Kidz Vuz Holiday House Party Highlights

A couple of weeks ago, Biggie and I had a much-needed mom and J day.  But it wasn’t just a regular day out, it was a day well spent getting our hands on some of the best gear for tweens.

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Though J is a few years away from the official tween stage, we were in great company at the Kidz Vuz Holiday Party.  In case you’re not familiar, Kidz Vuz is a safe online hub where tweens gather to dish and disseminate their thoughts on any and everything, including the latest gadgets and gear.

The Kidz Vuz Holiday Party, held at Gary’s Loft just footsteps away from the hustle and bustle of Herald’s Square, was abuzz with a slew of tween-appropriate goodies.  From tablets to gaming consoles to books to broadway, The Kidz Vuz House Holiday Party had everyone covered.

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Here are some highlights of the wonderful day we had at the House Party of the season:

Samsung

Samsung was front and center showcasing their Galaxy Tab 3 Kids 7.0.  Just as the name suggests, this 7 inch tablet is geared to kids and packs a punch in a colorful little package.  Heavy on the parental controls, this wi-fi enabled tablet allows kids a safer, yet simple interface.  There’s also a standard mode so parents can use the tablet as a fully functioning tablet.

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I didn’t get that much time with this cool device, but I was quite impressed with this kid-friendly tablet.  My only reluctance about this device is the yellow and orange, which, for us, wouldn’t be as appealing in a year.  At just six years old, my older son is already turned off by electronics or “babyish” devices.  We’ll group him into the spoiled Apple generation.

Nintendo
We didn’t spend much time at the Nintendo Lounge, but it was quite the hotbed for the tweens and teens, which meant the target audience was satisfied.  We did, however, have a chance to check out a few of the Nintendo DS games, which were fun.  Unfortunately, we’re not a big DS family since we mostly co-play on our XBox and PS3 and J prefers the iPad to a DS.  Nevertheless, I always enjoy Nintendo’s expansive offerings on their various platforms.

Spinmaster

J spent almost the entire afternoon at Spinmaster’s nook.  He was immediately drawn to the Tenkai Knights building sets.  Along with several other dudes, J built creation after creation until he could build no more.  Untitled
We are longtime Spinmaster fans, so we have been testing out the other toys they had on display.  I loved seeing how my favorites, Kawaii Krush and Zoomer, were well-loved.  Tenkai Knights have firm placement on our Christmas list.

Hasbro

Hasbro, another longtime favorite of ours, had several fun toys for the kids to explore.  The most popular of the Hasbro corner, though, was definitely the Rebelle shooting range. This fun extension of Nerf includes the Heartbreaker, Guardian, Sweet Revenge and Pink Cross.

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À la Katniss from Hunger Games, the Rebelle Heartbreaker underscores the popularity of archery, especially for our fearless females.  Make no mistake though, plenty of boys were giving the gear a spin for themselves.

The Furby Boom, which is looking like a hot item this holiday season, was also a featured product from Hasbro.  This new take on the quirky character is interactive via an app, is responsive and loves to dance.  This latest iteration of Furby is much more vibrant (if that’s even possible) and has more flair than ever.

Downtown Bookworks

This fun children’s publishing company had a selection of superhero books that made quite an impression on us.  With board books featuring DC Superheroes, such as: DC Superheroes, ABC 123 and My First Batman Book, this publisher has numerous titles that would make our littlest superhero fan stand proud.
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But it was The Official DC Super Hero Cookbook that kept my biggest superhero fan completely engaged. I love that this book combines two of our loves: superheroes and cooking.  The Downtown Bookworks table let the kids decorate their own superhero cookies with a stencil.  J made his own Flash cookie, which we devoured on the bus on the way home. By the way? This Wonder Woman apron was EVERYTHING!

Green Mustache Smoothies

One of my favorites of the day was Green Mustache Smoothies.  Created by a mom of a picky kid, these smoothies are made with a full serving of greens and fruits.  It’s non-GMO, organic and tastes amazing.  My younger guy is showing picky tendencies or textural issues, but he absolutely LOVED these smoothies.
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We normally buy another brand of smoothies, but after tasting these, we are sold.  In fact, I’m headed out today to pick up a few flavors at our closest store, which is 20 miles away.  I will be dropping off an info sheet at my local organic store, in hopes they pick this product up.

Chloe’s Fruit

Chloe’s Fruit was another delicious treat, this time featuring frozen fruit.  With quite a few flavors to choose from, I can see myself choosing this delicious treat over Tasti d-lite anyway.

