Holiday 1999
Seal of Approval
Product Testing Report
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Aqua
Blast
R & D Ventures,
Inc.
If bubbles in the bath don't capture your child's
attention like they used to here's an eye-opening alternative.
The vibrant colorful effect of dropping a tablet of Aqua Blast in the
tub, which transforms a bath into a sizzling, fizzling experience, will
"wow" you and your kids. The
stainless color, which rinses away without a trace, can be mixed with other
packets like red to make a blue bath purple, yellow makes green, you get the
idea. Our little testers giggled
with delight as their tubs turned all the colors of the rainbow
Recommended Age: 18 mos. to 8 years Price: $3.69
Earth Lore, Ltd.
As we donned our safety goggles and began to chip away in
search of ancient fossilized ruins, there was an undeniable sense of excitement.
Carefully, we found the first sign of the great dinosaur and as we used
our tools to expose more and more the satisfaction of a job well done was
complete. I Dig Dinosaurs is a fun
project that is very appealing to anyone who has ever fantasized about being on
an archeological dig. The tools
that come with the kit, a heavily weighted hammer and chisel, require adult
supervision, but they are effective in working your way through the composite
material that hides the buried dino. The
exposed bones fit together to form a great model that your children will want to
paint and display.
Recommended Age: 6 and Up Price: $24.95
Parking
Garage
Does your child love to make "zooming" sounds
with toys cars? Do they turn
everything into a vehicle complete with revving engine sounds?
This solidly made, wood parking garage will keep your little zoomers
entertained for hours. The open
design, which fosters free play as well as cooperative play among children, is
built as tough as any little racers, meaning our testers felt it would stand up
for years. The crank elevator and
parking ramp all work well and without a hitch.
The garage is on the high end of the price scale but its sturdy and
colorful design will allow it to remain a favorite for years.
The Parking Garage is also great for school playrooms, which will benefit
from its very solid construction.
Recommended Age: 3 and Up Price: $80.00
FELTKids Best Friends Banner
Learning Curve
International
This well designed banner kit impressed parents and
children with the great results they were able to achieve.
Easy to start using right out of the box, this product provides you with
all the tools you need to make a wonderful keepsake.
The project is both structured and creative allowing for even greater
appeal to a broader audience. The
kit, which encourages embellishments, turned out beautiful hanging art that is
an illustrative memento of your child's favorite things.
By adding pictures and other mementos this banner takes on a life of its
own, and the finished product is something that your child will be proud to show
off.
Recommended Age: 5 and Up Price: $14.99
Many parents are hesitant when it comes to the prospect of
bringing a pet into the family. This
is not because they dislike animals but because the added responsibility often
falls on their shoulders. Children
may beg and plead only to turn into disinterested parties when the work of
caring for a pet begins. This
adorable "baby book" for your new pet is a great tool for encouraging
your child to take an active part in the growth and care of your family pet.
The hardcover, spiral bound book is loaded with good advice that helps
them understand and acknowledge their pet's needs.
The eye catching layout and great use of graphics garnered high praise,
along with the publisher's well crafted design and content which gives the pet
historian plenty of room to record memorable milestones.
Recommended Age: 5 and Up Price: $14.95
My Day Planner
ALEX/Panline USA,
Inc.
This engaging kit is a whole lot of fun to create but the
best part is it becomes a useful organizational tool when completed.
By giving children the opportunity to express themselves on the design of
their planner we found that they really enjoyed keeping the organizers with them
and used them each day. By keeping
track of homework assignments, after school activities, birthdays and other
events, these planners empowered children to become and stay organized.
As you might imagine, parents thought this was great.
Kids told us that they were pretty sure they would keep their cool,
personalized organizers up-to date and filled with "stuff", just like
Mom and Dad.
Recommended Age: 6 and Up Price: $13.00
Curiosity
Kits, Inc.
Looking for a fun project to do together with your child,
or are you looking for a creative birthday gift?
Soap Scapes could be just for you. Easy
and fun to do, you'll get some great results that will look beautiful in your
soap dish, even in the guest bathroom! The
brightly colored glycerin soap allows for plenty of freedom to experiment so
that the finished product is uniquely your own.
