7 reasons this is the gift they'll still be playing with in February

It happens every year. Half of what gets opened on Christmas morning is forgotten before the decorations come down. The most expensive gift ends up at the back of the cupboard by the second week of January.

If you're the one buying, that's what hurts. Not the money. The feeling that you didn't get it right.

That's why something is quietly happening in living rooms across Europe this Christmas. It's not a drone, there's no app and nothing to set up. It's a superhero figure that hovers above your child's open hand and moves with what they do. It's called the Velora FlyHero Pro.

These are the seven reasons it's still being used long after Christmas. The seventh is the one grandparents ask about, and it's the only one that really matters.

1. It beats the screen on its own ground

Most toys lose to a tablet because the screen always gives back something different. A toy that always does the same thing can't compete with that.

This one never flies the same way twice, because it doesn't fly by itself. An infrared sensor reads the position of the hand several times a second. It rises, hovers and dodges if the hand moves too fast. It has the unpredictability of a video game, except you have to get off the sofa to have it.

2. You can let them fly it indoors without holding your breath

The first thing any parent thinks when they see a flying toy with propellers is the lamp, the cat and their child's face. It's a fair worry, and it's why many of these toys get banned indoors by the second afternoon.

Here the propellers aren't exposed. They sit inside the frame, which takes the knock against the floor, the wall and the furniture. It bounces off and keeps flying. It doesn't cut, doesn't tangle in hair and doesn't scratch the wall.

3. Nothing to set up on Christmas morning

No app to download. No batteries to hunt for at eight in the morning. Nothing to pair, no instructions, no account. Twenty minutes with the USB cable in the box and it's ready, and most kids master it before an adult has read a single word of the manual.

4. They pick the hero, and that's half the gift

Spider-Man, Batman, Hulk or Superman. A child who opens the one they would have chosen reacts differently from one who opens any old toy, and every parent knows the difference between those two faces.

That's why families with two children usually order two different heroes instead of two of the same.

5. The grown-ups end up playing too

This is the part nobody expects. Dad tries it "to see if it works". Grandad gets it flying before the kids do. It becomes the thing that brings the whole family together over the holidays, which is exactly the moment you wanted all year.

6. It goes wherever they go

Living room, garden, park, the grandparents' house over the holidays. It only needs a little space above their head and nothing else. That's why it ends up in their backpack and not at the back of the cupboard.

7. In February they're still using it, and that's the whole point

This is the one grandparents ask about, because they've bought the expensive gift before and watched it die within a week.

A toy survives January for one reason only: the child can do something with it today that they couldn't do yesterday. Keep it steady, land it on a shelf, fly it down the hallway without touching the wall. There's always something new to get better at, which is exactly why a screen hooks them and a plastic figure doesn't.

That's what you're really buying. Not a toy. The fourth week of January.