A recent a survey by The Intelligence Group revealed an interesting insight about the youth of America: two-thirds of children age 7 to 13 covet gadgets over all else. That's some 46 million kids who want tech, not toys. (And - surprise! - likely topping their wish lists are Apple devices, according to Nielsen stats.)
That's right, play time is all about connectivity and computing for America's progeny, which some call "Generation Z" - the cohort born after 2000 who've never even seen a phone with a cord or played music that wasn't digital. The study even revealed 25 percent of kids want a say in product development of the gadgets they play with.
That's not to say we're looking at a generation of great computing minds necessarily, just a generation of great tech consumers. So we got to thinking, what well-built and inexpensive but extremely useful electronics could we find to stimulate young minds and coax our budding geeks into the digital age?
This list represents some of the best products you can buy today that will galvanize girls and boys to dive into the worlds of computing and tech. Tablets designed for little children lead them to want powerful laptops later. Fun digital cameras can train an army of future photographers. Learning PCs like Raspberry Pi will hopefully inspire bambinos to build their own tech. And don't forget to mix in some fun to hold kids' attention - in these cases it's in the form of robots and iPhone-powered laser tag guns.
We've included all that and more in this haul of gadgets designed to stimulate your burgeoning technophile's brain. Be sure to let us know what gets your own child psyched about computing and check out 11 Tech Gadgets for Babies if he or she is too tiny for this tech.
1. Raspberry Pi
Price: US$25 to US$60, depending on configuration.
Our review lauds Raspberry Pi as an outstanding platform for the small-scale systems or other projects of your dreams. If you can get one in the United States, the Raspberry Pi proto-computer provides an outstanding educational opportunity. Read our four-star review.
2. LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer
Price: US$100
For youngsters aged four to nine, our favourite tablet with solid learning tools is LeapFrog's LeapPad Explorer. It encourages learning in addition to the fun stuff - gaming and media consumption. It is inexpensive and rugged, has 4GB of memory, a camera to record video and stills, and plenty of applets for download. Read our Editors' Choice review.
3. Spark Nano 3.0 GPS Tracker
Price: US$169.95
Introduce your kids to the world of GPS and give yourself some peace of mind with BrickHouse Security's Spark Nano. It's a phone-sized device you can put in their backpack and use to keep an eye on their location with your smartphone or laptop. The tracker runs for about three days without a charge, or more if you only check it once in a while. Service to track it is US$30 a month.
4. Samsung Chromebook Series 3
Price: US$249.99
If you worry about your little terrors destroying an expensive laptop, consider Samsung's Chromebook (model XE303C12). It's priced like a high-end smartphone and comes with the full power of the Internet. Because it uses ChromeOS it's limited; it only works with the built-in Chrome browser and accessible Web apps. It's a cheap, portable way to get kids online with nothing in the way.
5. Sony PlayStation Vita
Price: US$250 for Wi-Fi version; US$300 for 3G/Wi-Fi combo.
Sony's latest handheld game system, the PlayStation Vita is the best to date, with powerful graphics and dual-analogue sticks. It even eclipses the PlayStation 2 console in terms of power and comes close to the full capabilities of a PS3. It'll definitely keep your kid occupied.
6. Fujifilm Instax MINI 25 Instant Film Camera
Price: US$83.95; US$12 for 20 sheets of instant film.
The Polaroid camera is pretty much dead, but some of us will remember long-lost childhood days of eagerly waiting for that "instant" photo to appear. Fujifilm's Instax Mini 25 brings that fun back for today's kids by creating images the size of a credit card. That's right, it isn't digital, but developing photogs will appreciate the tactile output.
7. Vtech Kidizoom Camera
Price: US$40
When your little darling is ready to graduate to a full-fledged digital photographer, the 1.3-megapixel with 4x digital zoom Kidizoom from Vtech is a solid choice. It's rugged enough to endure drops, can record video or 1,000 shots on 128MB of internal memory or SD cards, and comes in blue, pink, and orange. It even has built-in games that incorporate photos.
8. Kidz Gear Volume Limited Headphones
Price: US$20
A good set of headphones is a must for music-loving kids (and fit better than ear buds made for adult auditory canals). Kidz Gear's wired headphones come in multiple colours and most reassuringly, feature a KidzControl Volume limiter so they'll never hear anything at higher than 80 percent of the original maximum volume. They also fold flat for transport.
9. Hasbro Lazer Tag
Price: US$40
The best way to usher your cub into the wider world of technology is to show him or her how fun it can be. And for fun, few things beat laser tag (or officially, Hasbro's Lazer Tag). The latest version features a blaster gun that incorporates an iPhone or iPod touch and free iOS app to handle scoring and other features, including a single-player mode that uses augmented reality.
10. littleBits Starter Kit
Price: US$89
If your kids aren't yet ready for robots or the Raspberry Pi, littleBits is a good alternative. The company calls the toys "open source electronic modules" and they're great for learning how to prototype a little electronic design. The bits snap together with magnets so you never get a circuit that doesn't work. The starter kit includes a 9-volt battery and connector to power your future devices; US$150 extender kits and individual bits are available for special projects.
11. Fuhu Nabi 2 Tablet
Price: US$200
The Fuhu Nabi 2 is not only a great kid-friendly tablet; it's a solid Android tablet in its own right. It's powered by a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and has plenty of content to keep kids happy - it's really the equivalent of an Amazon Fire HD with a big red safety bumper.
12. LEGO Mindstorms
Price: US$350 for EV3
Still the cutting edge of robot-building for today's youths, Mindstorms NXT 2.0 contains 619 pieces, including a colour-detecting sensor and the NXT computer-controlled Lego brick brain for the bot. Build a Robogator, Shooter Bot, the Alpha Rex humanoid bot, and more. All are controlled with various programming languages, an open invitation for your kids to learn programming. This kit has been around since 2009, but luckily the next step in Lego robot evolution, Mindstorms EV3, will be out in the fall of 2013 with new sensors, motors, and a remote control. You can even control your EV3 bots with a smartphone app.
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