Toy Insider Senior Editor Marissa DiBartolo stopped by Fox 5 in San Diego to show off some great interactive toys perfect for the kids on your holiday shopping list. For more on the items featured in this segment, check out the product notes below, and for our complete rundown of the best gifts for the holidays, check out our complete holiday gift guide.
FURREAL ROARIN’ TYLER, THE PLAYFUL TIGER (HASBRO)
- Kids can bring home an adorable baby tiger to love, play with, and care for as their own.
- Make a noise or give a loud jungle roar and Tyler will roar back in response.
- Kids can enjoy playtime with him using his play chicken.
- Tyler features more than 100 sound and motion combinations with sensors on his forehead, back, and muzzle allowing him to respond to touch in fun ways.
- Kids can pull him up close to snuggle thanks to his posable back legs, or nuzzle his cheek and he’ll respond with expressive eyes, sounds and tail movements.
- Ages: 4+
- MSRP: $129.99
- Available: Amazon, Target, Toys “R” Us, Walmart, www.hasbrotoyshop.com
LUVABELLA/LUVABEAU (SPIN MASTER)
- Luvabella is a loveable, life-like baby doll that comes in a variety of girl and boy doll options in different ethnicities.
- Children can care, nurture and play with Luvabella and Luvabeau using the doll’s interactive accessories and pacifier.
- From feeding time with her spoon, play time with her Lamby, to nap time with her bottle, Luvabella will respond with natural reactions. Kids can watch her laugh, blink, purse her lips, and more.
- Feed her with her spoon and she’ll begin to chew and learn new food words.
- Ages: 3+
- MSRP: $99.99
- Available: Amazon, Target, Toys “R” Us, Walmart
- Fingerlings baby monkeys come to life with endless ways of play and realistic sounds to let kids know how they are feeling. Kids can wrap them on their finger to have a new friend at their fingertips.
- These silly critters have happy monkey sounds, blinking eyes, heads that turn, hands that grip, and a curly hanging tail.
- Kids can swing them, pet them, kiss them, and even rock them to sleep.
- There are six different Fingerlings to play, share, and collect.
- Ages: 5+
- MSRP: $14.99
- Available: Amazon, Target, Toys “R” Us, Walmart
LEGO BOOST CREATIVE TOOLBOX (THE LEGO GROUP)
- The LEGO BOOST app guides children through a build-and-code experience in a series of game-like challenges.
- Kids can build and customize Vernie, their own personal talking robot friend, code its behavior, and complete fun activities with the included playmat.
- When kids speak to Vernie, iit will respond with facial expressions that reflect its mood.
- Vernie can move in all directions at variable speed on its large tracts, see objects and colors, sense distance, grip and carry accessories, make hand gestures and launch darts from its shoulder mounted shooter.
- Vernie also senses and reacts to impacts and knows when you pick it up.
- Rebuild Vernie to create the M.T.R.4 (Multi-Tooled Rover 4), Guitar4000, Frankie the Cat, or the AutoBuilder, all controlled via a tablet with the free downloadable app that also includes digital LEGO
- Ages: 7-12
- MSRP: $159.99
- Available: Online at shop.lego.com and LEGO brand retail stores
HATCHIMALS SURPRISE (SPIN MASTER)
- New Hatchimals are arriving from Hatchtopia and they can’t hatch without kids’ help.
- Experience a whole new hatching experience! Kids can tap and rub the egg to help their Hatchimals hatch in just a few minutes. Then, watch the creature pop up and out of the egg! What’s the big surprise? There are twins inside!
- Choose from Giravens or Peacats, and discover if you have identical or fraternal twins.
- Age: 5+
- MSRP: $69.99
- Available: Amazon, Target, Toys “R” Us, Walmart
LIGHTSEEKERS STARTER KIT (TOMY INTERNATIONAL)
- Lightseekers is an action-adventure role playing game built for mobile devices that fuses together fantasy and reality, integrating video games and smart action figures with the latest in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, interactive trading cards and more.
- The mini-computer, known as the FusionCore, is embedded within each action figure and is the “brains” behind the smart connected toys.
- Players can take their experience to another level, adding physical accessories to their figures and scanning trading cards with the Lightseekers game app to customize their gameplay.
- Add smart action figures with interchangeable weapons you can level-up.
- Scan augmented reality trading cards that give you special in-game abilities.
- Connect motion-controlled flight packs that turn your figure into a game controller.
- Ages: 8+
- MSRP: $69.99
- Available: Toys “R” Us
