Castle
Tabletop Puppet Theater
ALEX
Giving
children puppets and a place to act out their own imaginative play is one of the
most fun and memorable parts of childhood.
Kings and queens play an important part in many childhood tales and ALEX
has created a wonderful setting for their castle time fantasies.
The wooden stage goes together in a snap; in fact kids demonstrated that
they were more than able to do it themselves.
The colorful, whimsical design of this sturdy tabletop theater made it a
real favorite among our testers. The
two included hand puppets are nicely appointed so that your children can get
started right away. The $50 price
tag was significant to some testers eyes, but most parents told us that the
strength of the wood and the sturdy design made it something they would have for
many years.
Recommended
Age: 3
and Up
Price: $50.00
Lincoln
Logs Commemorative Tin
K'NEX Industries, Inc.
Yes,
it's THOSE Lincoln Logs! While our
children testers were having fun creating buildings like log cabins and the
like, parents were swept up with feelings of nostalgia for a toy that was a
staple of their youth. All the
familiar shapes and colors are faithfully reproduced here just like you
remember. The kids who loved
building tall buildings with the interlocking pieces appeared to have even more
fun breaking them apart. The large,
old-fashioned tin makes clean up easy with plenty of room for extra pieces.
One note of warning which is plainly stated with the product: The wood
pieces are stained for authenticity and that stain can rub off and cause
permanent damage to carpets, clothing and more.
Recommended
Age: 3
and Up
Price: $29.99
Air-Mazing
Blopen Travel Kit
P&M's Color Workshop
The
Blopen is such a wonderful painting and decorating tool that several
incarnations have walked away with Seals over the years.
Testers this time found that a take-along travel version was a great
addition to the Blopen line. Included
in this very affordable set is a nice assortment of five Blopens, along with
lots of stencils to choose from. The
Blopen effect of a airbrush-like finish works great with a combination of
stencil and free-form design. The
results of Blopen art can be truly dazzling and our testers loved honing their
skills. There is a glitter pen
included that everyone agreed was very cool.
The travel case is made out of lightweight corrugated plastic and made
clean ups fast and easy.
Recommended
Age: 4
and Up
Price: $9.99
Crayola
Character Creator
Binney & Smith
This
very inexpensive craft kit is a fun afternoon project nicely wrapped up in its
own carrying case. Included in the
kit is an assortment of brightly colored dough that can be shaped and dressed up
with a variety of pieces such as eyes, hats, feet etc.
After all the creating you will find that your $10 kit has produced as
many as five or six different characters. Left
in the air to dry they become permanent sculptures that your children can show
off. Given the very reasonable
price, many parents told us that they would consider this a perfect birthday
gift.
Recommended
Age: 4
and Up
Price: $9.99
Crayola
Lap Desk
Binney & Smith
When
it comes to the toys we pack up for our kids when we set off on traveling
adventures, one of the first that comes to mind is crayons and other drawing
diversions. The problem is that in
the car, on a plane or train, it's pretty hard to find a flat surface and a
steady one at that. The Crayola Lap
Desk is the solution to this problem. The
lap desk has ridges to catch rolling crayons, a pouch to store crayons and
markers, but most importantly it has a soft pillow-like bottom that forms around
your children's legs to create a secured, steady drawing position.
The cushion even pops off and doubles as a neck cushion for naptime.
Parents were ecstatic about the remarkably sensible design of the Lap
Desk.
Recommended
Age: 4
and Up
Price: $16.99
Crayola
Light Up Tracing Desk - Fashion Designer
Binney & Smith
A
compact creative center, this light-up desk lit up our testers with its
limitless ability to inspire young designers.
Inside its very transportable plastic case are everything you might need
to start imagining and designing fashions and accessories.
The light-up feature allows for near flawless tracing, and the included
outlines of heads, bodies, dresses, shoes, you name it, lets creativity flow
with some helpful guidance. There
are colored pencils so that after you trace your design you can enhance your
creation with colorful flourishes. The
easy-to-carry handle makes this perfect for travel, long waits or just
absent-minded doodling.
Recommended
Age: 6
and Up
Price: $14.99
Crayola
Light Up Tracing Desk - Vehicle Designer
Binney & Smith
From
the moment we realize that someday we'll be driving our own car, we start
imagining what our dream machine will look like. We can see the shining chrome, the color; even smell that new
car smell. This drawing kit from
Crayola is for all those dreamers out there.
Just place a combination of vehicle pieces on the light-up board, trace
your custom coupe and you're off to the races.
Add some racing stripes, take the top down, add some color, and you'll
have a work of art that you'll want to show off with pride. The portability of the kit makes this a great travel toy and
one that kept them creatively busy for hours.
Recommended
Age: 6
and Up
Price: $14.99
K'Nex
Fun Set
K'NEX Industries, Inc.
K'NEX
has always been a favorite of parents and children who love to build and
construct. Their large play sets
are featured in museums and many have won our award in the past.
