Christmas

Ceran of the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd

1. Adopt a Reindeer £30 (click here)

The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd were introduced into Scotland in 1952 by a Swedish Reindeer Herder, Mikel Utsi. Starting from a few reindeer, the herd has grown in numbers over the years and is currently held at between 130 and 150 by controlling breeding. The reindeer live in their natural environment out on the Cairngorm Mountains and the Cromdale Hills of Scotland. According to the Orkneyinga saga, red deer and reindeer were hunted together in Caithness by the Earls of Orkney about eight centuries ago. Now you can support their re-introduction by adopting a reindeer from the herd. Click here for more information.

2. Top DVDs for Older Children

• Wall-E on Pre-Order at £13 (click here to see):
  • “After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL.E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL.E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future”
  • Release date: 24th November 2008
  • Free delivery
• The Golden Compass £7.99 (click here for more info):
  • “When Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) becomes the keeper of the Golden Compass, she discovers that her world – and all those beyond – is threatened by the secret plans of Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman).”
  • Free delivery

Cadbury's Christmas Countdown Chocolate Set £12

3. Cadbury’s Christmas Countdown Chocolate Set £12

All the chocolate you need for each child over advent: 1x Cadbury Dairy Milk Variety Miniatures Advent Calendar, 1x 160g Cadbury Mixed Tree Novelty pack, 1x Cadbury Stocking, 1x 59.6g Cadbury Chocolate Coin Net. Use the calendar to count down, give your child something to do by decorating the tree with the tree novelty pack and then hang up the chocolate stocking before bolstering the present haul with the chocolate coins. Covered for Christmas with Cadbury’s Christmas Countdown £12 (click here to buy).

4. Favourite Characters and Shows

The best children’s characters and TV shows website is Price Right Home (click here) – they categorise everything by character or TV show with handy buttons to find your way round. They include; Dora the Explorer, Hannah Montana, Ben 10, Spongebob Squarepants, Disney Princess and many more. Easy shopping.

Shaun the Sheep

• Shaun the Sheep DVDs from Choices UK £9.69 (click here for more info). UK delivery £1.99 or free on orders over £25.
• Shaun the Sheep DVDs & Games from CD Wow. Prices start at £8.99 (click here for more info). Free delivery.

Dora the Explorer

Dora the Explorer

• Dora the Explorer DVDs from Choices UK prices from £9.69. UK delivery £1.99 or free on orders over £25.
• Dora the Explorer DVDs & CDs from CD Wow prices start at £4.99. Free delivery.
• Dora the Explorer Toys available from Early Learning Centre, Hamleys and Toys R Us.

In the Night Garden

• In the Night Garden “Hello” Iggle Piggle DVD £9.99 – released 24 November. Free delivery.
• In the Night Garden DVDs from Choices UK from £9.69. UK delivery £1.99 or free on orders over £25.
• “In the Night Garden” toys available from Hamleys and Toys R Us and the Early Learning Centre. Toy R Us are offering a free Iggle Piggle blanket to anyone who spends over £40 on “In the Night Garden” merchandise. This deal started 16 October and ends 27 November 2008, subject to availability. Offer excludes multiple purchases of the Igglepiggle Blanket. Only one free item per transaction.

Balamory

• Balamory Christmas Collection DVD from CD Wow prices start at £7.99. Free delivery.

Ben 10

• Toys R Us are doing a Ben 10 promotion whereby you get a free alien viewer if you spend more than £40 on Ben 10 products. This deal started 3 November and ends 27 November 2008, subject to availability. Offer excludes multiple purchases of the Omnitrix Alien Viewer. Only one free item per transaction.
• Hamleys also have a wide range of Ben 10 toys. Choose from the following:

• • Ben 10 Dissolving Alien Rocks £5.00
  • Planetary Powder Set £6.00
  • Transforming Ship £11.00
  • Transforming Arm Set £25.00
  • Voice Changer Mask £16.00
  • Alien Lab Playset £25.00
  • Alien Creature Series £15.00
  • Omnitrix Alien Viewer £9.00
  • Deluxe Omnitrix £16.00
  • Vilgax Battleship Playset £28.00
• Early Learning Centre only have the Ben 10 Scooter available online at the moment. Suitable from 5 years old, in stock, £40.
  • Secret drawer contains 9 authentic coloured monsters.
  • Cool Ben 10 graphics.
  • Easy folding for storage.
  • Rear footbrake.
  • ABEC-1 bearings.
  • Adjustable handlebar height 68cm-85cm.

