Under our Christmas Tree this year ...

We've had lots of fun this month opening and trying out a wonderful range of toys and gifts for kids.  It's been just like Christmas in fact!  

We've included well known names alongside companies you might not have heard of ranging from stocking fillers to must have toys.

We hope to give you lots of ideas and inspiration.  And also read on for our packaging recycling tips from our friends at www.recyclenow.com

Thanks to all our gang of testers and who have tried out the toys and gifts we've featured this year! Our gang thoroughly tested all the toys, with enthusiasm and the usual noise that comes with every Christmas day.

Beth(11), Benn(7), Charlotte(10), Sammy(8), Kieran(6)

So in no particular order the toys that we tested were:

For kids aged 5-7

 . . . The hugely popular and award winning Creature Comforts and Shaun the Sheep Complete Collection are guaranteed to amuse the little ones long after all the presents have been unwrapped.

 For kids aged 7-11

 …How about investing in a boxset of your favourite Sci-fi show this Christmas? Doctor Who The Complete Series 4 will certainly entertain well into the New Year. What's more, the spectacular modern version of the Merlin story is guaranteed to enchant this Christmas or you could journey into the heart of Kenya with Big Cat Week. 

Benn says "I love Dr Who, I will be very sad when David Tennant leaves but at least with the DVDs I can watch him anytime!'

 These DVDs are available at stockists througout the UK.

Deglingos! 

All of our team loved this, 'Really snuggly for a bedtime cuddle' Kieran (6). Forget tired teddies and redundant rag dolls, this Christmas the coolest toys in town are these Deglingos! French slang for ‘The crazy ones, there are ten different characters including; a Wolf, Dog, Rat and Cow, each made from twelve different bright and tactile fabrics.

The new Deglingos cost £29. from www.funkyfeetfashions.co.uk.

Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro r/c car

The only r/c car that can defy gravity and drive up walls. RRP £29.99

"I really like the Air Hogs Zero Gravity remote control car. Its dead fast and I can spin it and skid all over the place. This is so much fun to play with." Benn (7)

This 1/43 scale Radio Controlled car has modern sports styling, full function IR control and superior manoeuvrability. And to fuel your competitive streak there are two styles of car with different frequencies for head-to-head racing action. The cars can run for a spiffing 10 minutes run time per 30 mins charge and even have working headlights for night time cruising.

Available from all good toy and gadget shops

Miidio Piggy Vibro-Speakers

Boy did we hear about it when I team tested this!

These ultra-compact speakers take the signal from almost any music device and transform the surface on which they stand into an effective and powerful speaker. You can simply plug in and play music from any device featuring a standard 3.5mm audio (headphone) socket such as an iPod, MP3 player, laptop, PC, most multimedia mobile phones and many other hand-held devices. Miidio Speakers are highly portable and truly bring the idea of music anywhere alive – they work on glass, wood or plastic and even on the floorboards! Miidio Vibro-Speakers are available in 3 designs but kids would most appreciate the Miidio Piggy which is available in white with a choice of pink, green or blue detailing.

Available from www.twistedcarbon.com priced at £49.99.

Imagine - Nintendo DS - £29.99

Aimed at girls aged 6-12, Imagine is a range of video games that encourages young girls to use their imagination, creativity and have fun creating their own virtual world through a number of different games such as Imagine Fashion Model, Imagine Interior Designer and Imagine Baby Club.  

Our older girls loved this game, we just couldn't get them to put it down! To learn more please visit www.yourimaginegame.com

TOMY Guitar RockStar

Now everyone has the chance to live out their dreams as a rock legend this Christmas with Guitar RockStar from TOMY, the must-have gadget that takes air guitar to a new level of fun for everyone from 8-80.  Our team just had problems getting their Dads to give it back.

All a wannabe rock legend has to do is turn on Guitar RockStar, grab the electronic guitar neck, finger the frets and strum the infrared ‘strings’ to play a choice of two modes.  Pre-programmed enables the user to strum along to one of eight pre-programmed tacks by running your hand through the infrared ‘strings’, while freestyle allows would-be rockers to compose their own classic rock songs.  Sure to get everyone from the kids to Grandma rocking around the Christmas tree, Guitar RockStar is the ultimate stocking filler for 2008.
RRP: £14.99
Available from www.guitarrockstar.co.uk, Toys’R’Us and all good toy shops

Blast From the Past - Traditional Space Hopper £12.00

The first Space Hopper was patented in Italy in 1968, and was called a Pon-pon. These large bouncing balls with handles were introduced to England in 1969, sparking a Space Hopper craze that was to last over a decade. Our team had fun seeing how high they could bounce, how far they could bounce and how many of them could fit on this all at once.  Great fun!

 Available from www.pasttimes.com 

Our Girls Loved

HannahMontana Design ‘n Create Rockin’ Guitar, RRP £24.99 for ages 6+

Girls will love the flip-open centre compartment crammed full of sparkling gem tattoos, mini photo frames, stickers and more perfect for making beaded key chains, cool body art, a shimmering sash and funky jewellery! MP3 compatible so girls can rock to the beat and the fun flashing lights while the Hannah Montana theme song plays!

 High School Musical Design ‘n Create Stylin’ Keyboard, RRP £24.99 for ages 6+

From designing and decorating your own CD book, CD case and wipe off board with the prettiest gems, foam stickers, glam glitter glue and photos of the High School Musical cast, to making trendy friendship bracelets with the colourful charms and letter beads, the Stylin’ Keyboard has it all! Also features flashing lights and plays a High School Musical tune and is MP3 compatible!

