For many, the days of just building a Lego spaceship or playing Monopoly are long gone.
Kids today want interactive appliances toys that are powered by an app or internet connection. They want animals that learn and grow as you play with them, or robots that will be in charge.
- 23 Technic Toys You Wanted For Christmas But Never Got
And luckily, toy makers will be happy to serve. There are many different toy techniques for all ages - maybe even yourself.
We battled through numerous toy events in 2018 and fresh off the London Toy Fair in 2019, playing, poked, smashed, ad tested a range of crazy and sometimes scary toys to bring you a list of the best high-tech toys around now and soon.
Our selection of the best tech toys to buy today
Upriser Ducati
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The humble remote control car has been around for years, and although we sometimes see remote control bikes they always have stabilizers on them to stop them from falling. Spin Master has solved the problem with this new Ducati remote controlled bike, which has a number of gyroscopes inside it to keep it upright, no matter what you do with it. Capable of going up to 20km an hour and doing wheelie riding isn't cheap, but on the eighth donut you won't care.
tonies
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This toy brings the "game to life" concept found in video games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity to the storybook. At its core, this is a soft speaker that comes with a variety of children's book characters figurines that can be placed on top to start reading a story. Click on the side and it goes to the next track - a game or a song or something like that, when removed, the toy stops the book.
There are two kinds of character figurines; those with compressed stories and others called "creative-tonies" which are blank so you can upload your own MP3 tracks to them.
Artie 3000
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A new coding robot who loves to draw, Artie 3000 can be programmed to draw a circle of programmed shapes, or just anything you can think of. Reminiscent of a turtle drawing from the 1980s, this is an easy to use and robotic code. Kids will be able to program the robot via PC, Mac, or tablet, but Artie includes a number of games and is not all work, work, work.
Eighth
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Bringing the traditional game to iOS, Osmo creates a range of interactive games that use the iPad as a game board, while also using the tablet on board to see what you're doing. Games include Jam Coding, which uses physical coding blocks to solve on-screen puzzles, and even gives your child the ability to run a pizzeria that encourages math. Osmo offers simple but very smart learning apps like drawing, basic math and English.
Harry Potter Coding Kano Set
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With this coding kit, Harry Potter fans can follow step-by-step instructions to create a magic wand that includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer so that it can track location, speed, and hand position. The sensors allow the wand to detect the movements of spells in the world of Harry Potter and then kids can use the magic wand to have Harry Potter problems inside the Kano app.
Play Impossible Gameball
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Impossible to Play Gameball is an action game, a system that gets you in motion that connects to your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV and then changes into a series of mini-games that emphasize hand-eye coordination, dexterity and creative thinking. The ball can be charged for hours of play in 20 seconds and a second ball can be added for even more fun.
Beasts balance
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It's a stackable game that uses the iPad, iPhone, or Apple TV app to help give it an extra dimension and marries traditional games brilliantly with a technological twist. The end result is a lot of fun as you not only have the task of matching the numerous array of beautifully crafted animals on the included scales, but as you do well to see what kind of creatures you can create by adding different spinners and animals. Who is on Hogtopus? Yes, it's a beast that's half warthog tentacles, if you're wondering. The game ends when you can no longer stack.
Neighing Russian' Tyler
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A roar on neighing Tyler and he will respond. The cute, fluffy tiger cub comes with 100 different sound and movement combinations and responds to all sorts of touches and sounds. If that wasn't enough to keep you interested, you can also move the tiger cub with its eyes, ears, head, mouth, and tail. Hasbro even throws in a toy chicken so he won't try to eat your TV remote control.
Fisher-Price will teach the H movie tag
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Designed for kids ages three and up, this mini robot has three play modes: Alpha fun action, think and move shapes, and learn and play games. There are also six interactive games designed to develop critical thinking. Luckily not powerful enough to take over the world a la Skynet, the movie has two wheels, allowing it to zip around the room with ease as it barks at your little one. It's like a polite, robotic version of the instructor in Full Metal Jacket.
Luvabella
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This life is like a doll you will need to be fed, put to bed and tickled if you don't get along. Although here is the same doll, the difference here with the Luvabella is true to life, the facial expressions that you think she is real are quite disturbing. She even play hide and seek.
Hatchimals Surprise
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After the huge success of the original Hatchimals, Hatchimals surprise was offering 2018 from Spin Master, and in 2019 they will be getting a mermaid make over. As before, you will get two small critters eager to break out of the shell, not just one. The purpose of the toy is to nurture each Hatchimal with love to help it hatch. When they come to the brave new world, the master must help them progress from baby to baby to baby. Gemini, and they are known to be able to recognize each other, share secrets, play games and dance.
Anki Cosmo
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The cute WALL-E robot, Cosmo is powered by AI and walks through your compatible iOS, Android or Kindle Fire device. It comes with three interactive "power cubes" and promises to enchant your way through your life no matter your age. As you'd expect, there's a lot of emphasis on coding, but it's not all boring homework. You can also upgrade his over the knee boots in a variety of colors and Collector's Edition patterns if you really want to stand out from the crowd.
Sphero Mini
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Sphero Mini is a scaled down version of the original robot toy app, only even smaller. The size of a ping pong ball, you can control it with different modes in the sphero mini app, or you can just use your face thanks to a new feature called Disk Face. It uses its facial expressions to guide the ball.
Sphero mini sports a small gyroscope, accelerometer and LED lights, as well as bright, replaceable shells. It uses micro USB charging and gives you about one-hour of play time after an hour of full charge. It also comes with three mini cones and six mini skittles for various games.
Small Pieces R2-D2
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Using LittleBits electronics technology and the free Inventor Droid app, kids big and small can teach their P2 robot new tricks and take it to over 16 missions across the Star Wars universe. Kids will even be able to level up their inventor experience and reconfigure their droid to give it new skills, allowing it to be controlled powers or similar. The Inventor Droid Kit comes with everything kids need to create and customize P2 Team Up right out of the box.
Robot Boxer Ma
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The boxer is not only because he is short and strong, but he can pull off impressive stunts with a personality usually associated with larger, more expensive toys.
It has an expressive matrix face that offers expressions and interactions with the player. It can detect movement in front of it and react to it in a variety of ways. The next toes or kicks a small ball is just the tip of the iceberg. Various cards can be scanned to set it to play a wide variety of games. Best of all, you don't need a smartphone to play with it.