love.

Pillow Pets won the “Toy of the Year” award for 2016 and continues to innovate. Pillow Pets are affordable too at around $20 to $30 depending on the style.

“Creating a new category in plush was not our intention but what an amazing niche we have filled for parents and kids, “said Jennifer Telfer, CEO of Pillow Pets. “Parents recognize the high quality of the Pillow Pets and love the themed characters and that they are ideal for imaginative play, travel, television time and bed time. We always look to not only create our own trends, like with Sweet Scented Pets, but also to make sure we introduce popular characters from top licenses.”

Parents and kids delight to find fun new Pillow Pets and Dream Lites this year:

Sweet Scented Pets – Bubble Gum Piggy, Blueberry Muffin Bear, and Strawberry Milkshake Cow.
Paw Patrol – Rubble joins Nickelodeon’s other rescue pups as a Pillow Pet and Dream Lite.
Shimmer and Shine – the adorable genies from Nickelodeon’s Shimmer and Shine along with their loyal pets Tala and Nahal Dream Lites.
Cars 3 – Roars to the starting line with Disney’s Jackson Storm, Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen.
Animal Jam – Over 60 million kids play this online game and now they can bring their favorite characters home.
Smiley Faces – Play it cool with Sunglass Face, show your love with Hearts Face, get cheeky with Stinky Face or just grin with Smiley Face.

Pillow Pet Dream Lites, the night light with character, are amazing night lights that instantly turn a room into a starry sky with a press of a button. Soothing lights create a magical and tranquil environment that helps kids ease into a restful sleep. A built in timer shuts the Dream Lite off after 20 minutes. All Dream Lites come with 4 light options, steady blue, amber, or green and all three colors that transition every 4 seconds in a continuous loop.

Since 2003, CJ Products, the company behind the iconic Pillow Pets® brand of on fulfilling its mission by providing unique, functional plush items and accessories with excellent customer service, strategic licensing partnerships, and products held to the highest standards of quality and innovation. The well-known folding stuffed animal is just one part of the Pillow Pets family of products which also includes Sweet Scented Pets, Dream Lites and Jumboz. Pillow Pets continues to win accolades including the coveted Toy Insider Top Summer Toy and Top Holiday Toy 2016, National Parenting Product Award (NAPPA), iParenting Media Excellent Product Award, the Mr. Dad Seal of Approval, and Dr. Toy Best Vacation Products.

Lull Baby to Sleep with White Noise from Whisbear

When baby comes home you aren’t prepared for the sleepless nights that follow. Many times baby won’t sleep for hours on end and you are pulling your hair out trying to figure out why. Could baby be hungry? have colic? Uncomfortable? you don’t know so you try everything you can to help baby get to sleep. When baby sleeps you can sleep! When driving around the block 400 times isn’t an option, I have a solution for you – white noise. White noise has been proven to help even the toughest adult get to sleep. It eases our minds and makes us stop thinking about what is making us stay awake. So, it would stand to reason that white noise can also help babies sleep to.

Whisbear is a brand new product, designed and created by Zuzia and Jula, a sister-duo, mothers of 5. It consists of a cuddly bear and a white noise device. But wait, there’s much more to this bear. Whisbear is designed to cling to things like a chair or the side of a crib but it can also be laid flat or held next to baby. Each of the paws have hidden magnets that keep the feet together that act like a clamp. Inside of the ears and paws are crinkly materials that are fun to the touch and give baby a sensor activity when he or she is awake.

Whisbear is a cuddly toy helping parents overcome one of the biggest challenges of parenting – lack of sleep. It is made in Europe and was created by Zuzia and Jula, a sister-duo, mothers of 5. A few times they were trying to pacify their babies with the sound of a hairdryer which led to an idea of a humming bear/sensory development toy.

The “shushing” white noise device runs on 3 AAA battery and is removable so you could use it beside baby’s bed, in a car seat or wherever baby is sleeping. The white noise device can be placed inside of Whisbear in a pouch that has a Velcro opening in the back of the head. Just press the button to turn it on.

