WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD - We normally save all our toy reviews for the end of the year, but we are making an exception because: one, this is not a toy; it is so much more; and two, Harry Potter is for life, not just for Christmas.

Like many people I can remember getting my stabiliser removed off my first bike, I felt like I was such a grown up setting out for the first time on wheels, shortly after I was covered in plasters and iodine. The problem with stabilisers is they fail to teach you the art of balance and subtle leaning needed to master a bike, to ease children into the world of cycling a balance bike is a good place to start.

The Drone craze has been and gone, and there is no fear of receiving one of those cheap and impossible to control little buzzy bots in our stockings this year, what has been left is a variety of decent drones for the people might have the dedication to take the drone out more than once and learn how to control it properly. If you are looking to try your hand at aerial video and photography but still can’t bring yourself to stump up the cash for a top of the range model that you might instantly lose on its maiden flight, then the Zoopa Q900 Phoenix might be

Meet Botley, this super cute little robot is the perfect way to introduce children (aimed at ages 5-9) to coding without becoming another reason for them to be glued to a screen for hours. This small but clever toy encourages STEM learning with a fun and hands on approach.

One of the latest additions to the Sphero family is Spider-Man - with his animated LCD eyes, he is expressive and a little cheeky. Like all the best superheroes, he is Bluetooth enabled, with a 30m range. Together you can go on missions and fight crime!

With so many young faces glued to various devices you may despair at the thought of what maybe happening to their minds, however there is so much potential to inspire creativity and curiosity with this modern world, the Kano Computer Kit Complete allows children from the age of 6 to build their own laptop and learn to code. The Kano is powered by Raspberry Pi 3 and Kano OS and comes with all the apps and programs you need, including a DIY Speaker, a 3,000 mAh lithium battery, four USB ports, keyboard with 15m wireless radio frequency and 40h battery life,

Sometimes the oldies are the best, I remember making bottle rockets in our back garden and the anticipation of either it zipping up over the neighbours fence or it falling over in a with an anticlimactic flop. The Air Hogs Sonic Rocket combines a classic toy with modern technology by providing a motorised boost that can propel the rocket up to 200 ft in the air. Ready to go straight out of the box, the rocket features a rotating countdown.

Anything that encourages youngsters to get moving is a great idea, the Soundmoovz are an interesting product that combines movement and sound to which lets your dance moves create the music rather than the letting the beat inspire your movement. The Soundmoovz are motion activated musical bands that can be worn on your wrists, ankles or shoelaces and work alongside an app via Bluetooth, the sound comes from your phone or smart device not the bands themselves. The In the App are 400 pre-set sounds to choose from, create; beats, rhythms, music and more.

When I was in school, my friend and I were separated for Food Technology class (yes, I took this class and I still can’t boil an egg), we took the class at different times but sat at the same desk, so we used to take it in turns to leave insults for each other in the desk. The Straight Up Chess is sort of like that, but also nothing like that at all. This is a pretty unique chess set, it isn’t square, it is very big, oh and did I mention it hangs on the wall?! It comes with a ‘last move’ marker which means you will always know whose turn it is.

We are big fans of the Nerf products in the Gadgethead office, a refusal to make the coffee’s will quickly degrade into an all-out, foam version of The Hunger Games. I have been informed however that children also enjoy Nerf toys. The Nerf Modulus Regulator is suitable for ages 8 and up, this fully motorised blaster with a choice of three firing modes, single-fire one dart per trigger pull, blast several darts per trigger pull, or just continuously fire the darts.