You can see the top toys for Christmas (and other holidays of the winter season) here: Amazon’s Top Picks in Toys 2009.

Hyperdash has been selected in many toy lists each year, and it’s no wonder. We love the game that has kids thinking on their feet–literally. It’s an Edutaining Kids Top Pick as well, as it fits perfectly into our expectations for a quality “edutaining” toy. Hyper Dash puts a new spin on the term “active learning”–it promotes listening, memory, and math skills, as well as giving kids a little workout. Intense fun! For more information about this fun and educational toy, see Wild Planet Hyper Dash.

Zhu Zhu Pets are one of the most wanted toys this Christmas, but their scarcity has led to toy stores upping the prices. There are many other alternatives to be found, thankfully.

Some of the toys that appear on both Amazon’s list and our Edutaining Kids Holiday Gift Guides include Crayola Glow Dome which allow kids to draw on a dome and have their drawings projected onto the ceiling in full glow in the dark glory, LeapFrog My Pal Scout and LeapFrog My Pal Violet (cute little stuffies that actually say your child’s name after they’re programmed, LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table, and more.

This video game is well suited for the Wii. As you bounce, de Blob bounces. As you swing the Wii-mote, splats of color are hurled across the screen. Racing through the city, splashing, splattering, and painting everything in sight, is fun. Squashing Inkies is even more fun. Inkies act as color police, trying to stop de Blob from coloring the city through the use of ink turrets, ink spills, tanks, and other devices.

De Blob is part of the color revolutionary movement. His fellow color revolutionaries have special powers such as painting, combating, racing, and supersizing. Together, de Blob and his helpers paint the town and free the citizens from a dull and uncolorful world.

With its “Long Live Color” story line, de Blob is entertaining and fun. It also has an educational element in that young players learn about mixing colors. When paint is mixed in de Blob, the mixtures are accurately portrayed. For example, if de Blob is currently blue and smashes a yellow paintbot, he turns green. As he continues smashing into paintbots, his colors change accordingly, eventually turning him brown. Landing in water washes de Blob clean.

De Blob, by THQ Inc., is rated E (for everyone). Mild cartoon violence involves squishing Inkies. This game is fun for players of all ages and doesn’t take too much time to get involved. Younger children enjoy bouncing around and making a mess on screen while parents can relax knowing that the mess is a virtual one. Long live color!

Why do we recommend this game? Impressive audio and visual, and gameplay to match. It’s challenging enough for older kids and adults, while still very appealing and “playable” for the younger crowd. A family pleaser. This is why de Blob is on our Best Nintendo Wii Games for Kids list.

For more information, user reviews, or to buy: DeBlob

Nintendo pioneered hand-held entertainment in the 1980’s with the Game Boy video game system. There have been very successful incarnations (or iterations) over the years, and now Nintendo is releasing the Nintendo DSi handheld system. Priced at a manufacturers’ suggested retail price of $169.99, this new handheld features a sleek and slim design, the largest screen Nintendo handhelds have seen yet, a set of two cameras (external and internal, pointed at the user), an interactive voice recorder, and music player. Both the new sights and sounds features can be manipulated–photos can be taken using interactive lenses, and music or voice can be altered. The system will be released in black and matte blue versions.

Similar to the Nintendo Wii’s Wiiware, the DSi platform will allow downloadable games and applications using Nintendo DSi Points. Of course, there will be the usual retail games designed specially for the system.

Is it backwards compatible? In other words, will kids be able to play their current Nintendo DS games on the new DSi? The answer is “for the most part”. It will be able to play most DS games, according to Nintendo.

The system will be launched along with the game, Rhythm Heaven, a unique musical game that has been quite popular in Japan since its release.

For more information and/or to preorder: Nintendo DSi

Hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear about the problems of obesity–and childhood obesity–in the news. With obesity on the rise, more and more people are aware of the benefits of exercise. But what of video games designed to get kids moving? Is it just hype? Well, some are, no doubt. We tend to get all worked up when a video game gets children out of the typical stupor and onto their feet. But a lot of games inspire only a small amount of movement. Not so with the Nintendo Wii Fit, which completely focuses on working out, without turning the process into a tedious lesson.

Getting enough exercise can be easier said than done. If your children tend to be sedentary and love video games, or if you are not a “going to the gym” type, the Nintendo Wii Fit for the Nintendo Wii gaming system can certainly get you and your family started on the road to fitness, or at the very least, fitness and health awareness. The Wii Fit offers an interactive workout and is designed to make exercise a fun activity that anyone in the family can enjoy, no matter their level of fitness.  It’s also highly interactive and educational: it guides you through designing a workout program, tracking your progress and learning proper technique. Interestingly, the game made our testers aware of the importance of balance.

Using the Nintendo Wii Fit involves stepping  on its balance board, which reads body movements, measures weight and weight distribution, and the game offers feedback about these measures, as well as BMI and Wii “fitness age”. Players learn about their BMI, but do note that kids who are even slightly on the chubby side will find out that they are “at the risk of being obese” or worse. Players set fitness and weight goals, and the Wii Fit records progress as well as total hours and minutes of usage.

The Nintendo Wii Fit is designed to be a fitness and educational tool, but it’s also designed to be pleasurable. Families perform aerobics, strength training, learn yoga moves, play balance games, and more. Weight measurements can be password-protected if desired. Scores in various activities are recorded and lists of top scores are provided. Players jog, play goalie, walk a tightrope, play with hula hoops, go skiing, learn and perform yoga poses, and a whole lot more.

If you are ready to make fun and fitness a permanent part of your life, then getting a Nintendo Wii Fit is one easy way to get started. Work. School. Bills. Housework. With all of the things you have to do each day, it’s easy to forget that you need to make time for exercise in your life.

