Color
'N Drive
Tinkworks
Here is an incredibly cool concept that will turn the coloring world on its ear. Our testers knew they were in for something new immediately when they first touched the coloring pad with their pen and the separate remote control car responded with motion and sound. Touch the horn on your paper and it honks, touch the front wheel and off it goes, back wheel for reverse and so on. Kids absolutely loved this toy/drawing kit, that was, when they were able to pry it away from their parents!
Recommended Ages: 3 and up Retail Price: $19.99
Supermag
Plastwood Corporation
Supermag is one of those toys that you simply cannot keep your hands off of. No matter what your age, you will find yourself constantly constructing geodesic designed contraptions that spin, twist, or just look cool. The magnetic rods and silver metal balls just beg to be played with. There is no right or wrong way to play, just let your magnetic imagination wander. The payoff here is that children are unwittingly learning principles of engineering, architecture and math just by fiddling around with Supermag.
Recommended Ages: 4 and Up Retail Price: $44.95
Probuilder
Code Blue
Mega Bloks, Inc.
The Probuilder Code Blue's soft sided zipper case contains everything your little builder will need to construct cool planes, helicopters, drag racers etc. There are three levels of building play and an easy to follow instruction booklet all of which will add up to a very nice long lasting toy for your child. This building set might be the bargain of the year, at least that's what our parent testers said as they expressed their amazement at the twenty dollar price tag on this terrific kit.
Recommended Ages: 5 and Up Retail Price: $19.99
Velvet
Art
Klutz
OK we know, velvet art is not often looked at as the height of artistic expression, but who cares, it looks cool. If you think you're going to find Dogs Playing Poker or Elvis, think again. What you will find are lots of pages just waiting for your child's pen (they are included by the way) to turn pages of line drawings to bright colorful life. Our testers all lined up to have a shot at making a velvet creation simply because the results looked so neat. Right before your eyes your little velvet Picasso will be creating unique pictures, frames, bookmarks and stickers.
Recommended Ages: 6 and Up Retail Price: $19.95
Cool Room Decor
LEGO Systems, Inc.
Little girls who love decorating and adding a personal flair to their environment will really enjoy this colorful room accessory kit. The reusable design of the set allows for continuous play when the deconstructing spatula is used. The colors had a universal appeal with our testers.
Recommended Ages: 6 and Up Retail Price: $14.99
M
Gears
Learning Resources
Learning Resources knows a winner when they see it and their Gears, Gears, Gears line is a blue ribbon champ. M Gears is their next generation of smaller sized, more advanced gear play that incorporates fun while being sneakily educational. The 350 piece set features a huge variety of accessories, including a motor to make your inventions come to life. The instruction manual does exactly what it should, provide easy-to-follow guides for assembling everything from a road racer car, to a gear loader, to a skateboarder, to a sky chopper, bulldozer and plenty more.
Recommended Ages: 7 and Up Retail Price: $36.95
Motion
Madness
LEGO Systems, Inc.
The ability to add motion to your Lego creations is an inspired addition to the product line of one of the world's most recognizable toys. This building set, not your usual colored block collection, offers up the opportunity to construct a variety of figures which can be animated and brought to life. When your colorful bird starts flapping its wings you can count on great smiles and pride in the accomplishment. Lego has also kept intact the ability to make your own creations, tinkering with the gene pool as it were, and our testers loved that.
Recommended Ages: 7 and Up Retail Price: $14.99
Record
and Play
LEGO Systems, Inc.
Those who recall the Lego Mindstorms series of programmable play sets will find a similar yet toned down type of interface here giving the power of robotic programming to a whole new age group. This is a really remarkable toy, one that will amaze you and your child. It can remember movements that you tell it, then it can repeat them, do them in reverse and even repeat them over and over. Whether you build a robot, a drummer, a dog, whatever, this Lego toy will stop you in your tracks, even as your invention rolls on.
Recommended Ages: 7 and Up Retail Price: $49.99
PixelBlocks
PixelBlocks, LLC
Hands down one of the newest and most innovative products of this testing period was this very cool design toy. Pixelblocks are a revolutionary type of building system that allows for both 3D and 2D building. Pixelblocks are small, transparent shapes that come in a wide variety of colors. There are several well illustrated construction ideas laid out in the manual, among them are several portrait projects. There are endless possibilities and the results are really impressive, but the one we thought was the coolest was the ability to upload your own picture to pixelblocks.com, which in turn gives you a grid so you can recreate it in Pixelblocks.
Recommended Ages: 8 and Up Retail Price: $49.99
Land
Busters
LEGO Systems, Inc.
Our testers told us that they didn't really think of Lego when it came to tough toy trucks, but they were universally impressed with this building kit that gave them the tools to build three separate models. What's more is that these models are sturdy enough to tackle some pretty rough roads. You'll find all the pieces you need to create a 4x4 truck or even a bulldozer. There are three building levels to match your child's construction skills.
Recommended Ages: 8 and Up Retail Price: $59.99
For more information about The Seal of Approval or The National
Parenting Center
call: 1-800-753-6667