6 great tech gifts for kids
This holiday season, your best bets for a tech toy that will satisfy even the pickiest of kids have one foot in the past and one foot in the future.
CNET's Sumi Das found six great picks programmed to please.
Blasts from the past -- and into the future
This isn't the Lego you grew up with. Lego's Fusion sets ($35), let kids scan their building-block creations with an iPad and bring them to life in a virtual world. From there, kids can walk digital denizens in and out of their buildings to complete Minecraft-like missions.
Paper planes get a serious upgrade with the PowerUp 3.0 kit ($50), which adds extra zip with a rudder and propeller. You launch your plane the old fashioned way, but a smart module that clips onto the nose lets you control the throttle from a smartphone.
Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots get a reboot in Cyber Boxing Robots from Radio Shack ($40). Kids will lose their heads when the robots do. The new remote-controlled version rewards a solid body shot by popping your opponent's head clear off.
Grown-up toys -- in kid sizes
Trick your kids into coding. With Ozobot ($50), kids pick up coding skills as they play. The bulbous little bot scoots along premade tracks -- or you can draw your own on paper or on a tablet. Different color sequences serve as commands. Green-red-green-red makes the Ozobot spin.
Air guitar is so last millennium. The Moff Band ($55) uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to recognize your movements and translate them into sound effects for your actions. Pick an activity on the Moff app -- playing guitar, sword fighting, tennis -- and flail away to the sounds of your awesome imagination.
With a touch screen and built in camera, VTech's Kidizoom ($50) is a smartwatch for children. The watch lets wearers play games, snap pictures with cool effects, and shoot videos. (CNET's only gripe: the placement of the camera isn't selfie-friendly.)
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