Dad Can’t Handle These Toys

Newsweek, January, 2008 by Brian Braiker

Any parent with a child between the ages of 3 and 11 can tell you that technology has crept into nearly all aspects of playtime and nearly every type of toy. The Hyper Dash, introduced recently from WildPlanet, is a case in point. In this game, the player, armed with a talking tagger, seeks out various disc-shaped targets, identified either by numbers or colors.

The tagger is embedded with a radio-frequency identification chip that identifies the discs and a timer that clocks how quickly the kid has hit all his targets. It’s the perfect blend of technology, learning and exercise, says educational psychologist Warren Buckleitner, the editor of Children’s Technology Review. Wild Planet has also unveiled a younger version of Hyper Dash, for kids 3 to 5, called Animal Scramble,...