The shushing device emits white noise, a sound that the baby remembers from the fetal life. This easy to use device, with option of volume control, operates for 40 minutes – in this time baby should drift into the deep sleep phase. Soft Start/Soft Stop function gently turns the shushing on and off. Whisbear with CRYsensor function shushes for 40 minutes, after that time the sound gently fades out and the device switches to the standby mode. If Whisbear® recognizes cry of the awakening baby it will immediately respond with the calming sound, and after 20 minutes of additional shushing the device will re-enter its standby mode.

Some Whisbears also come with a nice velvet carrying bag. The bear itself is grey but Whisbear is available in a variety of paw colors.

More about Whisbear

Zuzia, a mommy of three and the driving force behind Whisbear runs the company with her sister, Jula, a mother of 2. The sleepless nights inspired Zuzia and Jula to create Whisbear. It took a few years and Zuzia made a risky decision to use her apartment equity to take a business loan. But it was totally worth it and now thousands of parents in Europe have fallen in love with the humming bear. Finally, we are mother-enterprenuers, but our vision goes beyond business. Our mission is to support parents all over the world. We regularly donate our teddy bears to hospitals and charities in the UK, Poland, and Kenya.

If you ever follow the British family and are in love with Princess Charlotte, you may have seen this news. Princess Charlotte was gifted with Whisbear “toy of the year” – Daily Mail

Now your princess – or prince – can own a Whisbear because they are available in the United States through a variety of sites including Amazon.com and Whisbear.uk

11 Hot ’90s Toys Kids Still Want Today

The greatest toys from the ’90s can still be what your kids and grandkids add to their wish list today. Take a look at 11 of the toys all ’90s kids desperately wanted that are still available today.

Jeep Dodge / Flickr / Via flic.kr

These are in no particular order

1. Super Soaker 50

The Super Soaker 50 was the first Super Soaker water gun. It was one of the first pressurized water guns ever made, outselling all of the motorized water blasters that were popular in the 90s. A rocket scientist named Lonnie Johnson came up with the idea and eventually sold it to Larami Toys. Super Soaker blasters have never really gone out of popularity and there are all shapes and sizes for today’s kids.

2. Talkboy from Home Alone

If you watched the Home Alone movie you will have fond memories of the Talkboy. It could record and play back at a slow or normal speed and was produced by Tiger Electronics. Back in the 90s Home Alone was the hottest holiday movies ever. Today’s kids use their tablet, smartphone, or HD video recorder. It’s still the same, just better technology.

3. Easy Bake Oven

I’d have to say that the Easy Bake Oven is still a super hot toy for today’s kids but in the ’90s it was new and totally exciting. The thought of making brownies in your very own oven was all a girl could ever dream of. I still remember burning my fingers on the lightbulb that “cooked” the brownies inside of the oven.

Chris Aiola / Flickr / Via flic.kr

4. The Barbie Power Wheels Jeep

Girls begged for the Barbie Power Wheels Jeep. The hopes of having your very own car when you were 8 years old was a dream come true so you could be the envy of every kid on the block. Today Disney Frozen and Fisher-Price have taken over as the hot Jeep to ride around to impress your friends.

Karr1213 / Flickr / Via flic.kr

5. Tamagotchi Friends

The Tamagotchi, created in Japan, was a handheld digital pet (similar to the pet rock, yeh it was a thing and yep, I had one). For kids it was as amazing as having a real puppy. If you walked into school without one, your friends would look at you weird. Tamagotchia were one of the biggest 90s toy fads and they are still sold today.

6. Socker Boppers

Socker Boppers are inflatable boxing pillows that feature durable vinyl construction and double cavity air chambers that inflate easily. Your kids can punch the living daylights out of each other, in a safe way of course, and they are still affordable at under $10 a set

7. Skip-It

Skip-it is yet another toy that is still sold today, now made by Toysmith, and sold under the name Skip-A-Long. The Skip-it toy was originally sold by Tiger Electronics and had a small ankle hoop with attached ball and chain that kept track of its rotations. It achieved success through TV commercials on children’s networks and was embraced by parents because it was relatively inexpensive and promoted physical activity.

