One of the latest Barbie dolls features Barbie wearing dozens of shoes at once, but don’t worry – she didn’t take an unfortunate trip into a nuclear waste repository.

Shoe Obsession Barbie sees Barbie clad in a white tulle bubble dress filled at the bottom with Barbie-sized stilettos, while wearing a necklace also adorned with high heels. The shoes come in yellow, black, pink, and purple, but they’re sewn in, so Shoe Obsession Barbie is going to be stuck in the shoes she’s boxed in with.

Shoe Obsession Barbie is selling now from Barbie Collector for a little under $35.

Summer’s a little over a month away, and hey, electricity costs are getting high. Kids are going to need to rediscover the old ways of cooling off – namely, getting each other soaking wet.

The KAOS Cyclops does that to a range of 100 feet. It’s a water balloon launcher that basically amounts to a souped up slingshot, guaranteeing impact for maximum soaking. Also included is a plastic scoop that can hold ammunition on the go. The box comes with 50 biodegradable water balloons, which will make clean-up a little more eco-friendly.

The KAOS Cyclops is selling on the Imperial Toy Shop for a little under $1o.

If your kids want to make their own dazzling light shows on the cheap, check out the 2012 line of FyrFlyz, from Star Entertainment. These FyrFlyz feature a goggles-shaped piece of plastic that house different colored LED lights. There are two strings attached to the plastic part – using those, kids can swing the lights around and alter the shape of the lights by tightening or loosening the strings. With a little creativity, kids can use FyrFlyz to create tons of shapes and effects as the lights swing about rapidly.

And again, that light show comes very cheap. You can get a set of FyrFlyz off of Amazon right now for a little over $4.

Nerf is stepping up their game when it comes to Super Soakers – now, kids can hose each other down with motorized hand cannons of water power.

The Nerf Super Soaker Lightning Storm comes equipped with a pretty hefty water drum that should extend the epic battles that will no doubt take hold of your neighborhood. Should that drum go dry, not to worry – you can always buy extra water clips for extra ammo on the go. The motorized blasting mechanism, with a range of 25 feet, will mean bad news (and soaked clothes) for anyone on the receiving end of the Lightning Storm, while an included blast shield will do its best to keep the shooter dry. Considering how most water battles go, it probably won’t help that much, but it adds atmosphere.

The Nerf Super Soaker Lightning Storm requires 4 AA batteries to operate. You can arm your kids for neighborhood domination on Amazon for about $22.

Sesame Street: Elmo’s Musical Monsterpiece is a new game for the Nintendo Wii and DS that will hit stores in June of this year. Kids will be able to rock out with their favorite Sesame Street characters, engaging in activities that promote musical creativity and dancing. The game also manages to throw in a few activities designed to foster development of math skills through connections between math and music.

The in-game music comes from eclectic Los Angeles band Ozomatli, who use a wide range of styles in their music – ideal for kids who need a lot of variety. Ozomatli is also no stranger to lending their work to the video game world, with songs featured in many prominent sports games, so their work should feel natural on these new Nintendo Wii and DS games.

The game is simple enough for toddlers to play without too much help, but there is plenty of room for parents to get involved and get in some playtime with their kids.

Pricing details for the game are as of now unknown, but both games are expected in stores sometime next month.

Press Release

It took a while, but the classic fun of blowing bubbles has finally evolved. Crayola’s new gadget, the Outdoor Bubble Machine, automates the bubble blowing process allowing kids to maximize the fun they get over those short-lived spheres. Not only that, but kids can generate bubbles in three different bright colors (purple pizzazz, fuchsia, and unmellow yellow), making for the messy kind of fun kids love. Fortunately, Crayola promises that the bubbles don’t stain clothes, skin, or outdoors surfaces, though some reviews on Amazon seem to disagree.

The Crayola Outdoor Bubble Machine is selling now from Amazon for $20.17, and requires 4 C batteries to operate. The machine comes with three 4 oz. bottles of colored bubble formula and three pouring adapters.

Crayola has released a set of giant sidewalk chalk with a little surprise in store for kids. The 3D Kaleidoscope Giant Chalk set includes some amped-up sidewalk chalk that, with the assistance of the included Kaleidoscope 3D glasses, can be used to create swirling and twirling designs that pop-out in 3D. The pieces of chalk are pretty big, and are double-sided, with each side sporting a different color.

