These cute and creative books are full of fun activities like helping Geordie get his visor on, and piloting the Shuttlecraft back to its dock. For now, Juliebell is only selling printable patterns for the quiet books, but the puppets are are available as a complete set.

So head on over to Etsy and buy some of these for your little Starfleet cadet (or Padawan.) He/she will thank you for it later.

[via Geek Crafts via Neatorama]

Totoya plush creatures will swallow up and protect your devices, while allowing kids to peek at the display through some of the holes. The iDevice acts as the creature’s eyes and heart thanks to strategically-placed cutouts. There are other holes that allow kids to trigger specific effects. The cases look quite sturdy and you’ll have to run the dedicated free app for them to work with the plush toy.

The iPad toys are called YetYet and Robotto while the iPhone toys are YetX and RobX. They sell for $79.90 (USD) and $49.90 respectively.

Granted, these kind of people aren’t just on Facebook; they’re actually all over the web. The social network is just kind of a concern, because it’s a site that many of the younger ones frequent lately. Some go on Facebook for the connections or for the networking, but since they’re kids, you can expect them to go online a lot as well for the games. With this in the mind, the Kidsocial network geared specifically towards kids was born.

What makes it different from traditional social networks is that random people can’t just “friend” or add other people up if they don’t know each other in the real world. Kidsocial does this by generating “secret friendship codes they can pass out to their real-world friends at school or by text message.”

When the code is entered, the two kids are connected and their parents will automatically be informed about the new connection. This only applies to those under 13 years of age, though. Those who are already 13 and up can use the site just like Facebook.

Kidsocial isn’t just a social network either; it’s being branded as a social entertainment network, so you can expect a lot of media content on the site as well.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

Sadly these are for toddlers and small kids only. You get a blue lightsaber on one foot and a red one on the other. These sneakers make light-up shoes cool again, and are perfect for your young Jedi (or Sith) in training. The Force will be with them. Always. Or until they outgrow them at least. They only come in toddler size 8.5 to size 3W. A pair costs about $50 to $56(USD) and you can find them on Amazon.

[via BuzzFeed]

This was revealed in a study by the Avast Virus Labs. Kids are lured into playing games hosted online, while the sites then load programs in the background onto the PC. And before you know it, the PC’s fried and your account information has been stolen.

Ondrej Vlcek, CTO of AVAST Software, says: “Games like these require clicking and children don’t think much about what they are clicking on. This makes them – or their parents’ computer – quite susceptible to malicous software.”

CuteArcade.com has been identified as being one of such sites which has already been able to infect over 12,600 computers. Another site, HiddenNinjaGames.com, has also been said to pose a risk.

So parents, watch your kids when they’re playing seemingly harmless games on seemingly harmless sites, and be sure to keep your anti-virus software up to date. Because you never know what’s happening beneath it all.

[via Daily Mail]

The organizer of the event was a nonprofit firm called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The goal of the contest was to encourage interest in kids for science and technology. The challenge was for the students to build the LEGO-based robots to complete a specific task. In all, about 200 students on 24 teams participated in the LEGO League competition.

The teams have been working since September to build their ‘bots. After the robots were completed, the students have to explain to the judges how they built and designed it, then show how well it works and talk about what didn’t work.

This is something I totally would have done when I was a kid had I been given the opportunity.

[via VCStar]

Your kids can flick through the app and when they see something they like they can circle it on the app with a finger for you to check out later. The downside to this app is that it is tied to an online store for shopping. I would rather see it tied to a retail store like Toys R Us or others.

Still the app is cool, it’s a free download, and it will at least give you ideas what to get the kids. I bet most of the stuff available in the app will be things you can find in retail stores too. The cool part about the app is also that you don’t have to worry about losing the catalog or having the dog eat it.

When I first saw this Hot Wheels alarm clock, I was all excited that the car actually looped around the track. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s just glued there from the box photo below. If I tried that with a real Hot Wheels set, I’d be disqualified for cheating.

While it really would be better if the car actually did do a 360 every morning, I suppose it might inspire someone to hack their own version that actually does that. For now, Hot Wheels fans can get their hands on this clock over at Toys R Us for $25 (USD).

[via 7 Gadgets]

Selling for under $300 (USD), the PlayBase is also more affordable than an iPad. You get a 7-inch screen, and a 1.2GHz Rockchip RK2918 Cortex A8 processor with 3D acceleration. It runs on Android 3 and has 1GB of DDR3 RAM. It measures just 9.7mm thick, and has a shock-absorbent silicone cover that will prevent scratches, but it can also be folded back to function as a stand. There’s also a front-facing camera, and an accelerometer.

The Karuma PlayBase is selling for £170 ($270 USD) and will be available for pre-order on November 15th. Retail sales start on December 1st.

[via Ubergizmo]

I think that this video of a 1-year-old girl shows what is changing for kids today and the traditional publishing industry moving into the future. The traditional print publishing world has been living on borrowed time for a while now. Current and future generations of children are growing up with the expectation of interactivity.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

To these kids, print publications are like broken iPads, just like this little girl. I imagine when these kids hit 5-years-old and start to read books at school, they may be forced to read printed books, but their preference will be for the interactive gadgets they grew up on. Many schools are already going to these interactive tablets and notebooks to save money on printing and improve interactivity. What do you think, is this video further indication of the impending death of print, or just that babies like to grab things?

[via Gizmodo]

This German-made chalkboard “laptop” is also a good way to poke fun at people hiding behind their laptops during meetings. There are two surfaces you can use as a chalkboard, one is situated where you’d find the “screen,” and the other is where you’d find the” keyboard.” The “trackpad” is hollow and allows you to stash extra chalks.

You can buy the i-Wood chalkboard laptop at Rasselfisch for €35 (~$47).

