Kids used to be happy with a soft toy which just sat on the bed and looked cute. No longer! Today’s cuddly toys are expected to sing, dance, and make noises. Happily, Let’s Rock Elmo ticks the boxes on all counts.

Based on the Sesame Street character, and produced by Hasbro, Let’s Rock Elmo brings the popular red monster from the kids’ TV show brilliantly to life.

Sporting a cool rock-style T-shirt, Elmo loves nothing more than performing and rocking out with youngsters He sings into a microphone, plays his drums, shakes a tambourine and generally gets on down to a series of six tunes from Sesame Street. This clever monster instantly recognises whichever instrument you give him.

Cute, cuddly and loveable though he is, Elmo doesn’t have to hog all the limelight! His instruments are well-suited to tiny hands, and he can sing along while children are bashing out their favourite tunes on the drum or tambourine.

Let’s Rock Elmo can also interact with other Let’s Rock instruments, such as the guitar or keyboard, which are available to buy separately.

Priced at around £70, this toy takes six AA batteries, which are supplied. It will give children aged 18 months or older hours of entertainment. Drum set, tambourine and mic are all included.

A new product for 2011, Let’s Rock Elmo has been billed by major toy retailer Hamleys as one of their top toy picks for this Christmas. With demand set to be high, you’ll need to buy early.

Mickey Mouse has been a part of kids’ childhoods for generations, and now Fisher Price’s Dance Star Mickey by Mattel presents this enduring, adorable character in a fresh way – as the latest dance sensation!

This mouse comes vividly to life with just one press of his left foot. Watch Mickey walk and dance his way into youngsters’ hearts – he can even talk and Moonwalk!

See him groove to Latin and techno tunes – he’ll shimmy to six different songs and has two interactive games to provide endless hours of entertainment. One game is Mickey Says, the other Freeze Dance – you have to stop dance quickly when you are told to. Press Dance Star Mickey’s left hand to swap between the two games.

The technology in this toy means Mickey can sing, dance and clap along as never before. Thanks to the rollers on his feet, he can move backwards or forwards, twist and turn.

Kids will love the songs in Mickey’s repertoire, including the Moondance, Mabmbo, Techno, Shake Your Groove Thing, Get Up Offa That Thing and ‘M’ to the :I’.

As well as being great fun, and very soft and cuddly, Dance Star Mickey gets kids active through dancing. This will help develop their balance, co-ordination and social skills, and their memory skills as they sing along.

Dance Star Mickey, who stands at about 2ft tall, is suitable for children aged two or older, but should only be played with under adult supervision. He takes six AA batteries, and these come included.

Priced at around £60, Dance Star Mickey will have everyone singing, moving and laughing. But as one of 2011’s newest and most hotly anticipated new toys, he’s also set to dance off the shelves! Grab this engaging dance partner while you still can.

The Cookie Monster is ravenous ….So feed him plastic cookies and watch him gobble them up! But there’s a twist with this creature, developed by Hasbro and only released through Playskool this summer – he counts up to three as he scoffs each biscuit!

When he’s done, fetch the cookies from the little red rucksack on his back and begin the fun all over again.

Based on the character from Sesame Street, the show famous for teaching kids to learn while enjoying themselves, Count ’n’ Crunch Cookie Monster is also very ticklish. Press his foot repeatedly and you’ll make him squirm and chuckle. It would be hard to imagine a more fun way of learning basic counting.

With his plush blue fur and bug eyes, young children will love Cookie Monster, who comes with three cookies. Four AA batteries are also included with this toy.

As well as numbers, the Count ’n’ Crunch Cookie Monster is also aimed at improving a range of skills. These include a child’s motor skills, emotional and social development, speech and language, hand to eye co-ordination, creativity, sound awareness and visual and physical development.

Priced at just £30, this toy is suitable for little monsters aged 18 months and older, and should be enjoyed with adult supervision. Colours and styles may vary, but the toy is 28cms high, 15cms deep and 31cms wide.

Count ’n’ Crunch Cookie Monster is all new for 2011, and he’s likely to be gobbled up quickly! Buy early to avoid disappointment.

Your assistance is urgently required to save the Dragon Sword of Fire from the deadly clutches of the Skeleton Army! Sensei Wu, Zane and Nya all need you to help stop Lord Garmadon and his lethal army from grabbing this ultimate Spinjitzu weapon.

The LEGO Ninjago Fire Temple is set number 2507 and comes complete with more than 1100 pieces. Split it in half to enjoy play inside the building and release the fully poseable Fire Dragon! He can then safeguard the sword by spitting balls of fire at the villainous Lord Garmadon.

