Care Bears have been cuddly companions for generations, but the new Palm Puppetronics range takes them from cuddly toys to characters kids can actually bring to life.

Made by WOW! Stuff, the range launches with three familiar faces – Cheer Bear, Funshine Bear and Grumpy Bear. Each one combines a soft Care Bears plush with traditional puppetry and interactive technology, allowing kids to control their bear while electronic sounds and actions add even more personality.

And there’s plenty they can do. Each Puppetronic features more than 40 sounds and actions, with a moving mouth, blinking eyes and head movements. Rather than simply pressing a button and watching the toy perform, much of the fun comes from controlling the character yourself. It makes them particularly good for imaginative play, as kids can create conversations, stories and entire puppet shows.

One of our favourite features has to be the belly badge. Hidden controls trigger special reactions and the badge glows to recreate the famous Care Bear Stare – something Care Bears fans will instantly recognise.

The individual personalities haven’t been forgotten either. Each character has their own phrases and reactions, so Grumpy feels suitably grumpy while Cheer and Funshine bring their much sunnier personalities to playtime.

They require three AAA batteries, which aren’t included, so that’s worth remembering if you’re buying one as a present.

Care Bears Palm Puppetronics manage to combine the nostalgia of the characters parents remember with something genuinely different for today’s kids. The technology is fun, but it’s the fact that children are still doing the puppeteering themselves that makes these particularly interesting. Instead of technology taking over the play, it helps kids bring their own stories to life.