What kind of cop does it take to stand up to crime and corruption in the distant future of Detroit? Well if you said a “Robo Cop” you’d almost be right.

Enter Robert Cop!

As the United States began to enter into the Space Age, Science Fiction sparked the imaginations of children around the country. Lasers, rocket ships, and all sorts of new technology seemed to be just around the corner.

Every kid wanted to be a space ranger of some sort, fighting off aliens, or Nazis, or Nazi aliens. And what better way to fight them off than with your very own ray gun like the Space Jet? Of course, the Space Jet didn’t shoot a beam of protons; it shot sparks. Sparks that could catch the couch on fire and burn down your house.

We all remember playing with Hula Hoops™ as children. But now, “Hooping”, as it is called, is back in style and not just for kids! It’s fast becoming a mix of dance, exercise, and performance art. Here’s a video from a series on how to “hoop” right. Break out your own hoops and give it a go!

Parents are finding it harder than ever to entertain their kids as another snow storm sweeps the nation this winter season. Yes, there’s of course the endless amounts of video games, movies and virtual online worlds; however, whatever happened to some good ‘ole fun? Maybe board games are too “old-fashioned” for your kids, but what about getting a little creative with puppet theater? Puppets allow your children to be interactive and take on various theatrical roles, such as actor, director or even playwright. Alex Toys manufacturers several character puppets for your kids to bring to life. You can also buy fairly inexpensive puppet theaters for just $25 (like the one above) at Arsa Toys. As the bad weather continues, think about getting your kids off the couch, and help them get creative with puppets.

Arsa Toys, one of the toy stores that sponsors the Toy Geek blog, recently joined Facebook. Follow them, and get the latest Arsa Toys updates on sales, new items and more. Not only that, you can get exclusive discount offers and promotional codes.

Arsa Toys recently added Kidorable ’s line of children’s rain gear. I wanted to highlight some of the cute pieces they have for both girls and boys, especially as we get closer to the rainy season. Of course, those lucky people out there that live in warmer climates are already facing a lot of rain right now, so this is for them too.

Kidorable manufactures rain coats, rain boots and umbrellas to fit any kid’s wildest imagination. Whether your little tike likes mermaids, ladybugs, dinosaurs or frogs, they can step into their fantasy-world on even the dreariest day. For instance, check out this Kidorable mermaid rain coat with fins (for just $34.99), and it comes with a matching painted hanger. Or look at these dinosaur rain boots with a tail on the back (for only $26.49). Both are a great way to make your child’s rainy days that much sunnier.

When I was little, GeoSafari was the “it” toy for educational fun. And from what I remember, Educational Insights (the company that created the GeoSafari brand) was the first company to actually make a computer-esque learning game. Or at least the first ones to do it successfully. Now, there are all kinds of educational toys and brands out there to make sure your child is learning and having fun at the same time. However, that certainly wasn’t always the case.

Growing up, I owned a GeoSafari that had all of the different cards with maps on them. Of course, mine was straight out of the eighties with its bulky design that stood up so the card would continually fall off while I played it. Now, the GeoSafari devices have an easy-to-carry, laptop design with 63 two-sided cards and over 2,000 questions. I think mine had about 5 to 10 two-sided cards, in comparison. What amazes me more is that GeoSafari has created hundreds of other educational games, like a talking globe, a talking microscope and a fossil collection. You can find all of them at Arsa Toys, but I’m still partial to the original map or atlas GeoSafari game. It was educational, but my brother and I would still fight over it like kids do for the Nintendo controller now. Ahh … to be a kid of the eighties!