My kitchen utensils are so boring. I mean, I have more than enough gadgets to get by, but they’re just not any fun. Wouldn’t you rather use a peeler that looks like a beehive hairdo than that generic one you got from the dollar store? My thoughts exactly.
Sure, I could buy a trillion basic toothpicks, but where’s the fun in that? Also, they’re disposable so you’re pretty much committing yourself to killing the Earth. If you’re a friend of Mother Nature’s and/or a geek, then you’ll appreciate the Foodfighters Party Picks (ThinkGeek, $9.99) as an exciting alternative to banal kitchen accessories. The set comes with twelve army men, six green and six grey, in a variety of poses with two toothpick feet attached to the bottom of each one. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy concocting elaborate battle scenes with your food!
May the best man win!
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
- -Set of 12 army men toothpicks
- -Includes 6 green and 6 grey
- -Handwash recommended
- -Made of plastic
With all this Harry Potter hoopla going on, I’ve got to admit that I’ve thought about how cool it would be to have wizardly abilities. I mean, with the flick of a wrist and a carefully worded phase, I could totally make magic happen. My favorite of all the Harry Potter spells has got to be “Wingardium Leviosa” because while it might not be the most practical of spells, it’s certainly the awesomest. Who wouldn’t want to able to levitate objects on a whim?
Now you can harness the power of levitation without the knowledge of wizardry with the Levitron Revolution (Vat19, $99.95). Before you get too carried away, you should know that you can only levitate objects weighing 12 ounces or less. That being said, how freaking cool! The device uses EZ Float Technology, which basically means that you place your object du jour on the small floating disc and it’ll float. What’s more is that it’ll even compensate for additional weight, as long the total weight doesn’t exceed the 12 ounce maximum. The floating disc itself is magnetized so that once it aligns itself with the four LED lights in the base station, the constant magnetism will allow the disc (and any object placed atop it) to float.
Ron, who cares if you’re not as good at spells as Hermione – now you can levitate objects all on your own!
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 4″ x 4″ x 0.75″ (base station); 2″ diameter (floating disc)
-Levitate and slowly rotate collectibles
-EX Float Technology
-Levitates objects weighing up to 12 ounces
-4 LED lights guide alignment
-Base station compensates for weight changes
-Ages 14+
Are you bummed that the holiday season has come to a close? Good news, you can still enjoy the winter season and all the lovely frozen precipitation it brings. What? You say there’s no snow left because global warming has essentially turned our planet into a microwave? Hmm, that could be a problem.
Unlike most cold weather companions, the Year ‘Round Sled (Hammacher Schlemmer, $89.95) knows no bounds. Sure, you could use it like a normal sled, blissfully gliding down a snow-covered hill with ease while your friends frown in disappointment due to their inferior sledding devices. But what if I told you that you could have the same experience, only in the summer? Wouldn’t that just blow your mind? Grab a mop because that’s exactly what I’m saying. Using removable ice mold technology, you simply fill the molds with water, freeze, and then reattach. As the ice melts, it creates a slick surface on the bottom of the sled that interacts with outdoor elements like dirt to create a friction-free ride.
Snow? Where we’re going, we don’t need snow. We do need ice though.
4 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 38″ x 20.5″ 6″
-Weight: 10.5 lbs
-Year ’round sledding
-Removable ice molds provide half hour of sledding
-Best when used on short grass
-For riders up to 200 lbs
-Made of durable high density polyethylene
They say there’s nothing quite like the bond between a child and a parent. I mean, for those first few years of his life, a parent’s main purpose is keeping a child alive. But it’s more than just survival that ties these two together, it’s a kinship. Unfortunately even though most parents would love to never leave their child for a moment, it’s pretty much impossible to be with them 24/7. There are business trips, appointments, and basically everyday life that will get in the way of that. The key is to find a way to be present when you can’t be, well, present.
When you can’t physically be with your child, why not at least lend your voice? The In Your Own Voice Storyteller (Hammacher Schlemmer, $79.95) lets you tuck your child in using just a pen and a book. The pen-shaped voice recorder allows you to record your child’s favorite book for him to listen to later. How it works that each voice recording stored within the pen corresponds to a uniquely coded sticker that when pressed plays that recording. The recorder comes with 600 stickers, 40 of which are preloaded with generic sound effects like a ringing phone, meowing cat, and ticking clock. What’s so great about this recorder is that you can “read” a multitude of your child’s favorite bedtime stories with just the touch of a sticker, even if you’re miles away.
Obviously, you could read to your child over the phone, but that’s clearly not as awesome as this. I mean, you’d both have to have a copy of the book (like he’s not gonna want to see the pictures while you read). And what if you’re traveling to another time zone? It’s a lot easier for everyone this way, trust me.
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Dimensions: 6.5″ x 1.5″
-Pen shaped voice recorder
-Attach easy peel stickers to any book’s pages
-Built in memory
-600 uniquely encoded stickers
-40 prerecord sounds stickers
-Uses 2 AAA batteries (not included)
-Ages 3 and up
Remember the days when the only toy you had to play with was your imagination? Kids these days have it so great! I mean, the average child has so many toys and games, they’ll be lucky if they’ll be able to think for themselves when they grow up. I’m not saying kids shouldn’t have stuff to play with (love me some toys), but whatever happened to creativity? It was creativity that spawned such greats as the pet rock or the slinky.
If you want your child to actually have to think instead of mindlessly playing, then the Doodle Track (ThinkGeek, $14.99) is for you. Instead of placating your child with a multitude of bells and whistles, this toy acts on their imaginative abilities. Using the included marker, your child can draw a path for the race car on any type of paper (unlike those gimmicky newfangled toys) and the race car will follow the line. Because the race car uses optical sensors to guide it along any black line, it doesn’t have any preset courses. Essentially, whatever track your child can dream up, the race car will follow. Probably best not to draw a line up the walls though because cars tend not to drive upside down. Just a thought.
You know what was a really good creative toy when it first came out and is still popular today? Legos. Who doesn’t love Legos? Communists, that’s who.
5 out of 5 stars.
Specs:
-Includes car, marker, and printed demo sheet
-Open ended toy encourages imagination and creativity
-Optical sensors in car guide it along any black line
-Uses 2 AAA batteries (not included)
-Ages 4 and up
