Holiday 2010 Review: Sweet Surprise Strawberry Shortcake Doll

My daughter will be turning four in two months. It seems like overnight, she has transitioned from being only interested in cuddling and nurturing her dolls to being obsessed with changing their clothes and combing their hair. So she happily traded her Strawberry Shortcake Baby Berry Kisses doll for the Sweet Surprise Strawberry Shortcake. This doll can have her make-up changed with a pen filled with ice cold water . . . no batteries required. Although this doll retails for approximately $22.99, I have seen some excellent sale prices for her during the holidays. For example, I have seen her for just $13.97 on Walmart.com .

Sweet Surprise Strawberry Shortcake comes with the pen, a comb, 2 hair extensions, 4 hair clips, and 2 sheets of stickers.

To use the pen, I just needed to fill it with water and leave it in the freezer for about 10 or 15 minutes. It does not hold too much water, so the freezing process is quick. When ready, my daughter just touched the spongy tip to the doll's face. It took a few seconds for the ice to begin to melt.

The difference in the make-up was subtle. The doll's eye shadow, blush, and strawberry beauty mark grew a little bit darker. The most obvious change was that the doll's lips became redder. Once the areas began to return to room temperature, the colors quickly changed back.

My daughter's favorite thing about this Strawberry Shortcake doll is that she smells like strawberries and she has long silky straight hair, which is much easier to comb than some of her other curly-haired dolls. She also loved decorating the doll with the included stickers. My daughter did struggle with the hair extensions and hair clips. She had trouble making them stay in place, but all she needs is a little practice.

I think this doll is a perfect transition toy for preschoolers who are not quite ready for smaller scale fashion dolls. I would love to see a doll like this come with one or two additional outfits or perhaps have them available to be purchased separately.

To view the full line of Strawberry Shortcake toys, visit Hasbro.com and HasbroToyShop.com .

Thank you to Hasbro for sending us a complimentary sample product to base this review upon.

Review: My Little Pony Family Convertible

Having spent almost all her time with two brothers, my 3yr old daughter is no strangers to cars. Aside from one or two die cast cars, she really does not have any cars to call her own . . . until now.

The My Little Pony Family Convertible is so cool that my two sons were dying to have a turn at playing with it. After all, none of their cars come with a car seat. Nor are they decorated with fun balloons and streamers. Luckily, my daughter is a good sharer. And lucky for me, this toy is battery-free. Otherwise we would be going through batteries quickly with three children constantly taking turns playing with this car.

This playset comes with a convertible that has working wheels and a passenger side door that opens. It also includes Mom and Pinky Pie figures, a removable car seat, a to-go mug, a bag of groceries, and a lunchbox/snack bag (which I think could double as a brief case). The last three accessories clip onto the Mom pony's legs. This toy definitely is geared towards the theme of a busy on-the-go mom.

One thing that could be improved about this toy is that the car seat and the Pinkie Pie figure both need to be snapped into place. The way it is designed, those pieces need a lot of precision to be able to connect. Even as an adult, it was not something I could do quickly. I would love to see these pieces be more kid-friendly as far as snapping them into place.

I think my daughter's favorite part about this toy is being able to role play as a mommy and a baby. She also enjoys bringing her other My Little Pony figures into these scenarios she comes up with in her head.

For a limited time, you can look for the My Little Pony Family Convertible containing a 20-minute My Little Pony DVD inside the box. You can find this toy on HasbroToyShop.com and at most major retailers of Hasbro's My Little Pony toys.

Thank you to Hasbro for sending us a sample toy free of charge to base this review upon.

Rainbow Brite Comes to Target, Toys R Us, and Your PC

One of the most well-known pop icons for young girls of the 80's, Rainbow Brite is making a comeback with a new updated look. To start, these three modern-looking dolls and the coordinating horses are already available at most Target stores. They will also be making their appearance at Toys R Us soon.

Meet Moonglow, Rainbow Brite, and Tickled Pink . . .

And Shimmer, Starlite, and Sunriser . . .

We wouldn't be able to call Rainbow Brite "modern" if she did not come with her own website. RainbowBrite.com offers free online games and activities suitable for young children. Our 3yr old daughter was enthralled by the colorful and magical website. I thought using a sparkling wand for a cursor was a nice touch. Our daughter is a little young to use the website on her own, but luckily her 6yr old brother also found the games and activities to be enjoyable. Some of the activities include, customizable color posters, jigsaw puzzles, the Rainbow Rescue game, and much more. Both my 3yr old daughter and 6yr old son declared their favorite activity was the customizable print and color pages. This activity allowed them to drag and drop elements onto a coloring page, change the backgrounds, and then print the pages out to color themselves.

The Rainbow Rescue game was just the right difficulty level for a 6 or 7 year old. It is something that is challenging enough so that a child will need to make several attempts to get past a level. I thought it was fun for adults as well.

To enjoy these free games and activities or to take a closer look at the new Rainbow Brite toy collection, visit RainbowBrite.com .

Thank you to MomSelect for sending us sample game CDs free of charge to base this review upon and to share with our friends and family.