The pretty soap creations are great to keep but they also make sweet
gifts for your children to give to special friends and family.
Recommended Age: 6 and Up Price: $14.99
Educational Design,
Inc.
The attraction of magnets and their sometimes baffling
properties have fascinated children for years.
Understanding how magnets stick to some things while they repel others
has always had an appeal to youngsters in our testing facilities. Dr. Magnet is
no exception. This kit, which is
filled with fun tasks and materials that demonstrate the properties of magnets,
is great fun for children who are attracted to magnets and other hands-on
aspects of physical science. Some
of the projects can be the basis for great school science fair exhibits.
Recommended Age: 6 to 12 Price: $19.95
Our testers loved the time they spent creating their own
personalized stationery. Part of
the reason was because the results were so impressive, the other had to do with
how easy it was to use. The great
looking embossed cards impressed young and old alike.
The light box, which allows for some of the more detailed work to really
shine, was also easy on the eyes. Once
our testers got going it was hard to pull them away. There was always another relative or friend they wanted to
create a personal note card for. The
Stationery Shop let them do with a flourish and parents loved watching their
children's creativity take flight.
Recommended Age: 7 and Up Price: $14.99
Smithsonian
Astrolab Planetarium
Space is the final frontier and as such it holds a deep
fascination for children who are intrigued by the infinite possibilities of
space exploration. That must be the
reason that the Astrolab Planetarium was so appealing.
The dual project kit allows for examination of both our own solar system
as well as the universe of stars and constellations in the night sky.
The glowing center doubles as either our own sun, or as a projection map
of the stars. The planets are
constructed and even painted by your child who mixes paints to recreate each
planet's unique atmosphere. The
ability to see how planets circle the sun at different speeds was a fascinating
exercise.
Recommended Age: 8 and up Price: $24.99
LEGO Mindstorms
As if programming and running your own robot based on your
own design wasn't a cool enough concept, now you can build this robot from the
ground up. The remarkable
Mindstorms system is so revolutionary it caused quite a stir.
At the eye of the storm, or at the heart of the matter, is The Scout, the
brain that makes Robotics run. Once
you have constructed your robot into any of the three project ideas, each of
which comes wonderfully outlined in the instruction manual, you can program The
Scout on the LCD panel and put it to work.
Touch and light sensors trigger reactions while wheels attached to The
Scout give your Robot mobility. This
is the kind of project that can really capture the imagination of your child.
In fact, several parents told us that they watched their children immerse
themselves in the kit, not just sticking to the manual, but exploring all of the
possibilities of Robotics.
Recommended Age: 9 and Up Price: $149.00
Swingset Press
Back as a return winner in 1999, this fun, cool phone book
really appealed to our young adult testers.
The retro cover and slick binder really called attention to itself.
Parents noted that the size of this contact book would make it harder to
misplace than a tiny pocket directory. Pages
for each one of your child's friends and family include more than the standard
name, address and phone number. My
People also features space for pictures, e-mail addresses, favorite foods,
hobbies and much more. This year's
version comes with an extra card pack so you can add more records as you make
new friends. The directory
encourages children to find out more about their friends, this helps in opening
up discussions and teaches kids to ask questions about others.
Recommended Age: 9 and Up Price: $14.95
Robotix Discovery Robot Revolution
Learning Curve
International
C'mon admit it, that's a pretty cool looking toy in that
picture there. A robot with those
big bright eyes, who could resist it? Well
our testers couldn't. This next
generation of Robotix kits was a crowd pleaser.
As much fun to build as it is to turn on and run, the excitement mounts
as the robot grows and takes shape. There
are a couple of model designs you can create either the walking, head wagging
model pictured here or a rocket launcher. The
design of the pieces is so sturdy that taking it apart is quite a chore, so pick
the model you may want more. We
used classroom settings to build our robot and found that as a group activity,
this was even more fun.
Recommended Age:
9 and Up
Price: $99.95
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Last Update: November 12, 1999
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