Hot Toys for the Holidays 1: Mind Flex

Each year, Toys R Us comes out with a list of the “Fabulous Fifteen”.  They do endless market research to determine what will be the HOT toys for Christmas: the ones that people will be desperate for on Christmas eve, but will already be sold out.  Think Tickle-Me Elmo.  And they have a pretty good track record of guessing correctly.

So we’re going to go through the list for this year, one day at a time, and wonder whether maybe those kids ought to be getting books instead…

First up:

The Mind Flex:  Apparently, this is a crazy thing that you attach to your head, it measures your brainwaves in order to make a ball float. 

(Sounds to me like one of those things that in my house would have been  big splash on Christmas morning, played with for 2 days, then forgotten about… but maybe that’s just me.)

It’s being billed as something that can strengthen your concentration and increase your mental acuity.  Hmmmm… what else does that?

Cost: $99.99 (and that’s a pretty low price… some places it’s closer to $150)

It’s recommended for ages 8 +, so here’s my thoughts on $99.99 worth of mind-flexing, concentration-building awesomeness for ages 8 and up.

WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead,

A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle,

A SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET by Madeleine L’Engle,

THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY by Siobhan Dowd,

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton Juster,

CHASING VERMEER by Blue Balliett,

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY by Trenton Lee Stewart,

FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E FRANKWEILER by EL Konigsburg,

HOLES by Louis Sachar,

GREGOR THE OVERLANDER by Suzanne Collins and

WHERE’S WALDO WONDER BOOK by Martin Handford.

Grand total: $97.13, guaranteed to increase your mental acuity.