Bob the Builder Talking Toy Telephone
Tiger Electronics
If your child is a fan of the Bob the Builder series, they will love this adorable phone. With learning games, instruction games and a follow the pattern game which was a real favorite, this is a toy that any fan of the show will be thrilled to receive. The voices and sound effects are easy to understand. There are no advanced educational lessons here, just the basics, but that suited our testers and their parents just fine. There is also upbeat music that really appealed to little ones.
Bob the Builder Toy Cell Phone
Tiger Electronics
This cute cell phone replica featuring the ever-popular Bob the Builder thrilled little testers who loved to act just like Mom or Dad making calls. The colorful buttons react to your child's touch with good sound effects of familiar characters, especially Bob, who remains one of today's most charismatic, kid-friendly personalities. The flip case on this phone was sturdy enough to withstand two months of constant use by our testers.
Hi-Lo Trike
Huffy Bicycle Company
Featuring a solid feel and bright colors, the Hi-Lo Trike is appealing on so many levels. Our testers thought that perhaps the best feature of all is that it's adjustable. This is a tricycle that will get lots of use and grow along with your child. Given the adjustable design of the trike, our testers told us that they envisioned many years of riding and, that when the time came to move up to a larger bicycle, this bike seemed sturdy enough to be an ideal hand-me-down to younger siblings.
This simple magnetic building toy is anything but. Don't
misunderstand, nothing could be easier or more fun than playing with these
magnetized balls and rods. However, at the root of each structure are the basic
concepts of geometry. So while your preschoolers may not be aware of it, each
time they play with GeoMag they are creating geometric marvels, and tearing them
apart, and building them again, and tearing them apart.......
KidClips Disney Tunes Jukebox
Tiger Electronics
From Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, to The Lion King and Aladdin, the folks at Disney have done much more than given us great movies, they have also given us great music. Along comes this wonderfully designed jukebox that plays abbreviated songs from Disney classics. The songs, which are stored on tiny interchangeable chips, are the melodies that your children will happily play over and over. It was fun watching the kids singing along with all of their favorite tunes.
Music Builder Composer
LEGO Company
Giving kids, even the youngest of children the tools to manipulate a bright colorful toy that responds to their touch with music is a wonderful idea. LEGO has designed a unit that is bright, attractive and instantly appealing. It begs to be played with and when you do that's when the fun starts. Each action causes a musical reaction so that you almost never know what's coming, except for wonderfully produced sounds. There are no rights or wrongs here, just a fun activity that brings music to life.
My First Bowling Set
Preferred Plush
One of the essential parts of toddler play is building things up and knocking them down. Perhaps that's why bowling remains so popular across the country, even after we've grown up we continue to hold on to that thrill. With that in mind Preferred Plush has created an adorably designed first bowling set. The soft bowling ball and equally soft pins were a child magnet in our testing centers as over and over again they were set up and gleefully knocked down. The set is packaged in a carrying case that makes cleaning up and traveling a snap.
Smarty's Workshop
VTech Industries
Smarty is a robot who needs your child to help construct a
variety of projects like building a workbench, a bunk bed, a fish tank and lots
more. By popping a project card in front of Smarty, he comes alive with a
friendly voice, and animatronic movements of his mouth, hands, eyebrows and
body. As your child follows instructions for sawing, screwing, hammering and
the like, they see the progress of their project on Smarty's read-out. The
adjustable legs allow this toy to grow with your toddler, while the activities,
including counting, colors and numbers are nicely suited for early learning.
Testers also noted the focus and reward aspect of hand eye coordination skills.
Suggested Age: 3 and Up
Retail Price: $59.99
Maggie Raggies Sweetie Singer
Zapf Creation
Maggie Raggie is a cute doll that any girl would love to have as a friend. With her classic good looks, her rainbow hair and colorful clothes every child who saw her wanted to hug her. But when you hug this doll you're in for a surprise, you see Maggie has a favorite pastime, she loves to sing. Her adorable sweet singing voice lilts a simple la-la-la tune that your little one can and will enjoy singing along with. What makes Maggie even more fun is how enthusiastic she gets about her singing when your child hugs her really hard. The harder your child squeezes Maggie Raggie the louder she sings. This interactive doll was a delightful presence in our testing centers.
Cranium Cariboo
Cranium, Inc.
Cranium Cariboo is a delightful treasure hunt game that is great fun to play with your child. Our testers wanted to play again and again. Their parents felt the reason was because each game was different and exciting. The game is exceptionally easy to learn. The object of discovering hidden balls that can only be discovered by using a magic key was all the kids needed to absolutely fall in love with this game. But the best part was yet to come, when they found all the balls the treasure chest magical opens to reveal the prize. Beautifully conceived and perfectly executed, this game is a real winner.
At Home with Hello Kitty: Deluxe Kitty
House
Bandai America, Inc.
The Hello Kitty franchise continues to astound the so-called toy industry "experts" with its staying power. Many parents also expressed surprise at the appeal Hello Kitty held for their children. Seeking to extend the success story is Bandai's adorable Kitty House. A terrific addition to the line offering up everything a Hello Kitty fan could hope for when setting up house. The construction is solid so that it can be used for many years. The sizing is just right for a variety of furniture (some of which is included), knickknacks and Kitty's. Testers loved the sounds of a ringing phone and cooking in the kitchen but the flushing toilet was the crowd favorite.
