With Christmas upon us, it’s the stated mission of many parents to find their young offspring a gift that is fun and educational, and will hold their interest beyond Boxing Day.

With Christmas upon us, it’s the stated mission of many parents to find their young offspring a gift that is fun and educational, and will hold their interest beyond Boxing Day.

Enter the iTeddy, an interactive teddy bear with a computer in its belly. This curious mixture of innocent bear and cyborg is described as an educational toy designed to help pre-school children learn as they play. Parents can download cartoons, stories and online tutorials for basic computer skills from the iTeddy website.

The inventor, Imran Hakim, secured £140,000 from Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis when he showcased the iTeddy on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den. He says he came up with the idea of bringing the traditional teddy into the 21st century after playing with his young niece.

With a detachable media player on which you can watch cartoons and videos, view
and store photos and play bedtime stories, music and games, the iTeddy retails at £39.99.