With only a few days left for holiday shopping and many folks still scrambling to purchase toys, may I suggest the Discovery Channel Store? If you’ve not had a chance to peruse their site, I can almost guarantee that they’ve got something for everyone, including toys for the young and the old.
But what we’re focused on today are the Discovery Slide and Shoot Digital Camera and the Discovery Tornado Lab, both aimed at kids 7 and older.

The bloggers trying out the Slide and Shoot Digital Camera were impressed. “This one takes digital photos, with a color preview screen, and a web cam to take live video. It is small and compact and easy to for their little hands to maneuver — and it really works!!” “This camera seems like a great first digital camera for kids since it just slides open and you can easily look at the screen to take the picture.”

One mom noted her daughter’s creative use of the camera: “Best of all, she can annoy her brother by stalking him with her camera, paparazzi-like, while he screams, “STOP IT!” at the top of his lungs.”

A few noted the durability of the camera — a particularly important feature for a kid’s camera. “Third, it’s durable. It’s a wonderful camera for kids who may not be ready for a grown-up digital camera, but who genuinely want to learn how to take, store, print, and edit photos.”

In addition to the camera, the bloggers commented on the editing software that comes with it. “The software comes with its own “activity center” with stickers for each of the holidays so they can create cards, artwork and scrapbook pages, using the graphics that comes with the software, as well as their own photos.”

Our resident photography expert Tracey Clark had much to say about the camera as did her daughter who demanded her mom give it a glowing review.
a. Definitely better when shot in bright light (outdoors).

b. Very simple editing software (maybe too simple for photo editing junkies, but easy enough for kids).

As for the Tornado Lab, we had several fans. “Blake thought this product was so cool, he brought it his 4th grade class the very next day. he said that the teacher let him show it, and the kids all got to play with it and do mini experiments with it.”

One mom’s kids even dropped their video games to check it out.

And much to my surprise, they put down the controllers and ran into the kitchen. Let me repeat that-they PUT DOWN the VIDEO GAME controllers to play with a toy! It was a freaking miracle, I tell you.

The lab was simple to use, with very quick instructions. “The product is nice and compact, and it would be easy to store for future fun. I was surprised, because I expected to unfold a novel’s worthy of instructions, but pleasantly found two pages of easy how-to’s for the lab.”

The parents agreed that it was a great teaching tool, with many talking to their kids’ teachers about it. One even reco’d it for homeschooling parents. “After we finished playing with the tornado lab, I emailed my son’s teacher. I’m think I’m going to donate it to his classroom if she is interested. Because I could see this being a great tool for teaching about the weather. Honestly, it is easy enough to use for even the younger kids.”

A few felt that this was definitely geared for the science-obsessed, but even the kids that didn’t classify themselves as such enjoyed playing with it.

Make sure to check out the rest of the reviews, and peruse these and other great toys at the Discovery Channel Toy Store!

Mon 12/17 - Slouching Mom, The Silent I Speaks,
Tues 12/18 - PunditMom
Wed 12/19 - Lather Rinse Repeat
Thurs 12/20 - Views from the Pants
Fri 12/21 - Round-Up Review on PBN