To find the Wii Fit or other Wii games: Top Selling Wii Games

The list of most wanted, wished for, and hottest toy ideas is categorized into children’s age groups and interests. This year’s list is a little more Web 2.0 with its video component and sliders–great fun!

You can see the top toys for Christmas (and other holidays of the winter season) here: Amazon’s Holiday Toy List 2008.

Hyperdash is selected as the number one holiday toy for 2008, and it’s no wonder. We love the game that has kids thinking on their feet–literally. It’s an Edutaining Kids Top Pick as well, as it fits perfectly into our expectations for a quality “edutaining” toy. Hyper Dash puts a new spin on the term “active learning”–it promotes listening, memory, and math skills, as well as giving kids a little workout. Intense fun! For more information about this fun and educational toy, see Wild Planet Hyper Dash.

More toys that appear on both Amazon’s list and our Edutaining Kids Holiday Gift Guides include Fisher-Price Smart Cycle, EyeClops Night Vision Infrared Stealth Goggles,LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table, and more.

Drifting:

When playing in Automatic mode, drifting is disabled. This means that your kart is more flexible to turn around corners, but you cannot do anything to gain that beloved mini boost.

In Manual mode, turning around sharp corners is restricted, but the game gives you the choice to drift. Press and hold the correct drifting button while accelerating (depending on your choice of controls; see above). Your kart will turn around tight spots very easily. If you hold this combination long enough, you will perform a mini boost. The longer you hold, the longer this boost will be.

Obtain Race Start Boost:

During the counting, at the beginning of each race, you can rocket your way ahead of the competition with an intensive, initial boost. When the “Flying Cloud” has its hand at the top to make the third count, press and hold the gas.

General Tips:

Always place Fake Item Boxes next to legitimate ones; this will trick players and make them run into one. This is especially useful during online play.

As you may already know, drag your items behind you to protect yourself against incoming shells (or other.) Please note that Fake Item Boxes do not protect you against shells.

Because you have 12 players against you, the chances of being hit with random items have increased, often making the game frustrating. Try not to let go of your current item until you have obtained a new one. In other words, hold one behind you until you reach the next set of item boxes. If you let go of your ONLY item prematurely, you will have nothing to defend yourself before the next item box is reached.

If you fall off a track, when the little cloudy guy lifts you back on, press the gas button just as you touch the ground, and this will give you a much-needed boost. With practice, it can be done!

If left behind on a race, get right behind another racer to gain a major speed boost, as the racer ahead will absorb all the air and leave a “tunnel” free of any pressure.

Controls:

Controlling your character with the Wii Wheel:

+ Button: Pause
Turn: Steer left or right
Flick Up: Trick or Wheelie (Bike Only)
2 Button: Accelerate
1 Button: Brake or Reverse
B Button: Drift (Manual mode)
A Button: Reverse look
D-Pad Up: Throw Item
D-Pad Down – Drop item

Controlling your character with the Wii remote & Nunchuk:

+ Button: Pause
Analog Stick: Steer or Throw Items Back or Forward
A Button: Accelerate
B Button: Drift (Manual mode)
Z Button: Use Item
C Button: Reverse Look
Flick Wii remote Up: Trick or Wheelie (using bike Only)

Controlling your character with the classic controller:

START/PAUSE Button: Pause
Analog Stick: Steer or Throw Items Back or Forward
A Button: Accelerate
B Button: Brake / Reverse
X /ZR Button: Reverse Look
L Button : Use an Item
R Button: Drift (Manual mode)
D-Pad Up: Trick / Wheelie (using bike Only)

Controlling your character with the GameCube controller:

START/PAUSE Button: Pause
Analog Stick: Steer or Throw Items Backward or Forward
A Button: Accelerate
B Button: Brake or Reverse
X /Z Button: Reverse Look
L Button: Use Item
R Button: Drift (Manual mode)
D-Pad Up: Trick / Wheelie (using bike Only)

This pretty much covers all you need to know about Nintendo’s latest entry to the age-old series.  Please note that these tricks are especially useful when playing online, which will always help you stay in the lead regardless of how intense your competition can be!

Pajama Sam for the Wii

The original Freddi Fish title, Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery, released in the 1990’s for computers is now available for the Wii. Players follow a story line in which they lead Freddi (I remember being surprised that Freddi was a girl!) and her sidekick, Luther, in search of missing kelp seeds. Kids need to listen to clues, collect items along the way that they will use to solve problems later, and play mini-games.

If you’re expecting updated graphics and/or a new experience that takes advantage of the interactive features of the Nintendo Wii system, you’ll be disappointed. However, it’s a bit of a nostalgic blast from the past, and it’s good for children ages 4-7. Anyone older will “beat” the game far too quickly.

Also available at the time of this post are Pajama Sam: Don’t Fear the Dark and Spy Fox: Dry Cereal.

For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery, Pajama Sam in Don’t Fear the Dark, or Spy Fox in Dry Cereal.

Kids are rookie chefs in a fun and engaging new game for the Wii, Order Up!. Rookie chefs need to start at the bottom, and in Order Up!, they begin their cooking adventure at a greasy spoon, Burger Face. As kids progress, their goal is to eventually become world-class chefs.

What’s special about this game is that it not only allows kids to work with ingredients and recipes, it is also a restaurant management game. Children prepare and present food, and the focus is not only on mixing the right ingredients, but also adding the special finishing touches that make a meal a masterpiece. New recipes and equipment are unlocked along the way.

In comparison to Cooking Mama for the Wii, Order Up is richer in gameplay, offering definite goals and a management angle that older kids will enjoy more. Its controls are a little trickier, however.

This game is missing a multi-player mode, which would have boosted our ratings of the game considerably.

For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Order Up!