All mySimon Kids and Family Shopping Picks

If your kids liked the Wall-E movie, they will love the Ultimate Wall-E robot. Designed for children ages 8 and up, the robot stands 16" tall and uses 10 motors and 2 microprocessors to play music, dance, talk to you, follow you around, explore, and more, all using the programmable remote control. If it also ran errands and washed dishes, we'd buy one in a heartbeat.

What's hot for kids this holiday season and doesn't cost much money? One word: Bakugan (pronounced "bah-koo-gahn"). Bakugan is an anime series on the Cartoon Network, and the toys are the hottest things since Pokemon. Our friends' 9 year-old son and 6 year-old daughter are obsessed with them. Each toy is the size of a golf ball or large marble when closed. Inside is a magnet, so when you touch the Bakugan to metal,... more

Last week, our coworkers' parents (both of whom are reserved, academic types) were awakened at 4am by a flying squirrel in their bedroom. The mental image of them trying to rid their house of a flying squirrel had us laughing all day. (They eventually trapped it in a bathroom and had someone come rescue it.) So, for Christmas, our coworker is giving her parents this flying squirrel plush toy. It just arrived today. It's... more

What's even better than a 1980s Homecoming Queen costume for Halloween? Prom Date Ken. The costume comes with a powder blue tuxedo jacket (the pocket square has "Ken" printed on it), matching cummerbund, white ruffle dickie with attached bowtie, Ken doll arm tag, and - the best part - a yellow plastic wig. Get your wife/girlfriend to dress up as Barbie (or else tell other people at the party that you're looking for her)... more

You know, as far as political masks go, this one of John McCain isn't half bad (compared to the Palin one, which looks like it bypassed the QA department entirely). Sometimes these masks are so bad you can't even tell who they're supposed to be. Anyway, if you're looking for the easiest, cheapest way out of a Halloween costume this year, you can go with a political mask (we've also got more

We knew it wouldn't take long for them to make Sarah Palin products. For $35 you can order this life-sized poster of Sarah Palin dressed in a republican-red suit. We're guessing it's a bit larger than life, since it's nearly 6 feet tall. (How tall is the governor, anyway?). Mounted on heavy cardboard, you can either hang her on a wall or a door, or use the easel to display her in the middle... more

I can haz magnetz? If you like LOLCats, now you can create your own with LOLMagnetz. Each kit comes with 384 LOLWord fridge magnets, so you can make your own LOLCats at home. You'll have to provide your own cat photos, of course. Also included is an LOLSpeak instruction manual, in case you need to brush up on your skillz. Also funny: Jezebel's LOLVogue posts.

How do you carry your lunch to work/school? Leaky Tupperware containers? Multi-knotted Safeway bags? Make leftovers/soggy tuna sandwiches more fun with a lunch tote from Lands' End. There are several plain adult totes that look pretty useful, but our favorite is the kiddie "character" lunch tote, shown here in "dog" but also available in "horse," "ballet slippers," and "polar bear." The totes are insulated to keep food fresh for hours; have enough room for... more

Hey Heroes fans, did you know Mezco makes Heroes action figures? The first series includes 7" articulated versions of Hiro Nakamura, Peter Petrelli, Claire Bennett, Sylar, and Mohinder Suresh, all with plot-appropriate accessories (Claire comes with an alternate damaged head and alternate damaged arm). If the show continues to win Emmy awards, we're thinking these figures could be worth something someday. Then again, we thought the same thing about our Spice Girls action figures... more

We just found out about this Barack Obama action figure. It doesn't talk, but it does have 8 points of articulation so you can "pose him presidentially." We'd like to see a companion Michelle Obama figure, so we could pose them together doing the "terrorist fist jab." (Speaking of which, check out the latest New Yorker cover.) If you're a McCain supporter, sit tight: The McCain action figure hits stores next month.

As seen in Parenting magazine: Polliwalks, a new line of shoes for kids. They're kind of like Crocs, only more fun, because they come in 4 different animal designs: Ducks (shown here), alligators, frogs, and ladybugs. And on the bottoms the shoes are patterns intended to look like the footprints of those ducks, alligators, frogs, and ladybugs. We imagine these are great fun on the beach. Polliwalks have built-in arch supports and deep heel... more

We saw this Vespa ride-on toy last weekend at the Conran store in New York. If the weight limit wasn't 75 pounds we would have ridden it around the store. The scooter looks exactly like a modern Vespa, complete with rear storage box and glove box, and it goes up to 5mph, thanks to the rechargeable 12-volt battery and foot pedal accelerator. It runs on dirt, grass, sidewalks, and maybe even wall-to-wall carpet. And... more

Check out the latest LeapFrog invention: The LeapFrog Tag. Designed for kids ages 4-8, the Tag is a touch-and-talk learning toy that develops kids' reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, word recognition, and other important skills. That thing that looks like a pen is part camera and part speaker. Not sure what that word is? Touch the word and the "pen" will tell you. The Tag ships next week but is available for preorder now. There... more

Frankly we're more excited about this Indiana Jones Mr. Potato Head than we are about the new movie. The Taters of the Lost Ark toy comes with a jacket, whip, hat, teeth, and other accessories. Press his hat once to hear a short segment of the Indiana Jones theme song, or hold it down to hear the whole song. And when you get tired of that, watch the first 3 Indiana Jones movies... more

A super dad should have a Superman stapler to remind him while working just how awesome his kids think he is. Granted, the target audience for this product is probably grade school kids, but we've got Father's Day on the brain and not a whole lot in the bank. And unlike a Superman action figure, this stapler is actually useful.