This year’s show feels a little recession strapped in that the toy manufacturers are packing volumes of value into their packages and not designing big expensive toys.

There was a time when plush animals costing thousands were plentiful on the floor.  Today’s show was a bit more austere but amazingly creative, which goes to show you that having less can sometimes be more.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Lego: Lego introduced a new breed of  board games at Toy Fair. Your job is to build the game out of Legos (and decide the rules of engagement) before you play.  It’s a brilliant idea–a twist on the family board game, capturing the love of Legos. What a mashup!  The digerati are awaiting Lego Universe, the company’s huge online world. Most of the games, like Pyramid (pictured here), are priced between $10 and $20.  At the high end, Creationary costs $24.

Mattel: Mattel’s star of the show was a dog collar aptly named Puppy Tweets. Once the collar is placed on the pup, he can send a tweet (or is it a woof directly to Twitter).  The USB collar uses Bluetooth to communicate with Twitter so proximity is important. For $30 it’s pure unadulterated fun–a mashup of pets/gadgets and social media. You can follow your dog and have them make other doggie friends on Twitter. 

E-readers: I wondered when the first e-readers for kids would appear and they have. Systems like Leapfrog’s Tag Reader have been serving the function of e-readers for a long time. Fisher Price announced a super-duper 5-in-1 product called the iXL. It’s a 3- to 6-year-old’s rendering of My First iPod, combining a photo album, e-reader, notebook, game machine, and music player into one crash-proof device.  Price: $80.

TRAKR: One much buzzed about fave on the show floor was Wild Planet’s new Sky Video TRAKR.  At the upper end of the price range ($129), this packed-with-technology gizmo is a toy that looks like a tank/robot.  You control it with a gameplayer-like remote control that has a small LCD VGA-quality screen, joystick, and buttons.  Using simple downloadable programs or even creating your own programs, the TRAKR transmits color video and audio and data.  It can memorize a path to your kitchen or be trained to scare the pants of your mom when she enters your room.  It’ll even have night vision just to make things interesting.

Talkatoo: Of course some of the coolest products are found in the recesses of the Javits Center, usually start-up companies with some very passionate owners.  For instance, there’s talkatoo–a small, colorful pendant that allows for a 30-second voice recording.   For $16 bucks, you can carry your kids’ voices everywhere with you.

TV Hat: Now here’s one that’ll have you laughing and shaking your head in amazement. But no one will be able to see you because you’ll be under the TV Hat.  This sub-$30 hat (or visor) has a tiny pouch for you to insert your iPhone or other video player. Underneath the hood, a prism brings the image into focus and built-in earphones create your own private studio.  As long as you’re comfortable looking like a cross between a Klu-Klux Klan’er and a HAZMAT worker, you will fall in love with the TV Hat–a poor man’s solution to TV glasses.  (Imagine each kid in your car wearing these in the back seat! You might get pulled over for kidnapping!)  Of course it made the worst of show list over at http.bored.com, but it’ll either be the next pet rock or not.

Geocaching: For the family that likes finding its way together, GeoMates Jr. from Apisshere is an entry-level $70 GPS.  It’s filled with 25,000 geocache locations from all over the country. Geocaches are markers or hidden boxes or anything you want that you place somewhere and mark its coordinates on a GPS map.

My Ami: Finally there’s My Ami–created by a mom after giving her kid an iPod and watching it tossed from the shopping cart one too many times. My Ami is a bear that conveniently holds the iPod or iTouch securely and out of harm’s way.  There’s the suction cup version for strollers or car seats and the clamp-on for shopping carts. Advocates of less screen-time for little ones will go apoplectic over this one, but hey, for many moms, it’s whatever it takes to get you through the day.

She’s Computer Engineer Barbie and she sprang to life via the popular vote of consumers all over the world. They voted on what Barbie’s next career should be for the “I Can” Barbie Series.

Never mind that’s career  #125 on the Barbie chart.  But, to add to Barbie’s cred, Mattel worked with the Society of Woman Engineers and the National Academy of Engineers to make sure their creation was emblematic. (Easy to imagine a bunch of female engineers dressing up Barbie isn’t it?)

I’ve never been much of a Barbie lover–even as a kid I was more into decapitation and mutilation than dressing up my Barbies.  And I could make a ton of jokes about Binary Barbie the engineer.

But I won’t. Because if Computer Engineer Barbie could convince one young girl that it’s cool, OK, and even great, then Barbie earned her keep.  Mattel is providing girls with a code to get onto the Barbie website for online game content.  Hopefully, Barbie will be doing more than picking out the office furniture.

