All set for a summer of fun – and a few ideas for Santa … yes we said Santa

The sun was blazing down, we’d had small children splashing about in our paddling pool all day (and a few grown-ups too it has to be said), so it was a bit of a shock when my first Christmas press release of 2010 landed in my inbox. However, as said missive was from Hamlety, that Mecca of childhood delight, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Image courtesy of kevindooley from Flickr

And, like the other parents among you, I can forgive them – as it was a list of the top toys predicted for this Christmas. And as I write about gadgets for this esteemed site, I can doubly forgive them, for there were more than a couple mentioned.

Let me enlighten you. Parents, uncles, aunts and kindly friends of the family might like to take note, as you may well want to start saving up/pre-ordering now, to ensure you earn the best mum/dad/uncle/aunt/friend of the family award this festive season…

No doubt you’ve all seen the Vtech Kidizoom cameras – those tough blue or pink, chunky cameras, that cost the same as a decent compact digital camera, yet fail to deliver anything like the same quality. Now Vtech has gone one better and come up with a Video Camera for your budding director. It boasts a built-in video editor, 4x digital zoom, records videos at 640 x 480 resolution and takes 2.0 mega pixel photos. Face-tracking technology allows you to add moving animation. Features a 1.8in colour TFT LCD screen and 256mb internal memory. Includes wrist carry strap and games – all for £75.
www.hamleys.com

There’s more video action available from Barbie – steady on there! We’re talking a Barbie doll’s point-of-view gained from the real video camera around here neck. A video screen in the poor girl’s back allows for instant playback. Includes USB plug-in cord (and to think we were excited when our Sindys and Barbies came with ‘growing’ hair! How times have changed, Mind you, they also didn’t cost £75 a pop, as Barbie Video Girl does.) Fast-forward to Boxing Day, when Barbie may find herself kidnapped by an older brother, and tied to a speeding bike, or flung off the garage roof, just to see the playback…
www.hamleys.com

But the good news is you don’t have to wait until Christmas to enjoy all this toy-related fun. Many of the toys are released July/August just in time for the summer holidays (hooray, I hear you reply, weakly)

You could let the kids loose in the garden or local park kitted out in Armouron. Voted one of the best toys at this year’s London Toy Fair, it’s billed as a cross between a construction toy and a role-playing toy. The pieces of armour are snapped together to allow for plenty of customisation, so children can dress up as soldiers, space warrior, gladiators or whatever, and arm themselves with swords and other accessories including wings, flames, spikes and visors. Just think how they can wear themselves out saving the galaxy… For more, go to bandai.co.uk

And if the summer continues to be as scorching as it is right now, one necessity will be a water pistol (in fact at least two, because you’ll be wanting to join in if only to cool off). Look out for the AK47 Aqua Fire Water Pistol, a high-powered, motorised WMD (weapon of mass drenching – hey don’t blame me, I nicked it off the press release!). For those of us who find all that pumping of the more usual water pistols a bit of a pain in the wrist, get some battery power behind you and make the shooting fast and furious. And there’s no need to call a halt to proceedings while you run and fill up the water bottle, as the AK47 has a removable water ammo clip. Genius.
And only £19.95 from Amazon.

If you fancy a bit of quiet time, let them calm down with an educational toy. And those masters of construction at Meccano have decided to let girls in on the act with a construction toolbox in delicious girlie pink – with glitter! With 60 pieces, there’s enough to build several ladylike vehicles. Aimed at ages five to eight, the construction pieces are flexible plastic, designed for smaller hands to get used to engineering creations before they move on to more complicated sets.
£19.95 from here

Finally, if you have a spare £460 to spend on a mere frippery (and if you do, please consider adopting me), how about the Ferrari F1 Electric Ride-On? Designed din conjunction with the real engineers at Ferrari, this mini marvel has a 12V motor, gearbox with two forward and one reverse gear and is suitable for children up to six. Shame, I rather fancied one myself…
www.hamleys.com