The LEGO Ninjago Fire Temple comes with seven mini-figures, including Sensei Wu, Zane, Kai, Nya, Samukai, Kruncha and Lord Garmadon – all of whom can help young imaginations to soar. The Fire Dragon himself is more than 15cms wide, 17cms long and 3cms tall.

A whole arsenal of weapons is also supplied, including a scythe of quakes, nunchucks of lightning, shurikens of ice, the Dragon Sword of Fire, three golden swords and two silver and three black ones, and a couple of daggers – not to mention a spear, a thunderbolt, a bone axe and a staff!

Measuring more than 25cms wide and 27cms tall, the LEGO Ninjago Fire Temple is a highly original building set with painted windows and Japanese-inspired features.

With gorgeous colours on both the fire dragon and the main structure, kids aged eight to 14 will love building the LEGO Ninjago Fire Temple – and it’s straightforward to put together.

New for Christmas 2011 and set to be one of the season’s most sought-after toys, this product is priced at just over £90.

The Octonauts Octopod Playset takes little ones on an exciting journey of discovery into a magical underwater world, where they complete important missions before returning safely home to the Octopod.

The heroes of this team adventure are Captain Barnacles Bear, Lieutenant Kwazil Cat and Medic Peso Penguin, who help teach kids teamwork. Together, they learn more about the world around them.

Compare Prices

If your children love the books and the BBC TV series, they’ll adore the Octonauts Octopod Playset from Mattel. It comes with 10 brightly coloured play pieces, including the figures of Kwazil and Barnacles, three sea creatures and four vital pieces of rescue equipment, including a stretcher, net, barrel and anchor.

Watch Barnacles & Kwazii as they dive into action, rescuing injured sea creatures and taking them back to the Octopod. Slide from the mini-pods to the main deck and launch Barnacles and Kwazii into their sub. Lower the rescue tools to retrieve the sea creatures and bring them back to safety..

There’s also a Mini Gup-A Submarine, and a removable Octo Alert, complete with sounds and phrases, to warn the team when it’s time to set off on their next daredevil assignment.

The Octonauts Octopod Playset takes two LR44 batteries, which come provided with this toy, and your youngsters will need a little grown up help to put it together. This product is affordably priced at around £35.

Suitable for younger children aged three upwards, the Octonauts Octopod Playset is a new release for Christmas 2011, and sure to be in massive demand for young underwater explorers everywhere. Buy one of these playsets now – or you could be in deep trouble!

VTech InnoTab is a multi-media handheld learning device combining educational games, creative activities and e-books in a funky 5” LCD touchscreen gadget in full colour.

There’s also a g-sensor for extra fun and games.

Not only will children have great fun with this toy, but the VTech InnoTab also helps develop key skills in literacy, maths, logic and creativity, thanks to a series of included activities like the e-reader, art studio for drawing fantastic pictures, interactive globe, photo viewer and video player.

As they read, kids watch the words highlight and can touch specific words to hear how they are pronounced. Each e-book has a story dictionary offering easy to understand word definitions.

An integral MP3 player lets kids listen to their favourite songs. Other integrated apps include a calculator, calendar, notepad, clock with personalised voice alarm and friends’ address book.

As if all that isn’t enough, parents can also download extra apps and games from their own computer. And the VTech InnoTab is also compatible with the Kidizoom range of products such as cameras. This toy comes with an InnoTab USB cable.

In fact, it works just like a real tablet device, so it’ll make kids feel all grown-up! There’s one key difference however – because there’s no Internet connection, the VTech InnoTab has to be hooked up with a USB to add apps or send images, meaning that parents are always in control when youngsters go online.

Aimed at children aged between four and 9, this product is not suitable for kids who aged under 36 months. It takes two AA batteries, which do not come supplied with this product, and is priced at around £80.

The VTech InnoTab is so new that it’s been unveiled in the UK this autumn, and it’s set to fly off the shelves this Christmas. You’d be a dunce not to grab one of these fun learning gadgets now!

Interactive toy twin puppies Max and Mitz were massive hits for Animagic. Now Benji, the West Highland terrier, is set to recreate that animal magic all over again.

He may be a toy, but Benji My Best Friend is incredibly life-like, thanks to the sensors on his body which make him full of actions and sounds. With his gorgeously soft white hair, he really can be a best friend who listens to all your deepest secrets.

Benji reacts to show how pleased he is to see his owner. Walk into a room and he will greet you with a friendly bark and a wag of his tail. Tickle Benji’s chin and he will move his head to one side. Watch him waggle his ears and wiggle his eyebrows to tell you what mood he’s in!