Our Boys Loved

MagNext, available in various set sizes from £9.99 - £49.99, for ages 6+

An awesome and highly innovative new magnet construction system,  MagNext gives kids the tools to build bigger, stronger, faster and ultimately better than ever before! With specially designed, intricate new pieces, kids can create more detailed and exciting builds, resulting in the ultimate fun and best building experience.  (MagNext has just been named the SMart Toy of the Year 2008 by the Science Museum, as well as winning the SMart Build category of the Awards programme).

 iCoaster, RRP £79.99 for ages 6+

An impressive and high tech multi-sensory joyride, the iCoaster will thrill boys and techno fans alike with its extreme magnetic force, state-of-the-art design and ultra cool physics! Assembling the towers, tracks, sensors, stunts and Magnetic Elevator is easy, fast and exciting. Sensors can be placed along the tracks, and when the “Sound FX Music Studio” is turned on, boys can create their own mix of tunes and effects! You can also plug in your MP3 into the “Sound FX Music Studio” for your own music selections. (iCoaster has just won the SMart Play category of the Science Museum’s SMart Toy Awards 2008).

Struxx, available in three set sizes from £19.99 - £49.99, for ages 8+

A dynamic new, hyper-flexible and super-scale construction system, Struxx features futuristic skeletal pieces for innovative large scale building and awesome high-tech features such as sound and light, motion detection, elastic pieces and wheels. Kids can achieve new heights in their construction experience and put their Struxx builds into motion!

Kidizoom VTech Digital Camera

Kidizoom from VTech is an award winning* multimedia digital camera for children aged 3 upwards. Perfect for any little adventurer, Kidizoom is sleek in style but ultra tough to deal with rough and tumble.

Children will find it easy to capture images and snap away with a dual viewfinder, 1.8” colour LCD screen and big chunky buttons. Budding photographers or moviemakers can link their Kidizoom to a television or computer to play back photos or movies sure to impress friends and family.

Fun features include hilarious graphics to add to pictures, interchangeable face plates for camera personalisation, a creative workshop to edit photos and a range of in built games to play on the go or via the TV or PC. Compelling games on the camera develop key skills such as problem solving and co-ordination whilst photo editing software develops creativity.

Kidizoom is also available in Pink exclusively at Toys ‘r Us
RRP: £49.99

Zoggs Dive Sticks

Dive to find Zoggy and his friends to encourage and instill confidence in the water. These Zoggs Seal Sticks are a fun sinking swim game. These PVC seal sticks have a stainless steel weight inside to make them sink. Simply dive down retrieve the seal sticks - the one with the most wins. Beth and Benn love swimming and adored this great confidence building game. Beth (11)says 'my swimming instructer throws weights in the water for us to get in our swimming lesson, now I can do with it with Mum when ever I want'.

Dive sticks retail at £8.99 and are available from www.zoggs.com or Tesco

Combat of Giants Dinosaurs

Ideal for dinosaur-mad boys, Benn aged 7 would not put this game down 'It's so much fun I will never get bored of this game' says Benn. The aim of the videogame is to battle through the prehistoric age, roaming through Jurassic jungles fighting your way to become king of the dinosaurs! 

Combat of Giants Dinosaurs is available to buy for the suggested price of £29.99

High School Musical Electronic Microphone Alarm Clock

Mornings will never be the same again thanks to the fantastic new High School Musical Electronic Microphone Alarm Clock. Already a huge hit in the US, young girls will be dancing out of bed like the High School Musical characters.  This cool digital clock has a clear backlit display for easy-to-read time telling and alarm functions.  Any pop princess is sure to love the fun feather trim decoration and they can even sing their favourite tracks into this ‘real’ microphone with voice amplification - a fabulous way to practice those High School Musical tunes!

£19.99 For more information visit the company’s website www.worldsapart.com or call the customer service number on 0800 389 8591

The Maxi Micro Scooter – available pre-Christmas exclusively in the UK via: www.micro-scooters.co.uk.

 This is the ultimate scooter for kids aged 6-11 years – many of whom will have been dedicated fans of its smaller ‘sibling’ The Mini Micro Scooter. This most definitely is the coolest thing on wheels on the ‘scoot to school’, with its funky ‘joy stick’ handle-bar and unique wheel and board-base construction it will no doubt be the next hottest trend on the pavement!  Kieran (6) says 'this is different from other scooters, all my friends want one'. The Maxi Micro Scooter will retail at £79.99.

1.  There is no need to throw away all your toy packaging.  The cardboard box can be recycled you just need to remove the plastic window and any casing.

2.   You can flatten cardboard boxes to make more space for more recycling and help your recycling collectors.

3.   Get yourself geared up for Christmas by organising a container to  gather your recycling indoors – that way you’ll be able to take everything out in one go.

4.   Encourage your guests to help you keep on top of Christmas clutter by letting them know what they can recycle and where to put it.

5.   Wire ties can be kept aside and reused as garden ties as they are not generally recyclable.

6.   Remember to retain the safety information on the packaging and store this and the instructions for use of the product in a single safe place at home, in case you need to refer to them in future.

7.   You can recycle some wrapping papers but generally paper which is shiny, glittery or metallic contains materials such as plastic and metal which can’t be recycled. Try a simple test and scrunch up a piece of wrapping paper in your hand. If it springs back it’s not paper and you shouldn’t recycle it.   Remember to remove bits of sticky tape which can contaminate the paper recycling process.

8.   A good way to reduce wrapping waste is to use ‘furoshiki’ a Japanese-style of wrapping presents with material which can then be reused. 

9.   Remember to keep recycling your cards and envelopes this Christmas. You can take cards to mainland WHSmith stores, Tesco stores, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer throughout the UK from 2nd – 31st January 2009.

10. For details on what you can recycle locally visit the Recycle Now website (www.recyclenow.com) and enter your postcode for further information.