Israeli inventions

Most exciting hanukkah gifts for kids of all ages

Most exciting hanukkah gifts for kids of all ages 724 482 Sarity Gervais

Sarity Gervais

 

Hanukkah is almost here thus, it’s time for the yearly list of toys that kids of all ages desire.

As in previous years, I went on a search to create a list of the year’s hottest toys. Aside from talking with kids of most age groups and interests, I have also researched the top toy seller sites.

This year, many kids I spoke with were longing for collectible toys that feature their favorite characters from the latest blockbuster movies or television shows. This list includes action figures, costumes, games and gadgets in varying levels of sophistication.

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”, “Frozen I and II”,  “Jumanji: The Next Level”, “Endgame” “Toy Story 4.” and   Harry Potter, seem to be the winningest inspirations for most of the above fun stuff.

That said, older favorites still rule: Even though some of them evolved and became even more amazing, many remained the way they were many years ago.

1. FurReal Cubby the Curious Bear  $77-$99. (Kohl’s has 30 dollars off coupon between Nov 30th and Dec 9th.)

Cubby, the Curious Bear Interactive Plush Toy,for  ages 4+.. Cubby. Is amazingly responsive, interactive and lifelike: This delightfully curious, expressive bear cub loves to play with you during the day. In nighttime mode, he makes sleepy sounds and plays soft music. He’s a day-to-night best friend. Cute, responsive, loving, and feels and looks like a real pet. Cubby made my list for two years in a row.

2. “Harry Potter Advanced Hagwarth Building Set”

This is a dreamy masterpiece by Lego.  It truly is a dedicated Lego builder’s dream come true, with Harry Potter Minifigures to fit into the magic castle.  The set has 6000 pieces and is marvelous fun to build (if $390 is within your budget).

Harry Potter items are rule and many are on top of the list

3. The magical Invisibility Cloak set. $74-$79

The beautifully made green satin-lined, dark cloak comes with a smartphone app and a table tripod. Put on the wizardly cloak, tap app to turn on ‘invisibility mode.’  Click the camera button to shoot a video of yourself..Look at the saved video .Oh, wow, you vanished! Right in front of the viewer’s eyes! Fun and very cool. The app has a Light painting mode as well to create special effects  (on Amazon and Walmart and Target).

4. Harry Potter Kano Coding Wand $99

This toy teaches you to build your wand  as you learn code. Absolutely brilliant. It comes with wand parts, PCB with codeable LED button, batteries and of course a step by step instruction book. The free app gets loaded onto a tablet and you learn to code with 70 step by step challenges. The wand responds to movement, You wave it to make feathers fly items multiply, little creatures, appear and you’d have learned code. A 40-year-old techie who tried this toy said it was the most amazing tool to expand one’s mind and have great fun in the process.

5. Hermione’s Painting Wand,  $25 on Amazon

The independent Toy Award, Tillywig Awards, and Astra Awards winner toy Wand is remarkable. It allows the user to paint stunning art with light. Included is the bonus app (IOS or Android) gift wrapped resin replica wand with LED light tip, bonus app details with free download instructions, and batteries. It’s an exact 1:1 scale replica of the one used in the film, the hand-painted wand is cast in high-grade resin with authentic laser-scanned movie prop replica. It’s Collector quality.

6. Hatchimals Pixies (Target Walmart Amazon) $8.49-$17.49

The Pixies come in different forms. There are the tiny 2.5 “collectible dolls, the Rainbow Unicorn Hatchimal collectibles, with a unicorn and the magical eggs as suggested by the name.Each Pixie has three mystery accessories that can be stored in the bottom of the egg. Hatch your egg to find out what they are. Inside, you’ll also discover a Pixie bed and display stand for more ways to play. This toy won  3rd prize in the Collectibles category at the recent BlogOn Toy Awards. It’s a wonderful oldie that keeps on growing and expanding.

7. Hatchimals Wow, Llamacorn $56-$92 so shop around

This Hatchimal is exciting. She can make 250 sounds, magically shrink or grow to  32-inches tall! Llamacorn is the first Hatchimal that can express her emotions through movement. She has 10 different moods: whether happy or sad Llamacorn is a delight. She has  a cute giggle and when she’s tickled, she bobs up and down. If you want she’ll be your little baby. She’ll coo and even shrink down to the perfect cuddle size. She sings along to music, (and grows taller to hit the high notes).; An adorable interactive toy sells for $56 at Walmart but the prices can go as high as $92 depending on where and when you purchase her.

8.Pinkfong Baby Shark Official Song Doll by Wow Wee $14-$24

These singing baby sharks are definitely a hot item. Originating from a children’s song about baby sharks, they have taken off and became popular through social media and online video. There are three different ones in the family: the baby in the picture below,$14,  the blue daddy shark $16 and the pink mommy shark.$24. The little ones love them.

9. Simba, the cutest plush toy lion in the land

Disney The Lion King Mighty Roar Simba Interactive Plush Toy, brought to life by furReal by Hasbro

 

Then there  is the new generation of Lego. Entire series of virtual Lego sets  with massively impressive code building abilities:

10. LEGO Star Wars Boost Droid Commander 75253 Star Wars Droid Building Set with R2-D2 Robot Toy for Kids to Learn to Code, New 2019 (1,177 pieces). Around $190.

