The Next Kid Thing

Tennis, anyone?  Ubisoft has released Racquet Sports, a new Wii video game that includes tennis, ping pong, badminton, squash and beach tennis.

Targeted for the entire family, Racquet Sports can be played with up to four players, bringing the backhands and lightning-fast serves to our living rooms.

The graphics in this game are reminiscent of most Wii based games: colorful, quirky, yet realistic.  The characters aren’t Miis, but the big cartoonish characters are diverse and can be customized.  Racquet Sports can also be played with Ubisoft’s Motion-Tracking camera, which is available separately.

The game that’s familiar with many families, Wii Sports, already has its own arrangement of racquet sports, but I think Ubisoft’s new game adds a even more dimension to these family favorites.  Beach Tennis and squash, in particular, are the racquet sports I like seeing on this new game.  Also, the racquet extension that’s available for the Wii controllers (I’ve seen them at Costco) make this game a little more fun.

The other weekend, before the game’s official debut, we had the chance to check out the game being demo’ed by none other than the reigning French Open Champ, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and the reigning US Open champ, Kim Clijsters, in a Match Before the Match at Madison Square Garden.  At the event, the tennis stars debuted Fila’s Spring 2010 Center Court Collection while they battled it out for the title of Racquet Sports champ.  In the fun-spirited match, Kim defeated Svetlana, and added another title to her resume–Wii Racquet Sports champ!

On the heels of a successful live tour, Yo Gabba Gabba season three premieres today, March 8 at 10:30 on Nickelodeon.  In Yo Gabba Gabba fashion, premiere week will feature a host of familiar faces such as Sarah Silverman, Weird Al Yankovic, Black Kids, Jack McBrayer, Paul Scheer, Weezer, Anthony Bourdain, Of Montreal, Mos Def, Devo, The Aquabats, Mark Mothersbaugh and Biz Markie.  Famous dad, Travis Barker of Blink 182 fame will rock out a special remix for the premiere today.

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Not sure if you’ve noticed the badge I’ve posted over there –>

In case you’re wondering, tomorrow, I will be taking a break from the baby and kid product blogging (I’ll catch up one day…) and will be attending a luncheon to hear more about Phyllis Rabinowitz’s work and the R Baby Foundation, for which the badge is posted.  With R Baby Foundation’s mission in mind, tomorrow’s event is geared to help  grow the foundation’s support base to improve the quality of pediatric emergency care.

As parents, it’s up to us to be the littlest people’s advocates, and with foundations like R Baby, more funding and awareness of pediatric emergency care are brought to the forefront.

In addition to hearing about R Baby Foundations, there will be a candid round table conversation with inspiring Momprenuers, including a few ladies whom I’ve had the chance to work with in the past.

Because this event is all about spreading awareness about R Baby Foundation’s efforts, I’d love for you to join us too!  Don’t think you can’t participate in this inspiring event just because it takes place in NYC.  Thanks to technology and the innovation of webcasting, all of YOU can join us.

The webcast goes live tomorrow, March 5, at 12:30.  All you have to do is log on and register. http://www.rbabyfoundation.org/live.php

Registrants will have the chance to win goodies from brands that support R Baby as well.

With this as one of the coldest winters on record, naturally, parents have been doing what they can to keep babes big and small warm all winter long.

But did you know that infants who are overdressed or covered in heavy blankets or many blankets are at higher risk for SIDS? Contrary to our instincts to layer heavy blankets on ourselves, it is advised that babies to be dressed lightly to avoid overheating. The CJ Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the special needs of the SIDS community through funding SIDS research, support services and public awareness programs, recommends the use of wearable blankets and sleep-sacks in place of blankets to keep infants warm while sleeping.

Born Theodor Seuss Geisel on March 2, 1904, the writer and illustrator better known as Dr. Seuss, produced classic children’s books that have rhymed, reasoned and influenced many generations. (Including the Olympian I had the honor of interviewing! more on that later.)

With Dr. Seuss’s birthday in mind, I thought I’d share some of my most recent Dr. Seuss finds:

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With the upcoming release of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, the Tim Burton-directed adaptation of the classic story, Alice’s adventure and tea party is fresh on our minds.

In fact, another whimsical adaptation of Alice in Wonderland has us seeing the Cheshire Cookie Cat, the Grouch of Hearts and a fuzzy red rabbit.

Wait, what?

The always-precocious fairy-in-training, Abby Cadabby, stars in Abby in Wonderland, the Sesame Street version of this classic tale.  In this re-release from Warner Home Video and Sesame Workshop, along with Elmo and several friends, Abby dreams that she takes a journey down a rabbit hole and bumps into some familiar friends along the way.

The kid, who is way too young for the latest Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, has fallen in love with Abby in Wonderland.  Over the past week or so since receiving the review copy, we have watched Abby in Wonderland nonstop.  It’s a 30-minute primer to the storybook classic that cutely incorporates a few Sesame Street characters who play Alice in Wonderland characters, and even has Abby and Elmo singing a few sweet tunes.  This watered down version of Alice in Wonderland is a great alternative for preschoolers, especially those who have piqued interest in the eye-catching Disney commercials.  And to boot, this DVD release comes with 5-song CD that features a few favorite Sesame Street hits.

