Lite Sprites - Hot Toy for 2011 - Review & Giveaway

Don't you wish you knew which toys were going to be the HOT toys at Christmastime, so you could run out and buy them now instead of chasing from store to store in a mad dash only to find that they're all sold out?

If you have a young elementary aged girl in your life, then Lite Sprites just might be one of those Hot Toys. We were fortunate to be able to try out Lite Sprites before they hit stores (they are in stores now) and of course before the holiday bustle.

My kids are 5 and 7. Guess what they thought when they opened the box and found multi-colored "fairy" girls, little pets, and a wand!?!

There were squeals, a lot of jumping, and some fighting over who would play with what first. Lite Sprites come with their own world. You can buy the tree of life - which is  basically the home base of all activity. Lite Sprites and pets can hang from the canopy, climb the stairs, walk the path and play around the tree just like a playhouse.

There are 5 different Lite Sprites. Each one interacts with the wand and tree. They all do about the same thing except some of the girls can do different magic spells. We found this part a little tricky. My kids really liked the wand the best. Then the tree of life. Then the little pets. Then the girls.

The wand was the hands down favorite because of it's versatility and because it does most of the action. The wand comes with suggested color games and ways to play with it. My kids loved to collect colors from different objects in the house and transfer those colors to the lite sprites and the tree house.

I have to be honest when I say that I think they really liked the fact that the wand made noises and talked. It would say "too dark" if they chose a dark color and they thought that was fantastic.

I would hear the wand noises in their rooms at night and early in the morning. They traded the pets back and forth and loved to make them swing on the canopy. I called the pets "ants on a log". Maybe you can see why.

So I bet you're wondering if this toy set got "old" right away. Playing with it "the right way" got old after a few days. But they have kept playing with it in all sorts of ways. They trade the pets and have added the lite sprite tree to the "backyard" of the doll house. They all sort of interact together. 

Every once in awhile, I hear my kids play with the wand and collect colors. But they don't change the colors on the girls as often as they did when it was first new. The wand has been seen in wizard fights and attempting to change dinosaurs different colors.

Like all toys, kids will play with them in all sorts of ways. And to keep them fresh, I recommend putting them away every few weeks. Then take them back out and let them be new again. When I put these away and take them back out, I'm sure they'll start changing colors again.

Want to see how you're supposed to play with Lite Sprites? Check out this video:

Want a chance to bring the Lite Sprites to your home?  WowWee toys is generously offering one Suburban Jungle reader a whole set of Lite Sprite toys.

What will you win:

• 1 Lite Wand and Prisma Sprite set
• 1 Assorted Sprite
• Lite Pets
• & 1 other playset!

This is enough to get the little girl in your life started on her own lite sprite adventure.

To Enter: Watch the demo video above and tell me what you think about it in the comments below.

Extra Entries: 

• Follow @litesprites on Twitter for 1 Extra Entry - leave an extra comment below
• Like Lite Sprites on Facebook for 1 Extra Entry
• Follow @suburbanjung on Twitter for 1 Extra Entry
• Follow The Suburban Jungle on Google Friend connect publicly for 1 extra entry
• Share this contest on twitter, facebook or your blog for 2 extra entries (2 extra for each way you share)

*This contest will end on September 9, 2011 at 9:00 PM EST and is open to US residents only. The winner will be selected by random.org and notified by email. WowWee toys provided the review products and giveaway prizes. No compensation was received and all opinions expressed are my own.