By the way, the next runner up? The #126 Barbie is a news anchor.  Both are being unveiled at this week’s Toy Fair in New York City and will be available this winter.

Barbie, all you’re missing is a pocket protector, a cup of Java, and some really unhealthy snacks.

You go girl!

As I thought about legacy I started to think about legacy products.

Here’s an obvious one. Legacy Locker is what it says it is, a locker for your digital assets. This is sort of like digital equivalent of an online safety deposit box. You can specify a beneficiary to have access to your digital assets in the event that you die or become incapacitated.

The beneficiaries aren’t permitted any access until they show up with a death certificate or some certificate proving that you can no longer manage your accounts.  This is not a sexy product, but it’s an important one.  And it’s not a bad deal, especially since you’re walked through how to name people, compose legal letters, upload and download. You can store everything from passwords, to access codes to music and photos. The only limiting factor is your pocketbook. There are full featured offerings for  $29.99 per year, or $299.99 for a lifetime subscription. A trial version with limited features is available for free.

Fast Pencil is a legacy of a different entirely color.  The youngsters may be busy living life, but older folks are busy sorting out these blasts from the past and letting their creative juices fly into Act II.  Boomers are the heaviest users of self publishing software; they’ve got lots to say and more time to say it.

Some publishing programs like Blurb (Blurb can create extraordinarily beautiful photographic books. Lulu, another self publishing program prides itself on creating speedy printed books on demand.  A new program I looked at last week,  Fast Pencil  is not dissimilar. It provides templates and typefaces and editing tools to get your printed pages to behave. What it gives you that the others don’t is a social network. Bookwriting no longer needs to be classified as a lonely task,  The social media part is the fun part – if you like collaboration that is

Researching your family history?  Why go it alone. Get them all involved, Comment, Edit . Set up chapters.  Putting together a family cookbook?  A travel book?  It turns out that Fast Pencil is a great way to manage group collaborations.  The site is also building a network of supporting talents whos work is for hire,  Need a graphic artist? Special typography?  Copy Editor, — the entire publishing community is invited to swap gifts. A recently launched addition to the product is called Color Book Creator (which has nothing to do with coloring books)  lets you import photos and illustrations into your book.  Even if only your five BFFs and three relatives buy a book you’ve created a legacy.

The Nick Edition follows on the heels of a Disney announcement for a pink or blue encased ASUS netbook that it calls the NetPals Netbook. Both machines are honest-to-goodness entry-level netbooks, ones that any adult on a budget would be happy to own. What makes them kid-friendly are decoration, software, a custom UI, and lots of parental control software

Beneath the green and white Viacom slime on the cover of the PC lurks a Dell Inspiron Mini. A Nick widget (which wasn’t quite ready to be demonstrated) will take junior right to Nickland. There they’ll find feature games of the week, first-run Nick shows, an MP3 and more. WhyVille, a highly respected social networking site that caters to a “thinking” kid, is also featured prominently.

When it comes to speeds and feeds, both Disney/ASUS and Nick/Dell machines have similar specifications: Atom processors, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, and a built-in webcam. Both run XP. Both weigh under 3 lbs. Dell adds a Lo-Jack–a sensible addition for parents sending kids into a world where they’d forget their pants if they weren’t wearing them. Dell did not announce pricing, but expect it to be competitive with the Disney NetPal.

According to Dell, Maria Bailey, CEO of BSM Media, helped set the mission. Moms and dads are looking for brands they can trust, access to entertainment and education, and a protected environment.

Dell is going to miss the back to school buying spree, but when it does become available in October you’ll find the Nick Edition at Wal-Mart or on Dell.com.

Undecided whether to be in the SpongeBob/iCarly or Little Mermaid/Hannah Montana camp? Don’t worry–I’m sure it’s a matter of moments before you’ll be able to add a few other kid-themed netbooks to the menu. The injustice of it all may be that your kid gets a netbook before you do.

Goo is back, reincarnated as an iPhone/iTouch app called Making Faces. It’s a hoot. Load in any image and, using your fingers, you can pinch, bulge, spike, twirl, wave, ripple, nudge, smear, and otherwise whack-out your images. Then turn them into a time-lapse movie. The true power of this $2.99 app won’t be fully realized until you can email your creation to friends, but in the meantime you can definitely have a load of fun making faces.