Abby in Wonderland, the Sesame Street adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, goes on sale March 2, 2010 but of course, I have a copy for one NKT reader.

To win a copy of Abby in Wonderland, comment below and tell me who your favorite Alice in Wonderland character is and why.

For extra entries, share about this giveaway on any social media site and comment below.  Sign up for the NKT newsletter below and get 2 extra entries.  (If you’re already a subscriber, invite a friend to subscribe.)  Please leave a comment for every entry.

This contest will end this Friday, March 5, 2010 at midnight.  The winner will be chosen by random.org and will then be notified by email.

Toy Fair had so many larger than life toys that were on display, but one trend that I noticed that paralleled the aforementioned accessibility theme was the presence of so many teeny tiny toys.  And for this first toy, I’m talking tiny.

Teeny Little Families

Bandai was showcasing their new Tiny Little Families line, which is described to be the smallest collectible doll.  The story behind these guys is that the little animal families–The Bakers, Acorns, Nibbles, Purrbrights, Waddles and Pollywogs–take up residence in abandoned, mundane objects such as shoes, alarm clocks and even a wee little cell phone. Their little town/playsets include homes, pampering spots and many more locations for the families to enjoy.  Teeny Little Families is a new take on doll houses, giving girls another  alternative for cutesy collectibles.

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In perhaps every imaginable shade of pink on the spectrum, Toy Fair 2010 offered a glimpse of some of the girliest toys a girl could imagine.

Beyond the obvious girl toys–dolls– Toy Fair showcased a lot of girls’ (and guys’) best friends, too.  Continuing the ongoing trend of taking stuffed animals to the next dimension, here are just a few of the many, many pet-themed toys I learned about at Toy Fair.

Littlest Pet Shop

One of Hasbro’s best selling girls properties that are best known for their cute, beady eyes, The Littlest Pet Shop, has quite a few new goodies this year. Just a few of the many new additions to their line include the Rescue Tails Center that will give girls a platform to care for their pets. This set comes with an ambulance with a light-up X-ray machine and plenty of accessories to provide thorough check-ups.  Retail Price: $39.99/Available: Fall 10

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Apologies for the lack of posts, but as Toy Fair wrapped up, I had my own wrapping up to do, to the tune of  3,000 photos and bags upon bags of flyers and flashdrives of press kits. I’m sure you noticed, but I did much more Facebooking and Tweeting than updating over here, simply because internet access was scarce in the media room.  But I digress…

For my First Toy Fair, this was an exciting and extremely productive event.  I was been able to meet with a number of the big companies to hear about their latest and greatest, but, as you know, I also love learning about the smaller, lesser known companies as well.

I’ll try not to be redundant in my posts, as I’m sure a few of you have read some of my updates already.  So, as I continue to wrap my brain around all of these toys, I thought I’d offer a quick update.  Next week, I’ll go through a myriad of topics, but for now I thought I’d talk about what I saw and relate it to what the “real” experts had to say.

Several of the “Toy Experts” have cited accessibility and affordability as prominent themes throughout the event.  Obviously, I’m no expert, but as a parent and writer who seeks out these trends, I’m always drawn to see how it all fits.

Generally speaking, of all the modern and attention-grabbing products, I found, for the most part, many new products were being marketed as affordable.  Of course, affordability is a subjective term in this context, but nonetheless, affordability is a burgeoning theme throughout this industry.

Heavily influenced by the turbulent economic crisis and volatile job market, companies recognize the consumers’ needs, thus emphasizing affordability of their new products.  There’s so many to include in the affordable category, but since I met with MegaBloks, Goldberger and ImagiPlay, these companies come to mind.  All three of these companies had seemingly different new products to showcase that were tailored for budget-minded families.

MegaBloks, well known for their Preschool Construction Toys, had several new items that I know my kid would love, most notably the new Thomas construction train sets, which are in the $20 range.  Goldberger had a variety of dolls I loved, but the new Lily dolls from their eco-friendly line are under $20.  ImagiPlay, as one of my favorite sites tweeted, is pioneering the eco-affordable toys, especially with their new yoyos

But, perhaps accessibility of toys is most noticeable in the size of toys.  As the toy experts said, many toys were compact, condensed and suitable for on-the-go play.

For both boys and girls, from tiny tots to teens, compact toys ranged from new variations of plush rattles as seen in Playskool’s new Gloworld line to wooden playsets such as the ones from ImgaiPlay to electronic readers like VTech Toy’s Flip to the new bikes like those from Tech Deck.

(I’m still updating photos, but I’ll be sure to update as soon as they’re all up!)

Live from Toy Fair:  Here’s a sneak peek of Cepia’s next line of Zhu Zhu Pets: Kung Zhu. The ninja-themed Zhu Zhus are going to be marketed to boys, but after someone asked, “why not girls too?” the president of the company said they’ll address their focus.

The robotic hamsters, which were “it” toy for 2009 are hoping have another hit with these battling hamsters.  I will be sure to add more details later, but for now, here’s a glimpse at the new guys: