Kids will be kids, and these gifts will let them do it in style. From computer games to funky clothes, we have found something for all the little munchkins on your list.
Pumgo Land Surfer
Now your kids can just pump and go! Pumgo—the name comes from pump-and-go—is the world’s first push-free skateboard. Kids will feel like their surfing on land.
Like skateboards, Pumgo’s have a deck and four wheels, but that’s where the similarities end. Its patented 4-Wheel-Drive and all-wheel steering system allow the rider to cruise along with a simple pumping motion, similar to a see-saw. Pumgo is great for hard, flat surfaces and can reach speeds of up to 10 mph. Adjustable steering and a detachable brake gives riders the freedom to customize Pumgo to make a perfect fit. With no battery and no motor, you power it and you control it. Pumgoing is the best way to for your kids to have fun and enjoy the feeling of surfing on land.
The Pumgo, one of the hottest toys at the 2005 New York Toy Fair, was built for non-stop fun. But it also gives a quality cardiovascular, core and leg muscle workout. Both kids and adults can get outside and have a blast without even having to think about exercise, because its included. While the Pumgo won’t fire the heart up like running, it will keep it beating in the aerobic, or prime fat burning zone. Rick Mayo, founder of North Point Personal Training, believes fun is a key factor in exercise saying “the most positive thing about the Pumgo is that it is interesting and fun so it keeps people on it for a longer amount of time because it is something they enjoy.”
And it’s easy to learn. Most kids learn how to ride in about 5 minutes and no skateboard experience is necessary. Convenient for the holidays, your Pumgo will arrive at your door within five days of ordering.
www.pumgo.com
The Sumo Lounge
Kids just plain love beanbag chairs. Call it a crash mat, lounge chair, loveseat or floor pillow, the one thing everyone agrees upon is that Sumo Lounge beanbag chairs provide the ultimate in comfort and fun. Sumo beanbags are made from space age rip-proof nylon, so they are completely durable when it comes to wear and tear from rough and tumble kids. The come filled with top quality little foam beads. Ideal for kids rooms, college dorms, or even around the pool (yes, they are water repellant), Sumo beanbags are the versatile solution for modern needs, and they’re available in a rainbow of colors including Pitch Black, Pure White, Hot Pink, Tangerine, Fiery Red, Midnight Blue, Platinum and Charcoal Green. Sumos are family friendly – even the dog will want his turn to relax on a Sumo chair. But no worry, Sumos are stain resistant and easy to clean, and lightweight enough to be moved from room to room to suit your activity schedule. Just be prepared for the fights over who gets to sit on the Sumo during family movie night.
Spinapse Games For Brains
Give them a game that’s not only fun, but expands their minds, too. Spinapse has three computer games that any kid would love to find in their stocking.
Christmas Quest
Travel the planet on a Christmas scavenger hunt! This part scavenger hunt, part trivia game is the ultimate holiday adventure. Armed with a camera, a list of assignments, and a set of live-action scenes waiting to be explored, each match earns a spin of the Big Wheel and a shot at score-boosting trivia questions about the history, traditions, and funny quirks of Christmas.
Piano Head
PianoHead 2.0 is a challenging game and a very effective learning tool for every music student. It’s easy to use and fun to play. Watch your scores increase as you begin to master the fundamentals of music theory. PianoHead builds automaticity for note recognition, scales, intervals and key signatures.
Photo Hunter
Travel to Hawaii and play a game of trivia and strategy. This seek-and-find trivia game takes you on location to the islands with live-action scenes and photorealistic settings. Play against others worldwide with a monthly competition for top players. It’s a fun way to learn about Hawaiian culture, history and wildlife. It’s also available in Photo Hunt in Yellowstone.
www.spinapse.com
City Threads
Find something special for the little one in your life with clothing from City Threads. Infused with a retro vibe, City Threads’ collection offers a range of styles, from cute to funky, in soft, durable and easy to wear fabrics for kids, birth to 14 years old. This unique combination of retro style and comfort has attracted celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie and high-end L.A. stores like Kitson and Fred Segal, and now you can know find the perfect clothing and accessories at the new City Threads online store.
