The interactive steering wheel is made for older children, but its animal noises captivated Christian. Press a button on the wheel and farm animals light up on the panel. The farm noises, though, will make the most patient driver go spare.

Wonder Wheel, £20 at Jojo maman bébé (0870 1608820, www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk).

Time travel

Take all those counting and spotting car games and add this plastic stopwatch to make them more fun. The accompanying booklet has lots of fun suggestions — how long can you suck a sweet? How many football teams can you name in a minute?
David: “This was cool. But it was a bit difficult to work the watch.”

Special price of £2 from the Green Board Games Co (01494 538999, www.greenboardgames.com).

Snap happy

Snap never loses its appeal, and this educational version, with simple words in Spanish, French, Italian and English, is ideal for holidays.
Charlotte: “This was too hard. It needs pictures on the cards to help out.”

£3.99 from the Green Board Games Company (details as before).

Quiz masters

The Quizmo is a great-value electronic quizmaster that looks like a TV remote control and holds the answer to every question in the IntelliQuest quiz books, from the standard Planet Earth to the wacky Dangerous and Dastardly Animals.
Andrew: “This was my favourite. It’s easy to work and I can play it on my own or with the others.”

Quizmo, £7, IntelliQuest books, £5.99, through Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk).

Picture this

Picdoku is a different take on the numbers game Su Doku, but using animals and shapes. Magnetic tokens and cards make this game particularly travel friendly.
Charlotte: “I like Su Doku, but doing it with pictures is much more fun and doesn’t seem as hard. I really liked it.”

£15 from the Happy Puzzle Company (0870 8738989, www.happypuzzle.co.uk).

Testing panel: Charlotte, 10, Andrew, 9, David, 6, and Christian, 8 months.

Easy riders

Spy a motorbike, ambulance or red bus, then pop the corresponding piece into the bag until you collect all ten transport options. Each piece has Velcro on the back, but if you want to arrange them fuzzy-felt style on a playmat, you need to supply your own.
David: “I think younger children would like this. I’m a bit old for it.”

£12.99 from Urchin (0870 1126006, www.urchin.co.uk).

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