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Blind Spell is a game that shines in every way. Its simplicity and outrageously fun design make it a joy to jump right in and play. The premise: spell a word using letter shapes and nothing but your sense of touch! On your turn, you're shown a correctly spelled common 3-letter word, fitted with a pair of special glasses that block your vision, and handed 4 letter shapes - the 3 letters required to spell the word plus one extra. A timer is started and you must weed out the bad letter while arranging the others to correctly spell the word, all in under 30 seconds! The letter shapes are a good size, the words simple. Easy, right? But sightless, the ticking of the timer closing in on you, it can get a little frantic. What's more, each round is made harder by adding one more extra letter than the previous round. By round 5, you are handed 8 letters (the 3 correct letters for the word, plus 5 extra letters to weed out) . Once you're a master, you can even play using 4-letter words. For 2 to 4 players.

Talk about the gift that keeps on giving! Day at the Spa is the ultimate way for girls to pamper themselves (and Mom). Invite friends over for a spa party or fly solo. The kit comes with everything you need for first-rate manicures and pedicures, plus all the trappings of an authentic spa experience! There are 5 different nail polishes, Hand Rest, Electric Nail Dryer, Spa Mask, Pedicure Slippers, Inflatable Pedicure Pool, Press-on Nails, and more! Special white sticker strips make it easy to create a French pedicure. Add a coat of glitter polish for sparkly effects. Nail sticker art tops things off with delicate, beautiful patterns in seconds. Day at the Spa will give you countless hours of rest, relaxation, rejuvenation, and fun!

Your friends will be amazed when they ask where you got your beautiful headband and learn that you made it! Fashion Headbands gives you everything you need to transform 10 different colored satin headbands included in the kit into personal fashion statements! An insert from the box makes the perfect workstation at which to create your wearable masterpieces. Just dab a little craft glue to affix bows, flowers, butterfly, rhinestones, ribbons, and more, all of which are included. How detailed you get is up to you. Do a little design planning up front, or just jump in and improvise as you go. Fashion Headbands makes it that easy!

With Feather Fashions, creating your own feather accessories is as easy as 1-2-3. Hair clips, headbands, hair extensions, and more - even those who consider themselves challenged at craft-making will be creating and wearing beautiful accessories in no time. The instructions are oh so simple, and the kit includes everything you'll need - fabric flowers and circles that act as bases on which to combine different feather colors and patterns; glue to hold it together once you get the exact look you're after; rhinestones to add color, sparkle, and a touch of class; headbands, hair clips, and ponytail bands that attach easily to your creations; and craft string for making lovely hair extensions. There's enough to make more than 12 feather accessories and to begin designing, decorating, and wearing your own creations. All you have to do is open the box!

Much of the pleasure in playing Foodle comes from the fact that it's about something we all know - food, that essential ingredient of life. Most of us carry around a surprising amount of information about food and nutrition - some correct, some not - making it fun to put to the test. Playing Foodle will certainly enhance and hone your knowledge, and win you some bragging rights in the process. Players move forward or backward on rolls of the die based on whether or not you answer a question correctly. The questions are either True/False or multiple choice, making it easy to save face. Some of the answers are fairly well-known facts, some intuitive, and others are just plain fun to figure out (How many strands does a cup of cooked spaghetti contain - 15, 32, or 85?). There are special spaces on the board that require a quick physical activity (jumping jacks, jog in place). This is a fun, fast-moving game that will smarten you up with essential facts for good, healthy living.

Hue Turn is a clever game in which the object is to position colored wooden pegs on a game board so they complete a pattern shown on one or more of the Pattern Cards in your hand. It's a conceptually simple game that, as it progresses, creates an array of possibilities for your mind to juggle. That's the beauty of Hue Turn - brilliant simplicity that unleashes tendrils of possibility with every move. Pegs placed on the board are a different color on top and bottom (except for the yellow Starter Peg, which is wild). Every turn consists of one player either adding or flipping a single peg on the board in an attempt to match pattern cards in their hand. If that player succeeds, he or she reveals the pattern card(s) matched, earns points, and replenishes their hand. An exciting and unpredictable aspect of game play is that one player's flip may undo another player perched to make a pattern on the next move. Hue Turn gets the mental juices and the fun flowing every time!