A pocket video recorder is the 21^st century version of pen and paper. You can whip it out, document, and then share the moments of your day. The top contenders in the pocket video space are the Flip camera and the Kodak Xi8. Flip’s got the catchier name and it captured high definition video first. But the new Kodak Xi8 has some impressive technology that gives pocket video cams a hefty sized infusion of respect and gives Kodak the momentary lead in this two-horse race. The camera will be available in September and will retail for $179, which is about $50 less expensive than the Flip Mino HD.

Kodak’s video is now full HD, which is great for playing your family movies back on high definition TV sets. But one of the features I like best is the ability to switch quickly (before you even hit record) between HD and lower resolutions like 720p or even XVGA so you can take pictures that are more appropriately sized for web or email viewing.

Other giant leaps forward include blur reduction and a special internal sensor that compensates for a shaky hand by stabilizing the image. I tested the camera in low light and the image was still sharp. The built-in microphone is improved but you can also add an external stereo microphone through the USB. Once you’ve captured the shots, a flexible USB arm pops out of the camera to transfer your video to the computer. And the camera can upload directly to YouTube, Facebook and, of course, Kodak Gallery.

A bit clunkier than the demure Flip camera, the Kodak has a larger 2.5-inch color LCD with a healthy antireflective coating so that shooting in daylight is pretty reasonable. It’s not quite as simple to use, nor as ergonomically elegant as the Flip’s, but you can watch my Carnegie Deli Pickle Eating contest (taken on the streets of NYC live) and judge for yourself.

THQ  Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter:

Just introduced on the Wii, this game combines kids creativity and game playing.  Using a set of familiar looking paint tools kids design their own characters to star in video games.  The characters can even articulate their limbs, giving them lifelike moves.  Once the character is completed you can  place it  in a simple game, drawing in your own obstacles as you go. You can even draw a bridge to get you across a river with a special action ink, or a draw a ball that bounces.  The game you play is the one you’ve created. That’s both inspired and loads of fun.
Leapfrog  Zippity 

Zippity looks like a cross between a pogo stick and a Dance Dance Revolution mat. It’s played on the Wii. Young kids will stand on the  mat,  with their stick held firmly in their hands . On a TV screen they’re be watching their favorite Disney characters and using the stick they’re interacting as they watch  Using Playhouse Disney characters like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey, Zippity presents  kids with dances to do, jumping and movement, and learning fun.  Priced at $79 it’s a mini-Wii game for the mini-est users.

NetPal 

A netbook of their own.  Disney and ASUS teamed up to create a $350 netbook designed for kids. That means safe browsing, parental controls with plenty of room for parents to adjust, customizable screensavers with themes from Disney’s Cars, WALL-E and others.

An ASUS netbook under its skin, the Netpal has an interface that’s all Disney. The keyboard is spillproof and a Shock shield protects the netpal  from damage due to  accidental drops.  Naturally it’s available in Princess Pink and Magic Blue.

Leapfrog Tag Reader Jr:

 Leapfrog’s Tag Reading System used a special magic digital pen to read aloud to young readers.  Now the youngest pre-readers get a Tag of their own, called Tag Jr.  Instead of a pen, the handheld device is shaped more like a big rubber stamp.  The child presses the tag reader junior to the book page and all sorts of things begin to happen.  Stories get read, songs are sung, shapes and colors called out.  The books are made of really durable heavy cardboard so the system is dribble and drool proof.

Imagine Series: For girls who dream about what they want to be when they grow up Ubisoft created a series of  unique videogame introductions to the working world. Last year the big hits were Imagine Doctor, Movie Star and Babysitter. .This year they’re adding artist, boutique owner, detective, fashion designers, salon stylist, zookeeper and a few others to the lineup.  The games have become quite successful. Each gives you a taste of a career with simple games from picking patterns for fashions to putting together clues to solve a mystery. For girls ages 6-14 available on Nintendo DS.

It’s a jungle out there.  If you’re looking to help them practice  reading, math, critical thinking, color matching  … whatever, there are hundreds to choose from ranging from the mundane to the sublime. And no way to know for sure much about what’s inside the box.

Leapfrog, known for mostly top-notch products for kids just made it much easier to buy the right product and better still, to watch how your child is interacting with the toy.

The company’s new website Learning Path offers parents a portal into their child’s learning.  Learning Path charts a course for parents to make good product choices by grouping choice by age and skills. Parents receive tips and ideas from educators. But most important the child’s product can be linked to the website and parents get feedback about how the child interacts with the product. 