With something for every little one, City Threads’ extensive line includes their original "city embroideries" collection featuring Hollywood, Brooklyn and New York on tees, hoodies, caps and layette pieces; their vintage silkscreen collection with cheeky messages like ‘Accidents Happen’ and ‘Drink Milk for Health’ on tees, bibs and burp cloths; the sweet brothers and sisters collection offering ‘Big Brother/Sister,’ ‘little brother/sister’ and ‘baby brother/sister’ embroideries on tees, baseball caps, wharf hats and beanies; and dragons and snakes and an array of heat-transferred images on a variety of styles, from double-layer and raglan tees to camouflage and corduroy jackets.
Little Ruler
Your tots will be the coolest kids on the playground once their tiny hands open a gift with clothes from Little Ruler. That’s because Little Ruler, a two-year-old clothing company, is bringing the “skater chic” trend to kids clothes. Shy of getting a nose ring or trendy fauxhawk, Little Ruler will take your tot from plain to punk (albeit a very cute punk!) with their refreshing new take on kids wear that’s anything but boring. For more on Little Ruler, click here.
Real Live Sports
Real Live Sports and ESPN have teamed up to introduce two exciting new interactive sports toys that bring the sights and sounds of the game to sports fans of all ages. The ESPN Play by Play and Sportscast promote social interaction and allow children of all athletic abilities to enjoy sports from a different perspective—in the booth as commentators or on the field as superstars—all the while improving their public speaking skills and expanding their imaginations.
The Play by Play is a portable sports audio system that lets kids transform from spectators to commentators. They can even pretend to become real superstars and delight in hearing their names out loud as they create game highlights on the field. A hand-held ESPN microphone, built-in ESPN theme music and a sound card with six recognizable sports sound bites produce an authentic broadcast just like on TV, radio or podcasts.
ESPN Sportscast is similar to the Play by Play. The hand-held AM/FM radio has a digital display that lets kids and adults tune into their favorite sports broadcasts while mixing in the coolest sports sound bites. With the option to broadcast through the speaker, the included earbuds or the ESPN Play by Play, listeners can broadcast popular ESPN phrases and theme music with the touch of a button. Or simply slide in the ESPN SportBytes SoundCard for even more exciting sounds of the game.
Fisher-Price
You can trust Fisher-Price, one of the nation’s leaders in children’s toys, to produce sure-fire hits for the holiday season. This year they have introduced four products your kids will love: The Kid-Tough FP3 Player, SparkArt Creativity System, TMX Elmo, and I Can Play Piano.
The Kid-Tough FP3 Player is the first digital media player that provides preschoolers with a durable and easy way to play their favorite downloadable songs and stories. The Fisher Price Song & Story Online Store is full of age-appropriate songs and stories that can be downladed to the player.
The SparkArt Creativity System unlocks a child’s creativity and provides them with unlimited inspiration. The full-sized SparkArt Easel with its giant dry-erase canvas is especially designed for interactive play. Its magical technology gets kids’ creative juices flowing and keeps them going with audio prompts that direct them by using colors, sounds, objects and the alphabet.
Over the years, Elmo has tickled America’s funny bone as one of the most popular toys ever. On the 10th Anniversary of Tickle Me Elmo, the furry, red phenomenon returns like never before! The T.M.X. Elmo now has three interactive tickle spots on his chin, tummy and toe. It’s the most x-treme Elmo ever, and sure to be big hit with the young ones.
With the innovative I Can Play Piano system, kids will now have fun learning how to play piano and read music. They simply plug the three-octave piano keyboard, with color-coded keys, into the TV to create a plug and play piano system. It comes complete with DVDs featuring fun graphics and popular music, turning piano lessons into game play.
https://www.fischer-price.com/
Blue Man Group Instruments
Your kids will love making thier own music with the new Blue Man Group instrumets. The Keyboard Experience is a synthesizer that incorporates nine instrument modes: Blue Man Tubes, Blue Man Drums, Blue Man Piano Smasher, Piano, Organ, Guitar, Trumpet, Violin, and Strings. The Percussion Tubes includes five percussion instruments: Blue Man Tubes, Drums, Xylophone, Steel Drums, and Marimba.
