The holidays are over, the decorations are packed away and we’re about a month into all the fun toys that have arrived at our house. (I can’t take credit for the decorations being down…that’s definitely the hubby’s doing. I would have them up all year round but not because I’m festive….) And of course we have a ton of high tech and low tech toys for all ages right now and I thought I’d let you know about some of the ones we’ve really been loving just in case you’re looking for these types of gadgets too.
We still love the fort boards we received over a year ago now. I thought my guys might be at the almost too old stage for them but they are fun to build with and my guys keep asking for more and they’ve combined them with other toys and building materials too so they’re pretty creative. They’re almost like a more sturdy form of the Melissa and Doug blocks I bought when the guys were not even one yet and that we still have now nearly 10 years later!!!!!
Laser x was on the top of my kids’ wish list this year. I was reluctant because they technically seem like guns (which I do not like) but they only “shoot” lasers so nothing physical. When Santa brought them on Christmas, I was okay with it and sometimes we have family laser tag battles so I’m okay with that too.
My guys still love Tinkercrate and we’re on at least our 6th or 7th box. I think the coolest delivery we received so far was some kind of catapult toy but my guys also liked a spinning paint maker as well. I signed up for a similar Amazon STEM subscription box because of a post from Dangertimemama on Instagram and we’ll see how that works out too. I just really like how these toys challenge my kids’ brains and they look forward to the mail once a month.
A Strawbees toy I was sent recently also really challenged my kids’ brains too. It is pretty much just a bunch of straws and connectors but the instruction manual helped my guys create really intricate shapes and they could make them all on their own. I received the inventor set and it is pretty low tech but if you flip through the site the Strawbees get more complex and you can add high tech elements to make these straw shapes into machines that move with other sets as well.
If your kids like other STEM and tech toys they might also like Snap Circuits too. My sister-in-law got my guys hooked on Snap Circuits a few years ago so they now have quite a collection. I dropped and broke their Deluxe Snap Rover but I messaged the company and learned that you can buy replacement Snap Circuit pieces online and making the kids figure out which pieces are broken has been a really educational adventure.
The Snap Rover Deluxe is a little noisy but I’ll be super happy if my guys can one day figure out how to turn it into a vacuum because I love the Ecovacs Deebot robot vacuum I won recently at a blogging event and I need one for the cabin too. I thought that robot vacuums might be overrated but I’ve loved how we can turn it on before we go and run an errand and come back to a floor I didn’t have to clean myself. It’s not perfect and I still need to actually clean my house myself but it’s like a maintenance clean that keeps things liveable between the deep cleans. (Like when we used to have house cleaners come to help out when the kids were smaller and I couldn’t keep up with all the mess. I’m now doing ALL the housecleaning so this robot vac is definitely my new best friend….) I love this kind of technology and I’m so excited to see how it evolves. I’m especially curious about these window cleaners now too. Has anyone tried these? Watching my hubby on a ladder terrifies me so this would be such a great life solution.
Finally I’ve heard about something Nintendo Switch is making-the Nintendo Switch Labo! I just watched the trailer and the cardboard contstruction toys you build with it just blow my mind. I don’t totally understand the whole concept yet, but I love Nintendo products so I know I’m going to try and order it ASAP. Is anyone else so excited about this one? (Also do you have any favorite Switch games. We love Mario Cart but need to branch out. And my guys are still into Pokemon Go. Is that still a thing in your world too?)
So these are definitely the tech toys we’ve been loving lately and as always I’ll let you know if any others catch my eye. Is tech a big deal in your house too? I’d love to know.
(PS. My guys recently asked Alexa if she could self-destruct and it was hilarious)
(PPS. As stated above I received a Strawbees kit, and a Fortboards toy *ages ago* for review and I won the Ecovacs robot vacuum and as always the opinions in this blog are my own.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)