Here’s a quick look at some of the types of things you can expect to see in the new line:

EARLIEST LEARNERS

Focus is on products like Fridge Phonics and Pre School Medley. (Still, not quite sure I love the sound of little kids recorded voices singing and saying words without much difference between singing and saying,  but the Leapfrog folks assure me that the kids prefer it.

With slightly more coordination kids are ready for products like Zippity. Zippity is sort of a colorful cross between Dance Dance Revolution and  Nintendo Wii  but made for a three to five year old who play games where their using their bodies to interact with the device, without needed the dexterity to succeed with a full blown Wii.

SCOUT AND FRIENDS

Scout, a cuddly plush dog becomes the mascot to preschoolers with a collection of products that look just like mom and dad’s high tech stuff. There’s a PDA that teaches words and letters and has some fun built in emails and calendar functinos that revolve around Scout’s life.  A Scribble and Write is like a high tech version of the tracing books we used to use to learn to write our letters.  Trace the letters by following the screen’s LED dots.

TAG READING FOR JUNIORS

One of the newest products is the Tag Reader Junior  ($35 when it’s released later this year).  TagReading Kit  is a pen shaped device that can interact with books to read, teach words and more ($50).  Once you have the pen you keep replenishing your library of Tag books at about $14 each.  Tag Jr. is a stubbier, snowman-like stamperr instead of a pen.  As it touches the book, a sturdy cardboard affair, it also responds. 

Things I like:

The books and materials were high quality, compelling stories.  Many Tag books are liscened from companies like Disney and Scholastic so the child is engaged in the literature.

The tag pens bring a fun element to reading books, but it’s a book you’re reading, not a game screen.

The parents web site and the kids’ website are basically two views of the same content.  Parents can see where there kids like to play (learning words? shapes? math? and kids can get more content and games from the web.

After years of mostly quality one off toys, the Leapfrog strategy took a giant leap forward.

I’ve been scanning the reviews of the new DSi and becoming convinced that the techie crowd doesn’t understand that “something’s happening here.” Most reviews are using words like “evolutionary” and missing the point that when you put a camera, good microphone, and some great software in a portable game machine, it changes the nature of the game. I spoke with Warren Buckleitner, founder of Children’s Technology Review and the director of our Kids@Play Summit program. Warren calls the new DSi a “Digital Sandbox.”

By adding two (yes, two) digital cameras and a sensitive microphone, the DSi heralds another level of creativity and exploration. The two cameras (one faces inward so you can capture photos of yourself and one faces the outside world) come with software that lets you pull, yank, meld, and manipulate images using software special effects lenses. The sound and music tools let you use the DSi as an MP3 player, but, more importantly, lets you sample the sound of voices, birds chirping, and teachers lecturing, and then edit and manipulate them. The DSi, if used well, will unleash fantastic amounts of creativity.
To read more on why Warren thinks the DSi is magic in a kid’s hands, read his DSi impressions.

For a great synopsis of what’s new and different with more emphasis on the technical specs, I’ll point you towards John Davison’s review on WhatTheyPlay.com.

“Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.”

For a child, today’s play is tomorrow’s work. Whether it’s playing with a toy doctor kit, a tea set, a digital camera and editing software, or inside of a virtual world, the skills they’ll need tomorrow are being honed.

But their skills will only be as good as the tools we give them. According to a recent report from NPD, a higher percentage of kids ages 4-14 are using computers than they are televisions. Fourteen percent of kids in this age group own their own computer. Twenty-eight percent use digital music players. Twenty percent own cellphones.

What they do with these tools is still a great social experiment. The web and consumer electronic devices have provided them with a vast sandbox in which to play and explore. A recent study from the MacArthur Foundation found that social networking is, contrary to many parents’ beliefs, a motivator—a place to practice both social and creative skills. Simulations teach them to play “what if” in the safety of a virtual environment. Educational software is able to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses with a granularity that a teacher in a classroom never could. The tools of youth—IM, chat, Facebook—are finding their way into the workplace. There’s an economic imperative to learn to play digitally.

At the  Kids at Play Summit http://kidsatplaysummit.com we’ve enlisted some of the greatest minds from education, journalism, product and content development, and academic research to paint a picture of why being digital changes everything.

In his book, Playing the Future, Douglas Rushkoff said, “Our kids may be younger than us, but they are also newer. They are the latest model of human being, and are equipped with a whole lot of new features. Looking at the world of children is not looking backwards at our own pasts—it’s looking ahead.”

Welcome to the future. I founded http://kidsatplaysummit.com as a forum to help the high tech industry continue to create and innovate in your respective fields so that kids everywhere can reap the benefits.