The Lamp NYC

The Lamp NYC is an organization described by NYCcharities.org as an organization that educates and equips people to shape the media landscape through hands-on training.  The Lamp NYC teaches young, impressionable minds about news, reporting, commercials, digital media and more.  The purpose of this charity is to immerse kids head-on with the different types of media that shapes our ever-evolving informational landscape.  I love the purpose and meaning of this charity, and it’s one that I hope to get my kids involved in, when the time is right.

Kids’ Night on Broadway

Kids’ Night on Broadway takes place on Feb. 24- March 2.  For this program, kids 6-18 see a Broadway show for free with a full-paying adult.  Tickets go on sale on January 8th for this fabulous experience that gives kids a taste of culture as well as a peek behind the scenes during a fan festival.  This is definitely something I’m hoping we can take part in, so I’ll be penciling in the dates now!

Stonefire Flatbreads

Lunch was catered in part by Stonefire Flatbreads.  J and I ate some delicious sandwiches made with these amazing breads.  These are the fluffiest flatbreads and pitas I’d ever tasted.  Seriously, so fluffy and filling!  A big thanks to Stonefire for introducing me to a new family staple.

Homewood Suites

One of our absolute favorite places to stay when we’re on the road is most definitely Homewood Suites.  In fact, during Hurricane Sandy last year, we had a family member who was staying at a local Homewood Suites and we had the opportunity to stay there for a week.  We had the chance to experience the great complimentary weekday meals, fabulous indoor pool and impeccable service.  Whether traveling for business or with family on vacation, we personally seek out the comfort and convenience of establishments such as Homewood Suites.

Dermalogica

I had the opportunity to get my face mapped while at the Kidz Vuz House Party.  The well-versed aesthetician told me things about my skin that I had no idea about, such as I could still have acne prone skin and it still be dehydrated.  I also learned a bit about the Dermalogica’s teen line, which is more concentrated for problem skin that is often brought about during those hormonal teenage years.

Justin Case

Kidz Vuz had a lovely raffle going towards Lamp, which I was more than happy to make a contribution.  As luck would have it, I won a fabulous Justin Case Rechargeable Power Case from Innovative Technologies, which is a back up battery and iPad case all in one.  I read all about it on NYTimes.com, so I’m quite excited about this win!

A big thank you and congrats to my friends Rebecca and Nancy of Kidz Vuz.  I attend a lot of events throughout the year, and this was, by far, one of the most well-organized and informative events where my kid and I both came away with a lot of great information and fun goodies to boot.

Full disclosure:  I was not compensated, although I did receive a generous swag bag from the event.  As always, all opinions on NKT are my own.

Interview with Seth McMahill: Pokemon Black Version and White Version

Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version, both released earlier this month, have reported record sales as well as positive reviews.  PCMag.com reported:

According to publisher Nintendo, both versions have sold over 1 million units since their March 6 launch. The record was previously held by “Pokemon Diamond” and “Pokemon Pearl,” which came out in 2007 with a combined sales total of 780,000 units in one day.


And the gaming blog Joystiq said the latest additions to the Pokemon lineup:

represent the very best that the franchise has to offer: An endearing cast of monsters and trainers, addictive collection mechanics, a 40-plus hour single-player campaign and a bevy of bolstered multiplayer functions.

And though I’ve yet to check them out firsthand, I did, however, have a chance to chat with Pokemon expert, Seth McMahill.  See what McMahill has to say about the latest Pokemon titles.

NKT at CES 2011

Howdy from Las Vegas, everyone!  As everyone was gearing up for the New Year and packing up their Christmas decor, I was fielding emails, setting up appointments and mentally preparing myself for the Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s largest technology conference.

What’s a blogger—more specifically, a blogger who focuses on kid stuff—doing at a tech conference?

I’m doing what most other members of the press are doing: checking out and reporting on the latest innovations in technology.  Most importantly, what I’m here for, is to learn about all this new technology and how it intersects with families and kids.

This holiday season, I noticed that more and more handhelds for kids and gadgets lined the shelves of big box electronic stores.  In the age of iPads and smartphones, apps help our kids to read stories, tablets are being harnessed for educational purposes and moms…well, we’re still doing most of the buying decisions, especially when it comes to technology throughout the entire house.  It’s more than evident that technology is embraced by the entire family, with mom and kids influencing a good portion of the techy marketplace, now more than ever.

With CES officially opening today, I be on the look out for a superfluous amount of #CES tweets, my pictures on Flickr, and of course, some blog posts all about the family friendly tech gear that I find on the showroom floor.

