More Holiday Shopping Deals

Every year our toy expert, Reyne Rice, is asked to speak at The International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany. And when she's not at The International Toy Fair, she is frequently featured on conference panels throughout the year.

This year the Daily Lounge contributor will be here to talk about some of the top gift ideas for your little ones this holiday season. Reyne has ideas from Technology to encouraging the little builder.

Hi Reyne. How are you today?

I'm doing great.

I'm so glad to hear that. It's great to get to talk with you again especially to kick off our holiday shopping season. So what are some of your favorite items to top the wishlists for those kids out there?

Yes, we have some great holiday gifts for all of the kids on your list. Now to start we have the Lego Duplo Batman Adventure Set. This is for young builders that are ages 2-5. Now kids can play with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman to save the day and create endless adventures with these classic superheroes. The set includes and easy to build opening bridge, Batman's Bat Boat, Wonder Woman's motor bike, and a cat. These Duplo bricks are oversized and created to be fun and safe for small hands. As your little builder grows up, they can use Duplos with other Lego sets since they are 100% compatible.

So this is definitely a toy to help bring out the creative storyteller in those young kids. They can have fun creating those adventures of their favorite superheroes and it could even be a family affair at the same time.

Exactly. They could also play that they are an everyday hero too by saving the cat.

Well, that's even better. It can really open up the possibilities of storytelling for them. Now what are some other hot items for kids this year?

Well, now Activision just launched Skylanders Superchargers and it vehicles to life that are also playable in the real world as well as virtually coming to life in the video game. Kids can now play in the air, under the sea, or on land with the new supercharged characters and vehicles. There are now racecars, jets, submarines, and more. All of the existing 300+ characters can also be used in this new game and all of them can now also drive. Kids will love that.

So for those who have already fallen in love with this game, that's great that they can take their favorite characters and still get to play with them on new adventures. So let's talk a little bit more about the difference between this new Skylanders and the Skylanders games that kids already know and love.

Well, now they have the option to play in the air and under sea, and also they can now have racing adventures. Before they played with the characters and the characters moved throughout but now with the vehicles, they can also use the vehicles offline and just use it as a regular toy when they don't feel like playing the actual game. That now adds a lot more play value.

It definitely does, and is a great way for them to spice up that Skylanders adventure.

And they can take their favorite characters, drive them in the cars and have a whole new adventure with the characters already in their library.

Awesome. So they can add new friends while having the old ones there as well.

Right, exactly.

Now let's talk a little bit about technology. Do you think that will be the biggest item on a kids holiday list this year?

Yes, technology still plays a huge role in a lot of children's toys this year. In fact, we have a couple of technology toys. Let's start with the Digital Camera. Kids can capture photos and videos of their own active lifestyle with the V-Tech Kitty Zoom Action Cam. This is designed to be durable for kids as young as four-years-old. It also has different mounts to attached to their helmets, bikes, skateboards, and scooters. Plus, it also has a case that is waterproof up to six feet under water and will also protect from splashes. It's an affordable way to introduce kids to photography. Parents and older siblings can also help them download and share those images. It's a lot of fun for kids to enjoy and remember later down the road.

This definitely sounds like a toy that would be a lot of fun. Especially since today so many kids are taking on Youtube and sharing talents and funny videos, this is something to help them capture that even more easiily.

Yes, and kids love to capture their lifestyle and this is perfect for them. It's a small camera about two and a half by two and a half inches. It' just great.

Now another electronic product are these REV Vehicles. They are super-fast, robotic-enhanced vehicles. They are app-enabled, remote controlled battle cars. The starter pack includes two cars and two ways to play. So one player can play against the artificial intelligence controlled drone car or they can battle against their friends. They just have to download the free app, connect their device to sync with the vehicle, and then start playing. These cars are super fast and do not require a special track or surface.

Oh wow! So with a lot of these toys that you mentioned it sounds like the younger kids might have to share with their older siblings. It sounds like something the older siblings will want to play with too.

This way they can play together, and then while the older siblings are at school or work the younger siblings can race against the drone car to get better and then when they do race against each other, they are ready to go.

Great idea and even more fun for the little ones. Now do you have any other gift ideas for parents to think about getting their kids this year?

We actually have something for the maker in your family. The maker movement is something really big lately. And for the that person who enjoys getting a little crafty, the Arckit Architectural Model Building Kit is a great hands-on way to teach practical STEM concepts with architectural design. This award-winning model kit comes with reusable construction pieces like walls, windows, and floors. Plus you can customize your design with printable adhesives like solar panels, wood textures, and tiles. You can easily put it together and then you can also reconstruct something completely different. These sets are designed for ages 12 and up. They include access to digital materials like a library and the sketch up 3D warehouse. This game was actually developed by a real architect in Ireland and the kits can be found exclusively at Barnes and Noble this holiday season.

So that's definitely the older kids step up from things like Legos.

It's a different play pattern because it's tied to architectural building, but kids and adults both love it.

And these all sound like great ideas for parents to look into for their kids this holiday season. Where can people go for more information?

You can check out more information and links to each toys website over at www.dailylounge.com.