And, just like a real pooch, he sits up and lies down when he’s tired. Listen out for a few gentle snores.

But perhaps the most exciting feature of Benji My Best Friend is the favourite game he can’t get enough of – tug of war. With one end of the rope in his mouth, he makes playful growling sounds as you pull back and forth.

The more you play with him, the more playful Benji my Best Friend becomes. In fact, you get everything you would from a real dog, apart from the mess!

This toy takes four C batteries, which come supplied with this product. And it will be a big hit with young misses aged three or older. A brand new product for 2011, Benji My Best Friend is priced at £70. And these kinds of interactive toys tend to be massively sought after, so snap him up now while you still can.

Last year, Flair brought us Toffee the Pony and it was one of Christmas 2010’s runaway bestselling hits. Now the company is following that success with Milky the Bunny, the latest addition to the Emotion Pets collection.

Milky’s adorable charms are hard, if not impossible, to resist. And this cuddly bunny with his gorgeously soft white fur is no ordinary toy. If your little princess has been piling on the pressure for a real rabbit, this long-eared friend really could be the next best thing.

Sensors which are hidden in Milky the Bunny, and clever interactive technology, make him move just like the real-life version. Tickle his feet and they wiggle. He can also blink his gorgeous big brown eyes, and chew happily on his carrot.

Make a loud noise and his ears tremble to show he’s afraid, just like a live bunny’s do. It’s then the owner’s job to stroke and reassure him. And, after a long, hard day’s play, Milky the Bunny will drift gently off to the land of nod, snoring cutely as he does so!

The interactive features change at different times, so his young owner will always see an altering personality and notice a range of different responses.

Best of all, there’s none of the mess, cleaning up or vets’ bills that go with the genuine creature.

Milky the Bunny is set to be a surefire winner with youngsters aged two or older. He takes four AA batteries, which do not come supplied with this product.

Priced at around £60 and all new for Christmas 2011, Milky is quickly becoming the must-have interactive toy for this year.

Looking great at over 50, and still a big hit with young misses everywhere, the appeal of the classic Barbie doll from Mattel is incredibly enduring. And there are always new ways of playing with her!

This year, the Barbie Puppy Water Park is set to be one of the must-have toys for Christmas 2011. The doll comes in a pretty pink two-piece swimming costume, with some very cute accessories including a gorgeous seahorse, little yellow duck and squirt gun for having fun with water games. Your little princess will also have two puppies she’ll adore playing with as part of this playset.

Hours of fun are to be had at the Barbie Puppy Water Park with the bright pink waterslide, working yellow and pink Ferris wheel, and a pool at the bottom for Barbie and her pups to splash around in.

You’ll love the way the Barbie Puppy Water Park is so easy to set up, with its spiral pieces which you just clip on together. The whole thing is topped off with a little pink tower and fetching blue flags.

Push the pooches off down the slide and they’ll glide through a small gateway before dropping into the pool at the bottom, where they can join their mistress for a paddle.

Affordably priced at under £25, the Barbie Puppy Water Park is set to be a splash hit with little ladies aged three and older.

Get this toy for Christmas while you still can!

If your young spy loved the Cars 2 movie, they’ll love the Cars 2 Secret Spy Attack Finn McMissile. A highly eloquent and charming British secret agent, Finn McMissile is no regular spy car.

He’s a highly experienced, international machine of mystery! And he’s fully loaded and ready to do battle. In seconds, he’s transformed and ready for all-out action with top-secret spy weapons and firing missiles and realistic sound effects.

With his sleek and timeless design, Finn McMissile’s arsenal of ultra-cool gadgets and weaponry has him primed for the stickiest situation. Kids will love his missile launcher, front and rear grappling hooks, deployable magnetic explosives and holographic disguise emitter. He’s also ready to make a daredevil escape at any moment.

The Cars 2 Secret Spy Attack Finn McMissile features fund phrases from the film, in which he was voiced by Michael Caine, and youngsters will love recreating scenes from Cars 2 and making up and fulfilling their own spying missions.

When Finn becomes convinced there’s a conspiracy afoot at the World Grand Prix, he’s on a collision course with Mater, who he mistakes for an undercover American agent. In reality, Holley Shiftwell is a beautiful young desk agent, turned trainee spy based in Japan. Her car is available separately.

Priced at just under £25, the Cars 2 Secret Spy Attack Finn McMissile is suitable for young racing spies aged four or older. It takes 3 x LR44 Button Cell batteries, which come supplied with this product.

Brand new for Christmas 2011, Finn is hotly tipped to zoom of the shelves this festive season.