The 3D Kaleidoscope Activity Set includes the chalk and glasses, plus a wide-edged drawing tool, six stencils, and an ideas book for more 3D-friendly designs that can grace sidewalks everywhere. The clincher for moms and dads should be that the chalk is easily washable, and can be hosed off with water easily.

Both the 3D Kaleidoscope Giant Chalk set and the 3D Kaleidoscope Activity Set are available now. You can grab the latter now from Amazon for about $13.

AppGear, from WowWee, is trying to lead the way in a relatively new market of toys that actively interact with smartphones. AppGear currently has a slate of four games – Alien Jailbreak, Elite CommandAR, Foam Fighters, and Zombieburbz. Each game has toys that are selling now from AppGear’s website, and unlock different activities and stories in-game when used. For example, using a different foam plane with the Foam Fighters app will unlock new missions, locations, and stories, while Zombieburbz puts players in the zombies’ shoes for once, with each zombie figurine having unique missions and storylines. One zombie figurine is actually controllable in real life.

The games work in tandem with the toys, so both are purchased as a pair from AppGear. Most are $9.99, except for EliteCommandAR, which will be AppGear’s flagship product. That game comes with a gun accessory for the iPhone which allows players to engage in augmented reality battles with invading aliens using printable AR markers that can be placed around the immediate environment, or with other players in the area over a Wi-Fi connection. Elite CommandAR is not out yet, but you can preorder it. The upcoming Alien Jailbreak sounds like it will also have accessory-based gunplay, but at a cheaper price.

So, on the downside, you might never you see your smartphone again once your kids can get their hands on these games, but look on the bright side – at least they’ll be moving around!

I envy the lucky little guys and girls who get one of these. The mamaRoo, from 4moms, is one comfortable looking infant seat with a little robotics behind it to make it maybe the best infant seat that has ever seen the light of day.

The idea is that vibrating bouncy seats or swing seats don’t properly mimic the movement of parents when they hold their babies. The mamaRoo, on the other hand, has five different settings that feature swaying and bouncing movements that are designed to be similar to parents’ movement, making things a little more comfortable for Junior.

The mamaRoo’s five different settings are Car Ride, Ocean Wave, Rock-a-Bye, Tree Swing, and Kangaroo, all of which can be accompanied by five different nature sounds. If you wish, you can also connect your mp3 player to the mamaRoo and play music that way, too.  Each movement has adjustable speeds, as well.

A few plush balls dangle from the top of the chair for infants to play with, and the chair can recline to any position on its axis. Again, this is like a throne for the little guys.

The mamaRoo is available in nylon or plush, both of which can be zipped out for washing. It comes in six colors and is selling now from 4moms. The classic nylon version costs about $200, while the plush mamaRoo is going for $240.

As hard as it seems to get kids outside these days, it’s always a joy to see someone making an effort to convince kids to give the great outdoors a shot. Uncle Milton, in partnership with National Geographic, is doing just that, releasing their Outdoor Explorer line of toys, designed to get kids to get out and interact with nature. A novel idea.

Each of the toys in the line comes with its own activity guide, detailing plenty of fun things kids can do outside with their new gadgets. The line includes cool little gadgets that should grab kids’ attention, like the expedition shoe lights for nighttime excitement (probably going to want make sure there’s some supervision for that one) and a 3-in-1 expedition magnifier for in depth scientific investigation (earthworms may or may not be involved). Of course, if all else fails you can go for the Deep Cave Explorer Echo Maker – because no matter what century we’re in, kids will never stop thinking caves are cool.

Check out the list below for the list of toys in the line and the pricing. You can find all of them at your local Toys ‘R’ Us.

Expedition Sky Flare MSRP $9.99
3-in-1 Expedition Magnifier MSRP $11.99
4-in-1 Explorer Navigation Tool MSRP $11.99
Earth Tag MSRP $11.99
Deep Cave Explorer Echo Maker MSRP $17.99
High Sierra Eco Explorer Kit MSRP $14.99
All-Terrain Nature Collector MSRP $17.99
Expedition Shoe Lights MSRP $19.99
Expedition Trekking Pak MSRP $24.99