Part of what makes Let's Drive so exceptional is that many of its outstanding aspects - how you get around the board, the strategies involved in doing so and in scoring points - exist separate and apart from its subject matter. In other words, it's a blast to play, and would be so even if the game had nothing to do with U.S. geography. The fact that it does means your geographical knowledge will catapult into the stratosphere, becoming second nature. You will also become adept at surveying many elements at the same time (cards in your hand, cards, locations, and pieces on the board) and making choices that serve your goal - winning the game. We won't go much into game play here, other than to say you move your vehicle from place to place on the board via roads and airports, collecting points along the way. There are many flourishes that keep you actively engaged at all times - you can even score points on other players' turns. Fun from start to finish! 2 - 5 players.

Part of the fun and excitement of Look Look stems from the wildly imaginative illustrations players scan while looking to solve a challenge dictated by a card that's just been flipped. It may be as simple as finding the symbol or creature that's on the card. Or to seek out two numbers found within specific colors and perform quick addition or subtraction. Whatever the challenge (and there are a variety), the first player to solve it collects the card. Each card has a letter on the back, and the first player to spell LOOK LOOK is the winner. There's a fair amount of visual terrain to cover (8 large tiles, each with numerous images in various sizes), and playing Look Look cultivates visual discrimination, matching, strategies for effective search, and simple math skills, among others. Everyone's in on the action from start to finish, making Look Look a fantastic, fun, energizing game for 2 to 6 players!

The startling bursts of color and dramatic effects made possible (and easy) by Metallic Mania take art-making to a new level of fun and excitement. Just flip open the Black Paper Sketch Pad and whip out the Metallic EcoPencils, Gel Sticks, and Markers. Every stroke on the page takes on a vivid depth and boldness, inspiring you to new heights of creativity. Experiment with touch when using the EcoPencils to create varied, original effects. Gel Sticks create a smooth, creamy consistency, while the Metallic Markers create colors that jump off the dark backgrounds. Add water and use the brush to create watercolor effects. Use the blending stick to meld colors together. Pre-cut black cardstock shapes (rocket, butterfly, motorcycle, and more) make unique canvases, each with its own little exhibition stand. Sheets of black velvet paper add to the variety. Join in the fun - your art never looked so good!

We've encountered few games that get the wheels in your brain turning as quickly as Mine Shift does, while generating a massive dose of fun. 10 tiles (from a 27 tile deck) are laid out to create a playing board. Each player starts with 4 same-colored jewels on his/her home tile and strives, during the course of alternating turns, to advance all 4 jewels across the board onto their opponent's home tile. The first player to do so, wins. Each player makes 3 moves per turn in, and there are several types of moves to choose from: stepping or jumping jewels, pivoting tiles, or shifting entire tiles within the board's perimeter. However, every turn must consist of at least one Jewel Step. These simple rules open up endless ways to advance and defend in this remarkable two-player game. Each twist and turn of play unfurls new possibilities. Each glance at the board reveals things you didn't see a moment before, making this one of the most exciting new games of 2012! For 2 players, ages 8 to adult.

My Plate Food Bingo comes with a stunning array of information and bonus features, enabling kids to easily absorb knowledge on nutrition, healthy eating, and active living while playing the classic game of Bingo. And judging from the onslaught of statistics in the news media about children and obesity, it couldn't have come at a better time. Based on the USDA's MyPlate food categories, the game is designed and organized in a way that makes it easy to identify and differentiate food groups. There are three methods of play, including one in which the Caller reads a clue rather than stating the food or activity. In addition, the Bingo Cards incorporate 25 tips on healthy eating, 30 ideas for healthy meals and snacks, 19 physical activities, and 5 thought provoking questions. There's also an information sheet loaded with invaluable information. My Plate Food Bingo seamlessly blends fun and learning. What a great way to play! For 2 to 30 players.