This small sized set, which comes nicely packaged in a sturdy plastic
carrying case, is a real winner. Perfect
for gift giving to young, budding builders, there are 12 different models that
can be built with this one, very well priced set.
The fact that it is transportable for trips to restaurants or grandma's
helped it score big points with our testers.
The instruction kit is well illustrated with building ideas, but the fun
of K'NEX has always been that there are no rules, and the fact that there is
life in this set beyond the 12 featured models.
K'NEX has always impressed us with its dedication to free form play.
Recommended Age: 6 and Up Price: $9.99
My
Photo Phonebook
Swingset Press
For
early readers the idea of looking up a phone number using an alphabetized phone
book can be a little overwhelming. Swingset
Press, which has produced a number of child friendly phonebooks, has another
winner here with this easy and fun to use personal directory.
By using the allotted spaces to paste pictures of grandma, cousins,
friends, all of the important people in their lives, your child can use the
phone the way it makes sense. They
see a face, they see the number and they make the call.
What this means for your phone bill, we can't say, but My Photo Phonebook
surely makes the telephone a friendlier personal device.
Recommended
Age: 7
and Up
Price: $9.95
K'NEX
Master Building Set
K'NEX Industries, Inc.
Getting
a K'NEX building set is like being given the key to Fort Knox.
The riches contained within are as limitless as the fun.
If you or your child enjoys building projects then look no further.
Inside the portable blue plastic case are nearly 1000 color-coded pieces
that make-up the heart of the K'NEX system.
These pieces snap together and can build virtually anything you can
imagine. Inside the wonderfully
illustrated instruction booklet are designs for 50 models, everything from
bulldozers to paddle boats. This
Master Building Set features a battery-powered motor that allows you to add
mobility and movement to your creations.
Recommended Age: 8 and Up Price: $69.99
My
Ultra Secret Spy Stuff
Swingset Press
There
was lot of excitement surrounding this product especially by children who love
spies, spying, and the world of espionage.
If you need to keep a secret, what better way than with a magic pen and a
black light? And if that's not enough, there is Code Alpha, which is a nifty
cipher to keep snoopers in the dark. The
classic "spy in the trench coat" art on the front was instantly
recognizable to all. Not sure if
that's a good thing if you are trying to be secretive, but that was obviously a
minority opinion. Both boys and girls enjoyed playing with and using this spy
kit, curiously it was usually used to spy on one another, hmmmm.
Recommended
Age: 8 to
13
Price: $19.95
My
People: Stuff Directory
Swingset Press
This
is the fourth time through the testing center for the My People: Stuff Directory
and it still elicits raves reviews from our testers. It's kid friendly design is just the right blend of style and
function. Kids can include all the
vital information about their friends in this easily updateable binder style
book. Each information card
naturally includes spaces for addresses and phone numbers but also for email,
birthdays and other vital stats such as favorite color, music and zodiac.
As your child's social circle grows they need a place to keep track of
friends and family, this is the book they'll need and want.
Recommended Age: 8 and Up Price: $14.95
My
Ultra Secret Stuff Journal
Swingset
Press
For
kids, keeping a private journal, especially in a house full of snooping little
brothers and/or older sisters, is no easy job.
What is a diary writer to do? Someone
at Swingset Press was thinking the same thought and flashed back to their
childhood when black lights were all the rage.
Combining a portable black light, a special "invisible" ink pen
and a nicely designed journal, they created not only a secret lock and key type
journal, but also an Ultra secret one where only the holder of the light can
read the entries. Writing and reading under the magical black light glow
enticed children not only to use this journal, but also to keep up with it,
knowing that their secrets are safe.
Recommended
Age: 8 to
13
Price: $19.95
D
RoseArt / Warren Industries
Before
there were digital watches, cuckoo clocks or even Big Ben, sundials were the
only way to know if you were late for school.
This craft kit is a great lesson in understanding how ancient
civilizations first came to understand and use time. The instructions are clear and the results are attained
quickly, which means that in a rather short time you can start telling by the
sweeping shadows, when its snack time. The
ability to personalize your sun and shadow dials added a nice value to the kit,
which parents found appealing. The
results were so beautiful that parents as well as their kids were proud to
display them in their gardens.
Recommended
Age: 10
and up
Price: $19.99
Saturn
V
K'NEX Industries, Inc.
The
K'NEX building system has always been at the forefront of innovative toy design,
so it should come as no surprise that it's Saturn V rocket kit is a winner.
The specially designed kit features unique pieces with representative
graphics that, together with the regular K'NEX rods and connectors, complete a
very impressive 3-foot model. The
Saturn V is a three stage rocket as is this model, but the real fun for our
testers was the launch gantry or tower, which has a battery operated vocal
countdown. When you have built your
rocket and tower, a press of the button gives you a thrilling 10-9-8 countdown.
The set can make second rocket model as well.
Recommended
Age: 10
and Up
Price: $49.99
For more information about The Seal of Approval or The National
Parenting Center
call: 1-800-753-6667
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Last Update: August 9, 2001