Peppa Pig

Hamleys have a full range of Peppa Pig toys, as do Toys R Us.

High School Musical

Whether it’s a dance mat (Toys R Us are predicting this to be a big seller at £17.99), the High School Musical Sing Together dolls (£22 from Boots) or the fashion dolls,

Early Learning Centre has the following High School Musical toys:

• High School Musical – Country Club Troy Doll £16.50 (From 3 years old) Item in stock
• High School Musical Sharpay Doll £16.50 (From 3 years old) Item in stock
• High School Musical Sharpays Pink Convertible £33 (From 4 years old) Out of stock – but you can sign up for an e-mail alert when it becomes available.

5. FurReal Ponies

This lifesize plush miniature pony has moving eyes, ears, head and tail. She’ll move her head towards you when you groom her soft coat, giving you a whinny or gentle snort. You can feed her with the pretend carrot – if she’s hungry, she’ll open her mouth, if not she’ll shake her head. Butterscotch doesn’t mind if a small child climbs on her back.

£275 from John Lewis

What’s that? Sit on its back?! Yep these toy ponies are nearly a metre tall and so will withstand the weight of a small child. There’s also FurReal Smores Pony who’s £50 cheaper than Butterscotch at £224.95. If that’s way over budget, then there are some FurReal cats and dogs around the £20 mark.

6. Pleo Robotic Dinosaur

Pleo Robotic Dinosaur

Pleo Robotic Dinosaur costs £199.95 from John Lewis. It is not suitable for under 8’s. It has senses and interacts with its surrounding, responding to light, unfamiliar voices and tickling:

With a playful honk or a pesky tug, Pleo lets you know that he craves attention or food. If he seems sleepy get him to take a nap by holding his back for 10 seconds with a gentle ‘calm down’ touch.

Camarasaurus was a late-Jurassic North American herbivore, 60 feet long in adulthood, and just Pleo’s size as a newborn.

Rechargeable NiMH battery (charger included)

7. Rubik’s Cube

With more than 43 quintillion variations and only one solution – you’ll never hear “I’ve finished it”. Over 300 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide with the World Record for the solution standing at 7.08 seconds. The World Cube Association (WCA) governs competitions for all Rubik puzzles, including the Rubik’s Cube. They even publish a diagram on how to fix a broken Rubik’s cube.

• IWantOneOfThose Rubik’s Cube with Stand £10.99
• Rubik’s Cube from Findmeagift.com £3.99 or £8.99.
• Puzzle Cube from Gobaz £2.99 (plus optional giftwrapping).

8. Tooth Tunes £7.95

Musical electric toothbrushes for all the family. Available in “Black Eyed Peas”, “Hannah Montana”, “Queen” and “High School Musical”.

Thanks to amazing bone-conduction technology, Tooth Tunes can only be properly heard in the brusher’s head… The ditties in the brush play for two minutes, the minimum time generally recommended by dentists to provide a thorough brushing… Tooth Tunes is approved by the British Dental Health Foundation.

9. Jenga

Good, honest, old-fashioned wooden blocks. Suitable for use in the garden, pub, living room or anywhere else. Jenga is always good fun because someone has to cause the tower to topple. Build the tower up and then remove the blocks – you may not take any bloacks from the top level. Giant Jenga pack £44.99 from Gobaz. Smaller blocks £10 from Hamleys or £6.99 from the Gifted Goat.

10. Children’s Bikes from £69.99

Keep your kid fit with a great big Christmas present that will have them guessing for ages. You can buy children’s bikes online through Evans Cycles from £49.99 for a scooter, £69.99 for a trike and £69.99 for a bike. They come in a wide variety of sizes and colours – some with bells, baskets and spokelers. Evans also do a great range of child seats, child trailers and safety gear for kids. Free delivery in the UK until March and free European delivery on orders over £50 – so you could even send children’s bikes out to family in Italy or your villa in France!