With Black Friday and Cyber Monday past, now is the time to ramp up your shopping to ensure you can take advantage of further deals and avoid out-of-stocks of many highly desired presents.  It’s no surprise that gadgets will be at the top of the list for both kids and adults alike.  Fortunately, there are many gadgets out there to choose from for your children, but narrowing it down can be tough.

We are in a unique position to see a bunch of fun kids tech toys…some you’ve heard of before and perhaps some not.  We put together a list of some of our favorite Christmas Gadgets for Kids to make it easier to find some fun gifts at various price levels that your kids are sure to be excited about.

Our recommended Christmas Gadgets for Kids from last year are still great suggestions for 2014, if you’re looking for 10 more suggestions!

The Top 10 Christmas Gadgets for Kids

Sprout Channel Cubby Tablet

Tablets are all the rage.  Years ago, the family would share a tablet, but with prices continuing to decline, and more and more tablets being designed for every member of the family, this is no longer the norm.  Giving a toddler an iPad is too risky nowadays and often kids get frustrated because they wander off an app and don’t know how to get back.  The 7″ Sprout Channel Cubby Tablet is a kid-friendly tablet; it is colorful with a silicone bumper to protect it from drops, has numerous apps and games, and kid-friendly Internet access (where you control which sites they can visit).

Based on the wildly popular Sprout Channel, the Sprout Cubby Tablet includes over 40 videos from favorite Sprout Channel shows, such as Bob the Builder, Barney, Caillou, Berenstain Bears, Sesame Street, The Wiggles, Sunny Side Up, and more!  The Sprout Channel Cubby Tablet also features great learning games from IntelliJoy featuring letters, numbers, reading and math as well as 10 free reading titles from MeeGenius and access to hundreds children read-along books more.

The Sprout Channel Cubby Tablet features a 1034 x 600 touch screen, 16 GB RAM (with a MicroSD card slot – you can add up to 32GB), and a 1.2 Quad-Core processor, so this kid tablet can handle quite a bit.  It also is Wi-Fi ready, uses Bluetooth, has a front and back camera…and a HDMI connection.  The HDMI connection is great because with a HDMI cord hooked up to your TV, your kids catch watch videos from their tablet on your big screen.  And you’ll love the parental controls where you can customize your child’s tablet time by setting time limits, choosing what media your child works sees, and more.

The 7″ Sprout Channel Cubby Tablet sells for $99, including free shipping, from Walmart.

Anmalz Furry Headphones

Fortunately, there are a number of volume limiting kids’ headphones on the market these days.  We recently became acquainted with some really fun ones called Animalz, which feature fun furry animals on the headphones for some extra fun style.  Aren’t they cute?  Animalz come with a 3.2 ft. retractable cable for easy storage, limit volume to 85 dB to ensure safe listening, offer crystal clear sound quality, and a gold-plated universal 3.5mm tip that can be used with most phones, tablets, and laptops.

With almost 12% of children ages 6-19 having noise-induced hearing lost, sound volume matters…and it is preventable.  We loved the soft feeling of the Anmalz headphones and how lightweight they are.  Kids love these!

Animalz start at $21.78 at Amazon and are available in the Bear, Monkey, Bunny, and Puppy Dog fashions.

LazePad

The LazePad is a unique iPad “case” designed to make using your iPad or tablet easier to use…while keeping it safe at the same time.  I like to lie down a lot when browsing on my tablet, but I always need to put a pillow on my stomach to prop it up.  My daughter does the same thing.  The LazePad makes it easy, just slip your iPad (original, 2, Air, Air 2) through its slots and your iPad is very secure and standing tall.  No more propping or holding needed.

We tried the LazePad on our stomachs, while lying on our side, and even on the floor to watch a movie and it works great.  The angle is just right and when my kids move the iPad from room to room, I don’t worry anymore.  The LazePad has 2 quarter inch foam rails that protect the iPad from falls.  It works great in the kitchen to to follow recipes while you’re cooking.  I have always been nervous about letting my kids use our iPad in the kitchen to make recipes, but now the iPad is secure against accidental falls and it is so convenient to hold the iPad upright.

The other side of the LazePad can be used to hold other types of tablet, though it’s more like a shelf and does not protect the tablet from drops.  The LazePad sells for $45.00 through Amazon and comes with free shipping.

Monopoly Plus

Monopoly Plus is unlike any Monopoly game you’ve played in the past!  Available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Monopoly Plus evolves into a full 3D board, adding on as you play.  It’s a great way to see all the properties you own and which ones have houses and/or hotels.  Monopoly Plus builds as you build, showing in full splendor the train station, Electric Company, Park Place and more. With fast-paced rolling of the dice, this games moves much faster than the board game.

Monopoly Plus also includes an unique customization feature where you can customize your own streets and board…as well as your own rules!

Monopoly Plus is a download add-on available for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and the Xbox 360 as a part of the Monopoly Family Fun Pack for $29.99 or you can get only the Monopoly Plus game download from Xbox One for $14.99.

Ozobots

Ozobots are fun little mini robots that kids will play with for hours.  By drawing out mazes and tracks on paper…or on digital screens(tablets)…Ozobots will follow the tracks and drawn commands kids draw along the way.  These amazing little robots will teach your kids about code language and deductive reasoning as they plan out the route and special tricks they want their Ozobot to perform.  Ozobots even come with free downloadable apps for additional fun and even employ augmented reality games for kids to try out.

You can even teach your robot how to dance by following programming commands drawn out on paper!  Buy 2 or more for synchronized movements and adding a little competition to the fun.  And guess what?   You don’t need any special kind of pens or paper to draw tracks for your Ozobots, any thick lines and paper will do!

