Play-Doh - yes, even Play-Doh - is officially going digital this holiday season. Adam Balkin has that and more in the latest "App Wrap" segment.
Play-Doh Touch
Play-Doh Touch is a kit for creating whatever character you'd like. Stick it on a pedestal, snap a picture of it with your iPad, and it instantly becomes an animated creature or object that you can play with inside the Play-Doh Touch app.
The entire kit, called the Play-Doh Touch Shape to Life Studio, comes with several jars of Play-Doh and tools to stretch, cut and form whatever it is you'd like to create.
Once you scan your "whatever" into the app, there is then a digital world and minigames to explore with your creation. And even if the games and worlds get old quickly, what kids will likely appreciate most - aside from the good old hands-on Play-Doh play - is seeing how the app interprets what it is they make.
The Play-Doh Touch Shape to Life Studio, which is available only through Apple stores, is $40.
Roli's Lightpad Block
Or, to get hands-on with music, there is Roli's Lightpad Block.
Developers say it has 5-D touch, since you can craft music and beats through touches and glides. Plus, it's pressure sensitive and, as you can see, has light-up, colored grids that help you figure out how and where to use it.
The companion music-making app, called NOISE, also allows it to generate a whole host of different sounds.
The Lightpad Block costs $180. The NOISE app is free right now, but just on iOS devices.