8. AFX Race Track

AFX Super International Race Sets featured an enormous amount of track, including an assortment of 6″, 9″ and 12″ radius turn sections. Enough track was included to build a 4-lane racing circuit with a lap length of over 25 feet. The AFX Race Track included power packs, controllers and electric cars. Yep, and you can still buy it today.

9. The Hot Wheels Car Wash

The Hot Wheels Car Wash was the only one with real soapsuds. The Hot Wheels car wash featured real jets of water to spray the cars, rotating foam rollers for the dash, super spin action to dry and a large full color playmat. Today’s car wash is even better and includes three levels of track.

10. Life-Sized Barbie

This giant life-sized Barbie is what all the girls wanted to be their best friend, forever. Life-size Barbie measured over 2 feet tall and for young girls this size was massive. Today’s life-size Barbie comes complete with trendy braided hair and rooted eyelashes for that glamorous movie (or Kardashian, shudder) star look.

11. The Talking Family Dollhouse

The Talking Family Dollhouse came complete with Dad, Mom, Jen, baby and the dog. This plastic dollhouse included 69 pieces of furniture and accessories. The doorbell and telephone rang and the house made running water sounds. Sadly, it didn’t carry on but now kids have Interactive Dollhouses and talking toys.

Do you have a favorite ’90s toy that didn’t make my list? Do your kids play with any of these now?

Toy Insider’s Best Kids Toys & Tech Holiday Gift Guide

The Toy Insider unveiled its expert picks for the best kids’ toys and tech in its annual holiday gift guide today. The hottest items for 2016 are broken out into three lists: the Hot 20 (the items expected to top kids’ wish lists), Top Tech 12 (drones, wearables, robotic pets, and more) and STEM 10 (science, technology, engineering and math toys that make learning fun). With lots of options for kids of all ages, these 42 items are sure to wow kids this holiday season, and are expected to be hard to find or sold out by Christmas.

The Toy Insider team of experts reviews toys 365 days a year on thetoyinsider.com. When evaluating toys, the team considers play value, originality, skill building, product integrity and, of course, fun factor.

“At The Toy Insider, they know play, and the toys in their holiday gift guide will have kids laughing, learning and playing in meaningful ways,” says Laurie Schacht, co-publisher and Chief Toy Officer, The Toy Insider. “Playtime is all about bringing the whole family together, and whether it’s an engaging new board game, an interactive play set, or an adorable tech pet, the toys on our list will get everyone having fun all season long and well into 2017.

The Toy Insider’s Hot 20

0-2 years

Laugh & Learn Crawl-Around Learning Center (Fisher-Price)
Go! Go! Smart Friends Enchanted Princess Palace (VTech)

3-5 years

Disney Frozen Northern Lights Elsa (JAKKS Pacific)
Disney My Time Singing Elena of Avalor (Hasbro)
FurReal Friends Torch My Blazin’ Dragon (Hasbro)
Lion Guard Training Lair Playset (Just Play)
PAW Patrol Monkey Temple (Spin Master)
PJ Masks Headquarters Playset (Just Play)
Pokémon My Friend Pikachu (TOMY)
Talk-to-Me Mikey (Playmates Toys)

6-8 years

Animal Jam Club Geoz Dance Party Playset (Jazwares)
Hatchimals (Spin Master)
Hot Wheels AI (Mattel)
Shopkins Happy Places Happy Home (Moose Toys)
Snuggles, My Dream Puppy (Moose Toys)
Skylanders Imaginators (Activision)

LEGO Star Wars Resistance X-Wing Fighter (The LEGO Group)
Nintendo MarioKart 8 Quadcopter (Carrera of America)
Pokémon Sun & Pokémon Moon (Nintendo)
Speak Out (Hasbro)

The Toy Insider’s Top Tech 12

Air Hogs Helix Sentinel Drone (Spin Master)
Barbie Hello Dreamhouse (Mattel)
BOSEbuild Speaker Cube (Bose)
CHiP (WowWee)
CodeGamer (Thames & Kosmos)
Kurio Watch (KD Interactive)
LUMI (WowWee)
Mebo Robotic Claw (Skyrocket Toys)
Meccano Meccasaur (Spin Master)
Sky Rover Voice Command Drone (Auldey Toys North America)
Sky Viper Hover Racer (Skyrocket Toys)
Zoomer Chimp (Spin Master)

