I’m always on the hunt for some fun and ultra-cool toys for my 4 sons. With the holidays right around the corner, even more – the hunt is on in full force. I want to find toys that my sons will play with over and over again, not toss aside after one use. I want to find toys that involve imagination and learning and exploring and a cool factor that I know they will love and appreciate.

It’s not always easy to do, but… (OH, YES!) I have found a true gem that you’re going to love for your kids!

Say hello to View-Master.

If you’re thinking right now that you’ve seen something like this before… you have. You’re thinking back to your childhood here – and you’re right, I’m totally bringing you back.

I’ll never forget my mom and dad buying me a View-Master for my 10th birthday, back in 1988. I was obsessed with the movie Annie, so my parents bought me a View-Master, along with Annie discs where I was able to see all different scenes from the movie. I absolutely LOVED it! The best part was that my parents were able to buy additional discs for me (and my sister!) that I could enjoy in my View-Master, too. I always felt like I was from the TV show the Jetson’s with my View-Master! It was so cool and so different and so unique. It was a conversation piece kinda toy… it made me laugh and smile and share what I was seeing through the lens with family and friends.

Well… fast forward to present day and the ultra cool View-Master Virtual Reality!!

(I did say VIRTUAL REALITY!!)

Are you ready for this!? The cool thing is, it’s what you remember as a child, but with a true modern day twist. You kids can enter the world of virtual reality with their View-Master® Virtual Reality Starter Pack. It’s incredible! They enter worlds and get to be part of places that they’ve never been before, just read about!! There is literally a 360-degree view for them of the environments they “enter” and they will actually feel like they are there – up close and personal. When my son Alexander tried it for the first time, the first word out of his mouth was, “AWESOME!” That’s exactly how it is… just amazingly awesome.

So how does it work? How is it different from the one we knew as kids?

All you need to do is download one of the free View-Master apps – we downloaded 3 of them – Space, Wildlife and Destinations. Then you take your smartphone and slide it into the viewer and place the Preview Reel right in front of you. After you do that, you’ll see a 3-D reality menu pop up – which is when you’ll make your selections as to where you want to go and visit! Voila!! You’re on your way!!

It’s honestly, surreal!! We had a blast with all 3 of the different apps that we downloaded. My favorite was the SPACE one. I’m huge into astronomy and stars and the moon… so for me, this was my happy place to be. The cool thing is that with the View-Master placed over your eyes, you look up, down, right, left… everywhere… and you just find yourself seeing something new. With the Space app, it was all different constellations. It was like having the night sky right there for you to touch and have all to yourself. Not to mention, on top of ALL of it… you’re learning and exploring. All of this fun, with the touch of education… I just love, love, love, love it. AND!! As my sons learned pretty quickly, you can actually interact with things going on in the environment that you select. You can watch videos, see all different kinds of images, play some games and there’s tons of fun facts for them to enjoy.

I’m telling you, the only mistake I made was buying (1) View-Master for 4 boys to share!! I’m going to need to get at least (1) more!!

The VERY best was seeing my mom try it out. She’s so old-school when it comes to toys… she loves to see my kids enjoy things that I enjoyed as a child. This was just out of the ballpark for her, a true homerun. I smiled watching her go to “London” with the Destinations app. Just as it was fun for her to watch me love the Annie discs she bought me to enjoy… I loved watching her get a true kick out of a modern day twist of something that meant so much to me 25+ years ago!

View-Master… I’m in awe of this amazing toy.

I’m telling you moms and dads (and grandparents, aunts and uncles!) add this to your holiday lists for the kids in your life! This is a complete and total win… I’m talking, the COOLEST!!

Where to purchase:

Amazon // TRU // Target // Walmart

Disclosure: This is a sponsored posting with CafeMom and Mattel.