We have played with Ozobots and besides being a lot of fun, they help kids explore what-if scenarios and program advanced moves…without the need for knowing programming code.  Kids just draw symbols on the paper for the Ozobot to turn in circles, make a U-turn, go fast, slow down, etc.  WellConnectedMom is a big fan of toys that are STEM (Science Technology Engineering, Mathematics) based and encourage kids to understand cause and effect through interesting interactive play.

We recommend buying Ozobots in a duo package so they can interact with each other.  The duo pack is available through Amazon for $99.99 or you can buy a single Ozobot for $49.99 with free shipping for both options.

Kano

Continuing along the STEM theme, Kano is a very interesting concept to teach kids how to simplistically build a computer, play games on it, and even add your own code to the games.  Kano teaches kids step-by-step how to make changes or additions to games by adding simple code modules – simply by clicking and dragging.  Kids can actually make changes to the actual Minecraft game, seeing their code additions immediately while they code.  Remember the wildly popular pong game, when first introduced, where you hit the back and forth with a paddle?  Now kids can make changes to the color of the game and try out different changes.

When kids see in real-time changes that occur because of cause-and-effect, their imagination increases…as well as their curiosity.  When learning the concepts of coding becomes play, it takes away the stigma of hard work to solve a problem.  My kids and I had a lot of fun “building” the Kano, attaching the processor to the speaker, adding the case, attaching the cables, as well as finding a monitor to connect it to.

The Kano uses a Raspberry Pi, a low cost, credit-card sized computer designed to help kids and adults understand computing and learn to program using simple languages like Scratch and Python.  The Kano is designed to do anything a desktop computer could do like playing full games, watching high-definition video, surfing the Internet, and more.

At only $149.99 plus free shipping, the Kano offers a great opportunity for kids to learn more about computers and simple programming steps to customize games to their liking.

LeapTV

LeapTV, by LeapFrog, is a kid focused gaming console aimed at kids aged 3 – 8 years old.  It’s intended to be a kid’s first games console and due to it’s motion-sensing camera, is described as a cross between the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox Kinect.  Designed to get kids up and off the couch and into motion, LeapTV offers over 100 hundred titles where kids can complete obstacle courses, solve math and science problems, enhance their reading, take care of digital pets, interact with Marvel’s  Ultimate Spider-Man and Disney’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates, as well as watch over 80 videos.

LeapTV comes with a game cartridge and extra game cartridges are available.  Much of the content is easily accessible to download straight to the console.  LeapTV is a simple, straight forward game console that is easy for kids to understand and will provide hours of entertainment.

LeapTV sells for $149, including free shipping from Amazon.

MonkeyLight Bike Wheel Lights

Now these are cool!  MonkeyLight Bike Wheel Lights, by Monkeylectric, are placed on your child’s bike spokes to create some really cool LED colorful effects at night.  Depending upon the kit you choose, you can have a simple circular LED theme around the outside of your inner tires up to a flow blown cool design showing throughout all the spokes of your tires – from hearts to flowers to starts, to skulls, and more!  The M232 Kit has up to 42 fun themes included!

These lights are ultra cool.  Everything you need to install them on the spokes of the tires is included, and set up takes little time.  The Monkey Lights are powered by 3 AA batteries and last for 20-60 hours, depending upon the kit purchased.

Light up your bikes and your neighborhood with MonkeyLight Bike Wheel Lights and make every night a light party!  MonkeyLight Bike Wheel Lights run from $25.99 for the M204 40 Lumen kit to $35.90 for the M210 80 Lumen kit, and $49.90 for the M232 200 Lumen kit at Amazon.com.

Amazon Fire HDX

There are so many tablets out there, it’s hard to choose the best one for your children.  Several months back we reviewed the Amazon Fire 8.9 “HDX and found it to be very well suited for children while at the same time providing some very nice and helpful parental controls.  The Amazon Fire HDX uses its 4-core processor to quickly render amazing graphics and video on its HD beautiful display.

And with Amazon’s built-in Mayday button, you or your child is receive immediate live help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you with any questions or “how to do” questions you might have while using the Fire HDX tablet.  Our family loves the 8″ Fire HDX, but the 6″ might even be better as it’s smaller and lighter to carry in a backpack.  Many kids are bringing their tablets to school these days to do their reading on when time permits during class.

Amazon is having an amazing deal right now on the Amazon Fire 6″ HDX at just $99, you get so much functionality on a great tablet under $100, it’s hard to beat.  The Amazon Fire 8.9″ HDX that we tested (see our review) sells for $379.

OneDay App

If you decide to buy your child a tablet, the OneDay App is a must-download app.  Even if you don’t buy a tablet for your child, download OneDay on your phone for them to use.  OneDay helps you remember your child’s childhood with memorable video you’ll cherish for years to come.  The OneDay App will ask your child one question at a time and they can record themselves while they answer the question.  Questions incorporate topics like Back-to-School, When You Grow Up, Advice for Your Parents, Your Favorite Things, and more.  After they record their selfie video, OneDay stitches the various videos together, adding music to make priceless videos you can easily share with friends and family.

We have talked with OneDay about making similar questions available for grandparents too, what a great way to capture moments in time for your children…and you…to remember.  OneDay is only available on the Apple iOS platform at this time.  I’m happy to report that OneDay is a FREE download!

2014 Christmas Gadgets for Kids List

There you have it, our top 10 Christmas Gadgets for Kids for 2014.  Let us know what you think or if you have some Christmas Gadgets for Kids suggestions that you think others should know about.  We are also working on our Top 10 Christmas Gadgets for Moms, coming up soon!

We know things are busy right now with Christmas shopping, preparing the house, all the parties, etc.  But please do take some time to stop and enjoy some time with your family and relax.  Take in the joys of Christmas.