MOM, I'm Bored

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Disclosure: The below was provided for me in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

Snowed in? Stuck home with endless “snow days” and “no school days” this winter? It’s been a brutal and snow-covered season for much of the country this year. What to do to break up the boredom? A new toy will get the kiddos off your back (for at least a little while- take what quiet you can get!)

Some fun new finds include;

The Power Rangers Mega Force Giant 31″ Red Ranger Action Figure by Jakks Pacific Inc. Available online, at WalMart, or Toy R Us, this Power Ranger is huge and features seven points of articulation that lets you put it into a number of poses. He is more then half the size of my 6 year old, but is not very heavy, making it easy to play with. It’s giant size let’s it do things that the smaller action figures can’t, such as cook with kids in the play kitchens, sit next to them to watch TV, and jump out behind doors to scare their mothers. This (as you might have guessed) is my son’s new favorite activity. While I am no longer startled (although I need to pretend to be each time, of course) it’s hysterical to him every time. He also likes to tuck it in under a blanket on the couch, or leave it in the bathtub (so he is clean for his next mission?) from time to time. It makes an excellent play-in-the-snow toy because it is too large to lose. He stands on his own, and is large enough to be a “Godzilla” type destroyer of block cities and action figures- another of my son’s favorite activities. $30

TOMY Battroborg 3 in 1 Battle Arena is available on Amazon.com for $80- and it’s hours of fun. My son cannot get enough of this toy. He and his father broke it our immediately and didn’t stop playing for the rest of the night- though they did swap colors of bots a few times back and forth. What I will call a modern version of “Rock em Sock em Robots”, this set comes with two bots and the arena. It requires batteries, not included. These are motion controlled robots, and players control all the actions they make. Each Battroborg can battle in three different competitive game modes. If you and your family and friends get really into it, Battroborg’s advanced radio control technology also allows players to take part in a Battle Royal where up to 20 robots can battle at once. You must charge your robots- for every 20 minutes you charge it, you can play 20 minutes.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids. This tablet differentiates itself from the rest on the market in one key category power. Instead of giving kids an underpowered tablet/e-reader, Samsung gives kids a tablet that is not only safe and user friendly but also powerful and fast.

The parental controls on the Galaxy Tab is both simple and effective. Kids are only allowed to have access to a set list of applications. They are added from a set list via a kids menu. New applications can be added to the list only after inputting the parental password, which is a four digit code input at initial usage. The kids menu itself is brightly colored and easy to personalize and navigate. The tablet also sports a foam/rubber case which makes it seem like this tablet can take a fall without missing a beat. I would of course not suggest doing this, but if it does, panic is not necessary.

One of the coolest aspects of the tablet is with a few pushes of a button and a password entry the tablet changes from kid centered to the regular Galaxy Tab 7.0″. So not only are you getting a powerful kid friendly kid tablet but also a kid friendly tablet for everyone to use. The most difficult aspect of the Galaxy is waiting for your turn with it. $230