"toys" news and stories

Want your kids to crave vegetables? Maybe the veggies need to be shaped like robots or race cars.

Or so goes the thinking of Oklahoma man Lee Bayless. His latest invention, Veggie Bots, is a set of tools that turns vegetables like carrots, celery, cukes and radishes into building blocks, The Oklahoman reported.

If you can get a kid interested in vegetables and healthy eating, Bayless believes, maybe, just maybe, childhood-obesity rates will drop. "I think we have the right product at the right time," he told the paper.

Does anyone remember McDonald's coming out with some Happy Meal toys last year that were "American Idol" inspired? Apparently the toys were meant to represent musical genres, with named like Disco Dave and Rockin' Riley. I don't, but Devo was certainly aware of it.

According to Rolling Stone's music blog, Rock and Roll Daily, the 80's new wave band is suing the fast food giant because one of the toys, New Wave Nigel, is looks incredibly similar to what the band looked like in the early 1980's right down to the red hat. That wouldn't be a problem, except Devo had the hat, called the energy dome, copyrighted and trade marked.

According to Devo, they were never approached by McDonald's, and they are quite upset about it. I can't wait to hear about what happens next.

Strawberry Shortcake, the artificial strawberry-scented ragamuffin of my 80s girlhood, has gotten a makeover. The new Strawberry Shortcake loses the bloomer in favor of mini skirts or strawberry print capris for a look that's less Raggedy Ann, more a less risque Bratz doll. She even packs a cellphone.

But most importantly, the new Strawberry Shortcake and Friends focuses on fruit, not dessert. Old Strawberry Shortcake lived in a shortcake. Now she lives in a strawberry. Owner American Greetings Properties says they're "downplaying" characters that don't stick to the fruit theme as well. What's going to happen to Angel Cake, Ginger Snap and Banana Candy? Is this like the time they Sesame Street decided to make Cookie Monster say "cookies are a sometimes food?" Guess nobody wants to be caught getting kids hooked on sweets in the middle of an obesity crisis.

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Legos are an icon of childhood for most of us, whether you were the one building elaborated fantasy worlds or your children are/were. Like just about every other product you can think of, Lego seizes just about any opportunity for merchandising that it sees and has moved out of the playroom and into the kitchen. Earlier this year, we saw some Lego Eggos, but now the company is offering us real kitchen gear, like ice cube trays shaped like Legos and salt and pepper shakers shaped - somewhat disturbingly - as Lego-men heads. They also have a Lego Apron, which is not made of Legos, but features the classic body of a Lego person on it, a set of Lego coasters and Lego corkscrews for opening wine (probably not something you want your kids to see in case they mistake them for toys).

All this Lego gear is a lot of fun to have around and definitely gives a new twist to playing with your food. The only way that this stuff could be more fun is if the ice cubes were stackable, though it should only take a little water to get them to stick together long enough to build a small tower. You'll need more than one tray for a fort.

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I don't have any kids of my own, and my brand new niece is a little too young to be joining me in the kitchen when I'm making lunch, but when there are kids around who are old enough to hang out in the kitchen, I'd love to get them this six-piece of set of cookware from Ikea made especially for them. I don't know how functional they truly are, since Ikea's website says that they must be handwashed and are not oven-safe, but at the very least, they're better than the candy colored plastic ones that really do look like toys, and you'll save your own pots and pans from getting dented, dropped, and all around banged up.

The set is available from Ikea for $9.99

[via: Megnut]