Some items were received for review purposes. Some affiliate links are included in this article. All opinions are my own.
Electronics
eCalendar
This is an incredible digital calendar by eCalendar. It is beautiful to look at. Set up is easy. Through their app you can sync this calendar with the calendar you previously have been using (Google, Microsoft, etc) or you can just start from scratch. We have set up profiles for everyone in my house so the calendar is beautifully organized with all the colors. It’s easy to see who needs to be where or what is going on with each family member.
One of my favorite features is the task list, where we assign chores that the kids need to do daily and weekly. You have the option to assign “stars” if you want to set up a rewards system at home. We have a set up stars to equal TV time or tablet time. It’s easy for the kids to touch their name and see what tasks they need to complete for the day. I love they can track their own progress.
Another beautiful feature is to load photos onto it so that when the screen turns to screen saver the calendar turns into a photo frame! So far I have loaded 400 pictures that it rotates through. Some times we all just sit and watch the frame.
I love that the calendar is a touch screen so you can set everything up with the calendar or from the app on your phone. Pictures you only load from your phone. The sync between the app and phone is quick so when I’m adding tasks or calendar items they appear quickly.
You can also have the calendar send notifications including audio ones to help remind you of events.
I have researched a lot of brands of digital calendars and this one is a great value for the money. You don’t need a subscription to use any of the features. It is such a great organization tool in our home and we recommend it!
Virtual Reality ESPN
We’ve had one virtual reality experience before but this one is really cool. If you know someone absolutely obsessed with sports than this is for you!
Experience the thrill of live sports like never before with the ESPN Virtual Reality. Transport yourself straight onto the field, court, or rink with a 360-degree view of legendary sports arenas around the world. Whether you’re a dedicated sports fan or an aspiring athlete, this kit lets you step into the game through ESPN’s SportsCenter, offering exclusive views and insights.
The ESPN Virtual Reality box includes 3 championship medals – Gold, Silver and Bronze, an impressive 128 page book filled with some many sports and 20+ vr experiences, it’s incredible, and the VR headset. After downloading the app and getting it set up you are ready to sit in the driver seat to learn about so many sports. The box is $59.99. Within the app you can purchase additional experiences like Dinosaurs, the Human Body and more.
Toys
My Robotic Pet: Coding Chameleon is a cool looking toy! The most amazing thing about this chameleon is it’s ability to color depending on what it’s standing on. It’s really fun. The Chameleon can function in wild mode, pet mode and coding mode. The box says the toy is for ages 8+ with adult help, or 12+ without. I had my husband build the Chameleon and it took him about 7 hours over several days. It wasn’t easy by any means. It also is a learning curve toy that takes a little bit to figure out but once you understand the different modes, it’s a fun toy to interact with. Just watch out for that tongue that will shoot out when it sees something tasty looking! You can purchase the Coding Chameleon through their website linked above, on Amazon, or I’ve even seen it in Walmart.
Board Games
Early Bird is going to be a classic! This game is high energy, which is perfect for my littler kids. You have a to be quick to get the worm in this fast flying card game. Fend off sneaky squirrels, chase down wiggly worms, and build cozy birdhouses all while chaos is happening around you. As they say the Early Bird gets the worm – but you have to beat the other early birds to it!
Disco Island Escape – It’s all fun and games until your disco ball dance party turns out to be a volcano and you need to get off the island. This groovy game requires you to move your lemurs to safety through the lava flows of the exploding disco ball volcano. This game is perfect for young children as the way you move your lemur is by matching shapes and colors. This is a fun game the whole family can enjoy, though it is only for 4 players.
Video Games
I have some exciting news! There is a new, fun Christmasy game out called “The Elf on the Shelf: Christmas Heroes” from Outright Games. The game is celebrating the 20 year anniversary of Elf on the Shelf. This cute 2d animation is all about saving Christmas by collecting Christmas spirit along with some fun mini games thrown in the mix. You can build your own elf with different outfits. It’s such a cute game with the complexity increasing with different levels. Going to each level is a fun thing on its own because the levels are dates on an advent calendar. This is a fun aspect of the game that goes along with our yearly tradition of getting advent calendars. Check out the trailer for the game:
You can get the game on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store now!
Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift is a really fun new video game we’ve had fun getting familiar with. The game includes fun features like 8 different characters, the ability to personalize your kart, lots of different tracks across 3 different universes, and the ability to race 8 friends online, or 4 friends with a split screen mode.
Check out all the fun of this new game here:
We particularly love the clever items that are power ups to be used to help get ahead or impede your competition such as lasagna, a newspaper, coffee, a remote, hot sauce, soap, and a food bowl. The game really is clever.
Garfield Kart 2 – All You Can Drift is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC.
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers has been a really fun game to play. It has training to walk you through how to play and starts with easy things, slowly building with each shift. You patrol as a police officer with giving tickets, parking tickets, arresting people, having cars towed, using a speed radar and more. It’s a pretty fun game with goals to complete before your shift is up.
While the game came out a year ago, it recently got some upgrades. There are some new upgrades to the game including different police uniforms to choose from, an accident pack with reflective vests and other tools and a new multipurpose responder vehicle.
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers is available on the Switch.
Travel
Passport To Your National Parks® are so much fun! Last year we went on a cross country trip from Missouri to Boston, up to New York and home again. Throughout that trip we went to many national parks and filled up the East coast pages in our classic passport! For review for my Holiday Gift Guide I was sent another Classic Passport, the Explorer Edition and the Collector’s Edition as well as the Junior Ranger version. I also received the 2025 Stamp Set which luckily included Mount Rushmore – which we had just visited the month previous! Having the Passport To Your National Parks® makes all your visits to the National Parks so much fun. Also, it provides great information about the parks and even introduced us to park we didn’t know existed. It’s such a great resource for exploring our country!
The Junior Ranger Passport To Your National Parks® is incredible! It includes a free set of stickers. So much information and fun pages to fill out. This is 100 pages of complete educational fun. This is perfect for the whole family!
If you know people who love to travel, this would be such a great gift to enhance their upcoming travels!