This game is an amazingly fun way to learn code and develop creative problem-solving skills. This interactive  STEM toy has 3 LEGO Star Wars droids: R2-D2, Gonk Droid and Mouse Droid are there to amuse as they create their own space adventures!

There are over 40 interactive missions designed for creative play and fun.The set  includes a color & distance sensor, interactive toy motor and Bluetooth Move Hub.

Building a 1,177 piece Lego encourages kids to focus and think creatively, while they are having the time of their life. Star Wars fans will easily develop both motor senses and brainpower to build their popular Star Wars characters. Creative kids of all ages will love  building these STEM robots with the help of the included LEGO BOOST Star Wars app. Learning to code becomes an adventure when you are attaching tools and weapons to beloved buildable robots and droids. My young buddies and I felt the excitement of bringing them to life to solve missions. Victory! The joy of accomplishment is immense. With the easy to use coding,  building the unforgettable characters, locations, and music from episodes I-VI of the Star Wars movie saga is an initiation to a better self confidence and accomplishment.

Love it!

11. LEGO Boost Creative Toolbox 17101 Fun Robot Building Set and Educational Coding Kit for Kids, Award-Winning STEM Learning Toy (847 Pieces) $159  (between November 30th and December 9th it ‘s 45 dollars off at Kohl’s)

This is my favorite toy. Ever. 

This Award winning toy is in fact an enormously fun, educational brainpower builder. It  teaches building, coding,Creative thinking while it is the most fun most have ever experienced. It’s perfect for  kids 7-12+ who love science, robotics, tinkering with things and using their imagination. Download the free app to your device and follow the step-by-step instructions to build and code for any of the 5 multifunctional models

You’ll build and code Vernie the talking/walking Robot. You can teach him to dance: he is hilarious.  The toolbox with its 847 pieces allows brainiac kids to build, rebuild and program robots using imagination and creativity. The IQ -boosting opportunities are endless with this toy. You’ll use the latest technology since the toy has the best in  color distance and tilt sensors.

The toy has 4 different tool attachments and 5 super cool multifunctional models.Once you’re done with Vernie you can rock out on Guitar4000, enjoy the pitch bends and sound effects of the musical instrument you have built. Meow with Frankie the Cat, a vocal moving pet  who purrs and expresses his mood. Then interact with the Autobuilder, a super cool automatic production line that actually produces miniature Lego models. How amazing is that?! Or explore new adventures and discoveries. With the help of Multi Tooled Rover 4, (a stupendously robust and versatile rover) kids,teenagers as well as daring adults will find their creative genius. 

Compatible with selected  IOS, Android Kindle or Windows 10 devices with BLE 4.1 or newer. Also with select mobile devices, the later model the better. More Lego pieces from other sets can be combined to build until your imagination is on fire.

12. Sega Genesis Mini Console $49.99 on Amazon

An oldie that’s super goodie. This game was the cutting edge in itechno games as far back as in1999. Now the mini is celebrating Genesis Consoles  50th anniversary with a special mini console. It has 40 incredible games. Iits arrival on the market has been anticipated breathlessly by techno geeks and they claim it’s better than expected

There are board games for the entire family to hoot around

13. Don’t Step In It, t Unicorn edition. $19.95 on Amazon

It’s silly yet you can’t help doubling over from laughter and get into the best mood as you try to avoid the Unicorn poop.  Good way to get kids and even the grown ups to jump around and celebrate being human. Laughter does that.

Now for the collectibles:

14. New Toy Crazes 2019 – Lil Gleemerz

New collectible from Mattel. The Lil Gleemerz are interactive toys with rainbow light-up tails, glowing eyes, and quirky sounds and phrases.

15. Bush Baby Mini Collectibles

New collectibles from the Bush Baby World range. Containing six surprises including a bushbaby figure all inside the pod.

16. Little Lucky Lunchbox

New surprise lunch box collectible with two foodie friends and two secrets inside. For ages 4+

17. Mighty Beanz

Mighty Beanz  $6.00 – $25 online.

They are little beans that actually come alive! There are 120 to collect in series one including rare ones. Available in singles, multi-pack (shown) and mega-packs. There is a new Fortnite edition too.

18. Hatchimals Mermal Magic $12.99- $62.99 depending on size

The ever-popular Hatchimals has launched new collectibles in their Colleggtibles range with a mermaid theme. Mermal Magic feature seashell-shaped eggs and color-changing Hatchimals. Mermaids are looking big for this year.

19. New Toy Crazes 2019 – Skwisheez

20.Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts LEGO Minifigures

The Fantastic Beasts Minifigures were Collectible of the Year at the TOTY Awards 2019.

21. Rubik’s Cube

Still the best-loved puzzle around. In fact, it was a finalist in the ‘Fam Fun’ category of the Dream T

22. SLIME, SLIME and more Slime. Gotta love it!

Elmer’s also does a slime starter pack complete with  Clear Glue, Glitter Glue Pens, and Magical Liquid Slime Activator Solution.

 

Happy shopping and a very Happy Hanukkah!