The Toy Insider’s STEM 10

3Doodler Start Essentials Pen Set (WobbleWorks)
Barbie STEM Kit (Thames & Kosmos)
Bloxels (Mattel)
Code & Go Robot Mouse Coding Activity Set (Learning Resources)
Geckobot (Thames & Kosmos)
Mighty Makers Director’s Cut Building Set (K’NEX)
Project MC2 We Heart Chemistry Kit (ALEX Brands)
Roominate Cotton Candy Carnival (PlayMonster)
Think & Learn Code-A-Pillar (Fisher-Price)
VEX Robotics Zip Flyer (HEXBUG)

The Toy Insider‘s 2016 holiday gift guide will appear in the November issue of Family Circle magazine, on newsstands on October 11, and online at thetoyinsider.com. This year’s guide is the biggest ever, featuring more than 275 toys from more than 110 manufacturers. Parents and gift givers can easily search by a child’s age (broken out into 0-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9+ age groups) and interests using the handy skill-development key.

To join in the holiday toy fun on social media this season, use #weknowplay and find the Toy Insider on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The VTech Kidizoom Action Cam is The Kids GoPro

We purchased the VTech Kidizoom for Ava for Christmas. She loves taking videos with her tablet and making them into movies to share so we thought she might like having an action camera to use on her bike. The VTech Kidizoom action camera is a GoPro-type camera made just for kids. It is durable, versatile and can be used underwater with the included waterproof case. The Kidizoom was a finalist for “Toy of the Year” in the Connected Toy category.

It is designed for kids ages 4 to 9 but we think kids ages 8 and older (up to about 11 or 12 years old) will most likely get the most of out if. Four to six-year-olds aren’t going to be able to figure out how to use it very well or have the patience to take videos.

What’s in the Kidizoom Box

The VTech Kidizoom camera
Two mounts to attach to bikes, skateboards and more
Underwater waterproof camera case to take photos and videos in up to 6 feet underwater
Rechargeable Li-ion Polymer battery
Micro-USB cable

It does not come with an microSD card so you will need to purchase one if you want to record 640 x 480 videos but it does come with some built-in memory that will allow you to take videos in 320 X 240. The Kidizoom camera features a 1.4-inch color video camera LCD screen. It has the ability to take videos, photos, stop-motion videos and time-lapse photos. The rechargeable Li-ion Polymer battery gives you continuous photo-taking and recording time of 2-1/2 hours. If you purchase a 32GB microSD card the camera can record 240 minutes of 640 x 480 video or take up to 278,400 photos. I believe the camera won’t accept anything larger than a 32GB microSD card.

It’s easy to switch between taking videos or taking photos with the Kidizoom cam. Just press one of the buttons on the side of the camera before using it. You can not only take videos with the Kidizoom camera, you can also play them back on the device. You can also delete photos and videos right from the device.

Just remember though, that this is not a GoPro and won’t have the quality videos and photos a GoPro can take. It is also about $200 cheaper than a GoPro HERO and $50 cheaper than a GoPro HERO and it comes with accessories like the waterproof case and mounting brackets that will cost extra if you purchase a GoPro. The Kidizoom cam is also specifically designed for kids so it is a great first action cam to get them started. A GoPro might be better for older kids but it will most likely look too intimidating for younger kids. The bright yellow color and fun graphics make the KidiZoom much better for kids just starting out in the GoPro world.

With the mounting plate you can attach it to your skateboard, snowboard, bike, helmet or even things like a drone, RC car or helicopter or even an ATV. The mounting plate has adhesive strips. You will need to purchase other adhesive strips if you are going to mount it somewhere else as the adhesive strip that comes with the camera is only good for one-use. You may want to purchase some Velcro and attach that to the things you are planning on mounting the Kidizoom camera to so you can use it over and over. Attach the opposite side of the Velcro to the Kidizoom mounting plate. If you use the bike mount you can move it around to various other objects (skateboards, drones, ATV, etc). You could even attach it to a dog or cat’s collar and take videos of their adventures.