Both items bear tubes that allow your child to mix the tune, add percussion, change the tempo, and control the volume simply by waving their hands over the pipes. The instruments can connect to an MP3 player so that your littlest virtuoso can groove along to their beloved tracks, or they can put their own spin on the 10 included preprogrammed songs. When playing by themselves isn’t enough, they can hook up the instruments to speakers, earphones, or even the TV and broadcast them to the world, as well as record their creations for later listening. And for even more inspiration–or just a good time–your kids (or you) can sit back and take in the included Blue Man Group DVD.
Santa Sing-A-Long
One of the great joys of the Christmas season is celebrating the holidays with Christmas music. Some of the first songs children learn are Christmas carols. From Joy to the World to Frosty the Snowman…even people who never sing a note the rest of the year look forward to sharing these wonderful old songs, so filled with tradition and happy 
memories.
Enlisting the aid of an authentic “Singing Santa,” along with four enthusiastic young elves and a few “guest” helpers, “Santa’s Sing-A-Long” – a new DVD from Magic Tree Productions – teaches kids of all ages how to sing out the Christmas spirit. The DVD features the words and music of 15 traditional Christmas carols, plus one brand-new “holiday standard,” The Magic Tree of Christmas, a song written just for this DVD and sung by the Magic Tree himself.
This DVD is more than just songs – it’s fun for the whole family. While teaching his elves – and his viewers – the words to the songs, Santa also explains to his four young elves the real meaning of Christmas. The Night Before Christmas, a specially-illustrated edition made just for this DVD.
The 42-minute Santa’s Sing-A-Long features the lyrics and music of 15 of the greatest holiday .Santa’s Sing-A-Long DVD – or the music-only CD/ROM version – is available from Magic Tree Productions at for $17.99; a CD/ROM music-only version is also available for just $11.99 – or both together for just $29.98.
Candycane Cocoa
Have a miniature foodie on your hands? Warm your child’s spirits (and their bellies) with the traditional holiday treat: Hot chocolate. Candycane Cocoa is a great wintertime treat for the kids, and the added peppermint flavor adds a little to spark to the traditional hot chocolate.
If you can remember using a peppermint candy cane like a straw to sip your cup of cocoa, you’ll understand the appeal of Candycane Cocoa from Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Cocoa. Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Cocoa is known for its rich and delicious tasting cocoa and other hot beverages in a variety of flavors and other indulgent foods. Their Candycane Cocoa is a milk chocolate flavor with bits of real peppermint candy cane. It makes a great stocking stuffer and is sure to become your family’s favorite holiday tradition.
https://www.indulgentfoods.com/
Big Bear Gift Cards
Now is the perfect time to give the gift of a Big Bear vacation to your favorite little skier or snowboarder “The Park” at Bear Mountain has just introduced 20 new features for the 2006-2007 season for a total of 100-plus jibs, 150-plus jumps, 50 terrain features, a standard halfpipe and Southern California’s only Superpipe. And with more than 23 jibs and 17 jumps currently open throughout “The Park Run” and “Progression Alley,” Bear Mountain currently has more terrain features open than any other California resort.
Give them the gift they’ll remember forever. Early-season lift ticket prices are $39 adults (22 and older), $34 young adults (13 to 21) and $14 children (7-12). Children 6 and under are free. These early season rates are subject to change at anytime. Tickets are available for purchase at Bear Mountain.
Big Bear Mountain Resorts Gift Cards are currently available for purchase by phone or online. Gift cards may be used anywhere at the resorts, from shopping at the Sports Shops to purchasing lift tickets. Read our full story on Big Bear.
www.BigBearMountainResorts.com