Time to Play Announces Holiday Must Haves

It’s October, and fall is officially in full swing.  (How did that happen so quickly?)

Even though the season is just now starting to change, media and bloggers alike have had the holidays in mind for months now.  In fact, I think I went to my first holiday preview back in May?

Nevertheless, I’m excited once again to curate—what I consider—cool new kid gear that would make fun gift for the holidays.  But this week, to get the season started right, I had the chance to attend Time to Play magazines Holiday Showcase here in NYC.

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The pros, Chris Byrne, content director, and Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TimetoPlayMag.com unveiled Time to Play’s Most Wanted list, the 16 toys they predict will be the “must haves” for the upcoming holiday season.  And once again, NKT was onhand to check things out and tweet all about it.

And here they are, TimetoPlayMag.com’s Most Wanted List for the 2010 Holiday Season:

  • AIR HOGS MOTO FRENZY
    (Spin Master/Ages 8 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)
  • DISNEY PRINCESS & ME DOLLS
    (JAKKS Pacific/Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $49.99)
  • HOT WHEELS R/C STEALTH RIDES
    (Mattel/Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)
  • LEAPSTER EXPLORER
    (LeapFrog/Ages 4 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $69.99)
  • LEGO Games – LEGO Systems
    (LEGO/Ages 7 years & up/Approx. Retail Price $29.99)
  • LOOPZ
    (Mattel/Ages 7 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $29.99)
  • MONSTER HIGH Dolls
    (Mattel/Ages 6 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $16.99)
  • NERF N-STRIKE STAMPEDE ECS Blaster
    (Hasbro/Ages 8 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $49.99)
  • PAPER JAMZ
    (WowWee/Ages 5 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)
  • REAL CONSTRUCTION
    (JAKKS Pacific/Ages 5 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $24.99)
  • SCRABBLE FLASH
    (Hasbro/Ages 8 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $29.99)
  • SING-A-MA-JIGS
    (Mattel/Ages 3 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $12.99)
  • SQUINKIES
    (Blip Toys/Ages 4 years & up /Approx. Retail Price: $6.99)
  • TONKA CHUCK & FRIENDS CHUCK’S STUNT PARK Playset
    (Hasbro Playskool/Ages 3 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $39.99)
  • V.READER
    (VTech/Ages 3 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $59.99)
  • ZOOBLES
    (Spin Master/Ages 4 years & up/ Approx. Retail Price: $4.99)

They also highlighted three family-friendly video games, which include:

  • Kirby’s epicYarn
  • Epic Mickey
  • Dance Central

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Most of the toys at the showcase were toys that I’ve had the chance to check out at Toy Fair, at media previews or have even been dubbed NKT faves, so some of the “must haves” were no surprise.  They’re all great picks, but I have several more on my radar that I think should’ve made the mark.  I’ll be sure to share those in my holiday gift guide, which is coming soon.

Do you guys see any toys that you think might be the “it” toy this year?

Whatever you think might be hot, put it on your radar NOW.  Time to Play’s sage advice for consumers and industry insiders alike:  “If you see it early, grab it early.”

Nintendo 3DS: 3D Gaming Minus the Glasses

From movies, to tvs, and now, gaming systems, it looks like 3D is here to stay.

 

Nintendo announced it will release the 3DS, the successor to the DSi (above).

 

The internet is abuzz today over Nintendo’s announcement that it will launch the next version of its handheld Nintendo 3DS in March 2011.  Nintendo said that with the 3DS, games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses. The 3DS will be compatible with games from the entire Nintendo DS series.

Little details were provided, but various sites have been annalyzing Nintendo’s latest announcement.  Nintendo plans to announce more details at the E3 Show, slated for June 15th in L.A.

In the meantime, checkout what TechCrunch is saying about the innovation behind Nintendo’s next handheld gaming system.

 

Celebrate Opening Ceremony with Olympic Video Games

In honor of tonight’s Olympic Opening Ceremony that will officially kick off the Winter Games, I thought I’d mention these Olympic inspired video games.

There’s no shortage in video games inspired by major sporting events, and yes, that includes the most revered sports event of all time, The Olympics.  If you couldn’t make it to Vancouver to see the Olympics in person, Sega has a pair of Olympic-branded video games so that everyone can play along.

In case you’re wondering why only Sega?  Well, that’s because Sega is the sole video game publisher of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, through an agreement with International Sports Multimedia (ISM), exclusive licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC.)

Two beloved video game characters, Mario and Sonic, are once again taking their rivalry to the snow and ice in another officially licensed Olympic-themed game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

 

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