Smart-e-Bear: Smarter Than The Average Bear

Smart-e-Bear ($60) is a high-tech teddy bear (or dog…or cat…) that’s sort of like a Teddy Ruxpin for 2009. It’s a soft, huggable, high-quality plush animal who comes alive. It comes with dozens of songs, games and stories and a USB cable that makes downloading easy. It has its own service that works much like iTunes. You control what it sings by making your own playlists and downloading new and exciting content. Games like “Simon Says” are easy to play when Smart-E-Bear says, “Squeeze my hand for yes! Squeeze my foot for no!” He can even call your child by name. Educational games and stories can be purchased in English, Spanish, French or Chinese for $.99 and the Smart-e software offers a couple of free games, too.

Smart-e-Bear’s cartoony voice is annoying to me but my 3 1/2-year-old son Finn loves him. The music, games and stories are performed by several different artists and are really good. I found them really enjoyable and Finn dances around the room when the music plays. But note that Smart-E-Bear doesn’t move around. He’s more like a squishy, friendly iPod for kids.

We know that $60 is a lot for a stuffed animal, but this one comes with hours and hours of interesting content and countless more hours of fun can be downloaded. The service even offers gift cards in several denominations, which could be a huge relief for grandparents who struggle with what to buy the little ones, especially when a new baby arrives!

– Kristen