star wars lightsaber academy
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The best tech toys and STEM kits
There once was a time when a toy section of the Engadget gift guide would have been a hodge-podge of toys that happened to take batteries, light up and make enough noise to annoy even the most patient of parents. (Yes, that means we probably would have been into the Hess truck.) But times have changed and now that everything is smart -- baby onesies, diapers -- our standards are higher. When it came time to curating our annual holiday toy list, the bar wasn't: Is this electronic? It's now: Is this thing fun? And most importantly, will this thing still be engaging after a kid has played with it for five minutes? We've had the better part of the year to answer this question. Some of the biggest toy makers have been teasing their wares since Toy Fair back in February. Since then, we've been keeping a running list of the things so clever, we might have wanted them ourselves if we were still school-age. From a lightsaber with built-in coaching to app-connected Hot Wheels, we homed in on the toys that don't just throw in tech for tech's sake, but that are actually better because of all the sensors inside.
Hasbro's Bluetooth lightsaber lets kids train to become a Jedi
Hasbro has a new toy for the future Jedi in your life. The Star Wars Lightsaber Academy is a suped-up version of the standard lightsaber that comes with its own training exercises and activities built in, according to The Verge. The toy connected to a smartphone app via Bluetooth to provide Jedis-in-training with interactive challenges that teach them to fight like their favorite Star Wars characters.