[via Swissmiss]

You’ll find Sith Lord Darth Vader melting some MSE-6 repair droids with a magnifying glass, bounty hunter extraordinaire Boba Fett with a carbonite-filled balloon, a celebrating  Tusken Raider beating on a piñata , and a slithering Jabba the Hutt after a long day at the amusement park.

These prints were created by the artist collective known only as the Octopus Tree House (I’m guessing this means that there are 4 or 8 artists involved). There are four of these prints available through their Etsy store, all of them strangely cute. Each of these prints is available for $20 (USD), or you can buy all four for $70.

[via Thaeger]

There are four bears now that will work with the game, including Champ- A Champion Fur Kids, Colorful Hearts Bear, Endless Hearts Teddy, and Peace & Hearts Bear. Each of them has a special tag on it that you can scan with the Kinect sensor. Once scanned the bear your kid has will be available as a playable character inside the Kinectimals game. A few select Build-a-Bear Workshop locations will have a Kinect and the game in stores for kids to check out.

Along with this, the game is now called Kinectimals – Now with Bears, which is a crap title for sure – but the ultimate in truth-in-advertising. Prices aren’t offered on the bears themselves, but I would suspect they’ll be in the $20 to $30 range each. The updated game and the bears will be out on October 11th.

But if your kids love insects, then you might want to buy them this gadget, which lets them suck up bugs and then study them up close and personal. The fly-goodbye gun uses pump-action suction to capture bugs into plastic cylinders, each of which keep your bug prisoners alive long enough to inspect them via a magnifying lens at the end of the tube.

Of course, you can also use it to suck up unwanted pests and let them loose outside (or cut off their air supply and put them out of their buggy misery if you’re feeling cruel). It’ll also sweep up dead bugs you just would rather not touch.

The Fly-Goodbye bug gun is available over at Gizmine for $59.95 (USD).

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The projector is operated like a toy gun – cock the bar at the bottom to launch a virtual mortar, after which you’ll hear a thump and then a whistling sound effect. This is when the projector does something no real world fireworks can – you decide when to make the mortar burst into a cacophony of light and sound by pressing the trigger on the handle. Fancy eh? It is a kid’s toy though, so don’t expect anything too fancy. For example, it only has 8 fireworks images, which can be browsed by rotating the projector’s barrel. The images are backlit by an LED and are best projected about 5 feet away from a wall or ceiling in a darkened room. I believe this is what a sample output looks like:

Clearly not photorealistic, but it doesn’t look too bad. I wish there was a video demo though. You can buy the Handheld Fireworks Light Show Projector at Hammacher Schlemmer for $40 (USD). Requires three AA batteries, not included. Occasion not required to operate.

[via Incredible Things]

So even though they’re meant for cleaning up kitchen messes, when I saw these Stain By Number tea towels from Fred & Friends, I immediately thought of getting them and using them as placemats the next time my sister comes around for another visit.

As the name implies, you won’t be using any paint or coloring materials to fill in the colors to make the picture come to life. Instead, you’re expected to use various food items to stain the indicated area with the specified colors. This might encourage the kids to make an even bigger mess, but at least it’ll seem more like art this way.

The Stain By Number dish towels will be available this October over at Perpetual Kid, and will sell for $14.99 for a set of three.

[via Oh Gizmo!]

My dad would bring out this huge film camera and take photos of me and my siblings every year to put in the family album. Now everything’s gone digital and people take photos of anything and everything every single day.

Since you can’t beat them, you might as well join them. And while you’re at it, why not start out young? That’s what you can do for your kids by getting them one of these Anpanman digital cameras from Takara Tomy.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

These cameras are extremely colorful, and since they’re meant for kids, you can also expect them to be durable. The camera won’t win any awards for being able to take extremely detailed or high quality shots, but what it can do is take 3-megapixel shots and store 99 of them in its internal memory.

These will be available from Japan Trend Shop for $110 (USD) (and probably way less if you live in Japan).

[via Oh Gizmo]

The game allows you to construct the habitats of piggies, and then use a slingshot to destroy them. Players draw a card and have to build the shown structure before their opponents launch an Angry Bird in an attempt to knock it down. Those piggies can drive anyone nuts with their smirks when you fail a level while playing the video game.

We first heard about this at this year’s CES, but you can now order the Angry Birds Knock on Wood board game over at ThinkGeek for $23.99 (USD).

[via GeekAlerts]

Valid concerns, I guess, but still. It would have been cool. If you were a frustrated child yourself, then you might want to get yourself a pair of these trampoline shoes, called a tad inappropriately the TRAMP-It Trampoline Shoes.

These shoes seem like a novel idea, but of course, they aren’t very smart if you think of it on the practical side (and they’re not going to be kind to your wallet, either.) But they are a real space saver, considering that you don’t really need to setup a huge trampoline when you already have one right under your soles, literally.

They’re also adjustable based on what you want to do with them (ie. run, walk, or jump), so at least you will be able to use them as regular sneakers, too.

Live a little and jump a little higher with TRAMP-Its.  They’re currently available for pre-order from Firebox, with prices ranging from £99.99 (~$163 USD) to £119.99 (~$197), depending on your size.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

And it is that exact moment that Junior decides he wants to pull your hair or scream for ice cream or look the other way as the picture gets snapped.

So to decrease (since it’s probably near impossible to aim for eliminating them completely) the odds of this happening at the next family gathering or vacation, Samsung has announced that they’re making 21 oh-so-adorable camera animations available for download for free to display on your camera LCD so your kid will find something worthwhile to look at while they’re photos are being snapped.

The animations are only available for the Samsung ST700, PL170 and PL120 though, as announced at CES 2011, so if you’ve already got one of these in your camera bag then head on over to Samsung’s site in a few weeks to get the animations.

[via Akihabara News]