Posts Tagged ‘toys’
August 2nd, 2010 | 
Author: Christmas is always a difficult time of year for parents, as they try to juggle personal finances with getting their kids the perfect and in-demand gift. So to attempt to help out parents a little, here’s a head start on what looks like being the top trends in toys for 2010.
With the country still trying to pull themselves out of a national recession, spending is at an all-time low and many of the hot toys this year will reflect this, often coming in at £50 or less. This will hopefully make life a little easier for parents, as it’s more likely they’ll be able to afford the hottest Christmas gifts of this year.
This years top toys, as with many previous years, are likely to include characters from the most popular film and TV shows in the country, as well as some old favourites.
For presents for young boys, you should be trying to find out which characters from mainsteam media have become most popular. Toy Story, Transformers and Shrek immediately spring to mind, with Buzz Lightyear almost guaranteed to be a favourite amongst young children. You can expect to see a rush for any Transformer toys, and probably any kind of toy that follows the Transformers mould. With the release of Shrek 4 this year, any toys based on characters from the film are also likely to be very popular Christmas gifts for him or her.
I can imagine RC helicopters, or any kind of remote control vehicle also being very popular with young boys this year.
If you’re trying to find a gift for a young girl, you should look towards popular TV shows like Peppa Pig, as they’re extremely likely to be just as popular when they release Christmas toys. Likely to be similarly popular is Dora the Explorer, Hanna Montana and Bratz, the latter appearing as a popular brand last year as well.
Sylvanian Family toys have been consistently popular with young children over the last few years, and it’s fairly likely that they’ll continue to be popular for Christmas 2010. If your child is slightly older, the GOGO Hamsters or Kidizoom Camera would both make an ideal Christmas gift for her.
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The gift of a train set is something which will always be well received by a young child. It will give many hours of pleasure and fun and will, with a little care and attention, last for many years. It’s not uncommon for a good quality train set to be handed down from one generation to the next. Those are just a few of the reasons why a train set makes such a wonderful gift.
A birthday present, or a Christmas gift, will often be the first introduction that many young children receive to the world of model railways. One of the most famous model train makers – Hornby trains – have a wide range of themed boxed sets which are perfect for just this purpose.
There are sets which are specifically aimed at particular age groups – young children might find Thomas The Tank Engine sets an attractive choice – whereas other sets are themed around a particular type of engine. Needless to say, the romance of the age of steam means that steam locomotives are an ever popular choice – but more modern sets based upon diesel or electric locos are also well represented.
Apart from the theme of the set, it’s worthwhile giving some consideration to the layout of the track. Some sidings for the train to back in and out of will usually produce a layout that’s more entertaining than a straight circular or oval arrangement. Young kids will love loading up freight for transport elsewhere in their miniature rail network.
Of course a starter set is precisely that – a starting point. You can add more track, extra locomotives and carriages and a whole variety of other accessories over time. This can generate a lot of fun itself. Encourage your child to plan and implement new and interesting layouts and additions to their track and rolling stock. It will really exercise their creativity.
You can really bring a train set to life with just a few extra, well chosen, accessories. Hornby’s Skaledale collection offers a wide range of miniature people, animals, vehicles, buildings, etc. – all at exactly the right scale for use with Hornby oo gauge model train sets. Accessories appropriate to different time periods are available so that they fit in with the type of train set in use. For example, a 1930’s style delivery truck could be used very well with a steam train themed set.
A high quality train set will give hours of entertainment and will last for many years. It will engage the imagination and creativity of a child and can be added to and improved over time. All things considered, a train set is a great gift idea and represents excellent value for Money.
It hasn’t been such a long time since all parents where kids but so many things have happened in the meanwhile that have definitely changed the way we look toward our kids. The way I was brought up as a kid 20-30 years ago seems so far away that sometimes I find it hard encouraging my kids do what I used to do.
Small towns have turned into busy, bustling places full of cars, traffic and congestion. During my childhood there were olive and lemon trees all around so we used to spend hours climbing on those, competing who was going to get higher. Today, I can hardly find some trees in the city park as most of them had to be cut down so more buildings could be built. The streets were not as busy so we could play football, hide and seek or just chasing each other on the street on a daily basis whereas today we need to wait for a few minutes before crossing the same street, because of the traffic.
Our curiosity was so big that numerous times we would break in one of those abandoned villas and try to discover something new. Today, I cannot see anywhere any of those mansions as all had to be demolished and replaced by higher, ugly-looking buildings to. Playing with our bikes all around the place was risk free and very exciting but today it is a very dangerous activity that most parents do not recommend their kids.
Nevertheless, the importance of playing outdoors has been the same and I think parents should strongly encourage their kids to do so. It would be a great opportunity staying out and away from the game consoles. All you need is a garden or a balcony and purchasing some outdoor toys. Just think of what they can do so they won’t get bored while you enjoy that cold pint of beer served straight from the beer dispenser, listening to the commentator’s voice coming out of those portable speakers.