Picture Link
Binary Arts Corporation
This easy, yet challenging quick play game features a visually engaging approach to pattern matching with a Bingo-like feel. The twist is that players are responsible for selecting their next move. Deciding whether to move ahead or thwart one or more of your opponents is what makes this game devilishly fun. Picture Link is a game that families will find is very easy for all ages to enjoy together.
Theatre Stories
LEGO Company
Imaginative play is at the root of all theatrical productions. So its no wonder that a toy based in theatrical expression seemed liked such a natural to our testers. LEGO gives your child everything they might need to stage a play, musical, whatever strikes their fancy. There are sets, scenery, an electronic sound effects bank, and of course, Lego actors. From there the kids take over and did they ever. The testing center was the sight of many imaginative tales or heroism, mayhem and more.
Hit Clips Carabiner Player
Tiger Electronics
According to our testers there's nothing much cooler than hooking some tunes to your belt. While these Hit Clip players will never impress audiophiles, they certainly wowed our young elementary school-aged testers. Eager to clip them onto their clothes, their backpacks and anything else that they could imagine, they loved the abbreviated versions of pop hits that they could take along with them. This is a product that won over youngsters and raised the eyebrows of their parents, not that that's any earth shattering news, but it's worth noting.
Hit Clips Earbud Player
Tiger Electronics
There is something cool about hooking a personalized device onto your ear. Whether it's parents with their cell phone ear-buds, teens with their headphones and now school aged kids playing hand-free pop music. Utilizing the popular Hit Clip design of providing shortened musical hits onto interchangeable chips, that then fit into this and other units in the line, the ear bud was a favorite. The sound in the earbud was far superior to that of other Hit Clip units because it didn't have to blast nearly as loud. Kids felt empowered and cool hooking these slick looking devices on their ear and strutting their stuff.
Jedi Dex
Tiger Electronics
The young Star Wars fan in your house will love this encyclopedic resource of everything from Jedi's to Droids and everything in between. Designed like a personal database, Jedi Dex holds individual information like a schedule, contacts, etc., but what makes this unit so special is the wealth of knowledge at your child's fingertips. Want to know the home world of a Wookie? Curious about the size of Jabba the Hutt? It's perfect for settling playground disputes. Jedi Dex also elicited great responses for its sleek design.
Knights of Knowledge
VTech Industries
The imaginative design and engaging game play of this
wonderfully creative toy absolutely wowed our testers. Featuring a wildly
inventive approach to presenting problem solving activities, including math,
spelling, logic and more, this game was a favorite from Day One. The game
features trap doors, hidden dragons and dungeons to escape, so while your nerves
may rattle the fun never wavers. If Knights of Knowledge is any indication of
the types of creative game design coming down the pipe from VTech, then hold
onto your hats, it's gonna be a great ride.
Suggested Age: 5 and Up Retail Price: $49.99
WordXchange Junior
Prodijeux, Inc.
This wonderful word building game really impressed our testers with its ability to engage, educate and entertain at the same time. Of course the educational part is hidden within the guise of a fun strategy game. In WordXchange Jr. players race to build words with letter tiles and then steal words from other players by adding letters to make longer words. The game board and its pieces are all superbly made and will surely stand the test of many years of game play. The felt bag for keeping pieces together is a great addition. Parents told us that their children were thinking of words and how to build onto them long after they had finished playing.
Finger Jamz
Tiger Electronics
This unique finger tapping music machine encourages children to get in touch with their own innate sense of rhythm and beat. By tapping alongside Finger Jamz on a tabletop your child moves the melody along. Lights and notes react to the vibrations the unit senses. Our testers told us that it gave them a great feeling of empowerment to be able to make music so easily.
Gobblet
Blue Orange Games
We dare you to play this game just once! This brilliant game is deceptively easy to play, but may be one of the most challenging when it comes to matching wits with your opponent. Think tic, tac, toe with a serious carnivorous twist. The solid wood set is beautifully packaged and is great for displaying, but beware you will run the risk of getting hooked by Gobblet!
Gold Digger
Out of the Box Publishing
For a game that is so easy to play, you'll find a remarkable level of strategy, planning and plotting inside the deceptively small Gold Digger box. By staking claims to gold mines, players attempt to unearth a greater treasure than their opponents. Watch out for Fools Gold and those who would hoist it upon you and your mine. This game is best when played with 3 or more players. Game play is quick and fun.
Qwitch
Out of the Box Publishing
The award-winning makers of Blink are back with another great, quick-thinking game that our testers really enjoyed. Players (we recommend 3 or more) try to rid themselves of cards. This is based on the matching, increasing or decreasing the number or letter shown on the face up card, which is determined by the roll of the die. That's a long sentence, but that's the whole game! Easy to understand, quick to play, and a whole lot of fun. You can play competitively with your youngster by taking turns, or play the advanced version, where you take on older children by matching reflexes in a lightning round.
Power Air Surfer
Wow Wee
This lightweight remote controlled plane will get lots of attention at the park, with its unique design and bright colors. But what will really stop those onlookers in their tracks is how easy the Power Air Surfer is to fly. By seeming to search for the right air current, the Surfer does just what its name implies. The swooping style levels off and you will find yourself at the controls of a very responsive airplane. The battery will give you a nice flight time of several minutes, but you may want to explore getting a back-up or two as the charging time can be long. Once you get the hang of maneuvering you'll want to take to the skies again and again.
Suggested Age:
8 and up Retail Price: $60.00
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Parenting Center
call: 1-800-753-6667