Noah's Ark 2-in-1 Floor Puzzle has 48 jumbo pieces, each sized so that it can be easily manipulated by hands large or small. There's artwork on both sides of each piece, meaning there are two puzzles in all. The two-sidedness adds a wee bit of intricacy, but once you've decided which puzzle you're going to build in a given sitting, it's very doable even for younger children. The artwork on each side is different enough, and the puzzle is round, with a different colored border around the edge of each side to make things easier. The flipping while searching for pieces just adds to the fun.

The telling and hearing of tales makes for a fertile imagination. It also can be a raucous good time. So we're fortunate to have Rory's Story Cubes to provide seedlings that sprout into spontaneous full-fledged stories. With this 'Actions' version, each of the 9 cubes has an image on each side, representing 54 different verbs. Just roll the cubes and start talking, spinning a story from the images you see. The cubes act as a creativity tool, sparking wild flights of fancy. Eyes flit from one image to another, activating minds to weave imaginings into a cohesive whole. Tell stories one at a time, or as a group. Relate what you see on the cubes to characters in a movie or other famous story. Or mime the actions shown on the cubes. The possibilities are endless, and there's no right or wrong way to play. Whether solitaire, or as a party and family game, Rory's Cubes keeps the fun and creative juices flowing. For 1 or more players.

Scramblitz is pure action! Players use quick eyes and nimble fingers in a head to head race to recreate what's on the Puzzle Card, using their own set of 16 pattern tiles. First player done wins the round. But not so fast! Each tile is double-sided, and either side may appear to work at a given point in the solution. If you don't consider which side to play as you speed along, you may get to the end and find that your puzzle won't work due to a prior bad choice. You can still go back and fix your mistake, but that takes valuable time. The trick in Scramblitz is to strike the right balance between speed and care. Too much of one without the other and your opponents will zoom right past you to the solution. Each Puzzle Card is worth a score (shown on the card) based on the difficulty of that particular puzzle. The first player to collect enough Puzzle Cards to total 25 or more points is the winner. For 2 to 6 players, ages 8 to adult.

An outstanding use of brain-power, fueled by fun! Space It! allows you to dazzle your friends with displays of mental acuity as you gleefully place tiles on the table - creating, and adding to, sequences. Each tile has a number on it (except jokers, which are wild), and each player starts with 12 tiles. Players open the game by each creating an independent sequence of 3 or more tiles, such that the value between adjacent tiles is equal - for example, 7, 11, 15 (spaced by 4). Players then take turns adding as many tiles as they can to their own or others' sequences, by either extending an existing pattern (7, 11, 15 . . . 19), or by inserting 2 or more tiles, changing the spacing (7, 11, 15 becomes 7, 9, 11, 13, 15). As the table fills up, your mind continually performs simple but lightning-quick assessments of where to place tiles. Failure to play at least one means drawing another tile from the bag. The first player rid of all their tiles, wins. For 2 - 5 players.

Young ones will enjoy this classic stacking toy for its visual, tactile, and auditory (clack clack) cues, as they stack and reorder the colored circular pieces. Parents will love it for its safety, longevity, and the care PlanToys takes in making products that contribute to a sustainable world. Smooth, cool, solid and strong, these sectional pieces can be flipped and sorted according to color and size, helping your youngster begin to make sense of the world while learning and applying principles that will carry them through all their learning endeavors for years to come. The wooden rod on which the pieces stack is bendable for added safety. The pieces themselves are highly durable, strong enough to be passed down from generation to generation. PlanToys uses only safe, non-toxic water-based dyes on their toys, products made with clean, natural rubberwood.

Truly hilarious party games only come along once in a great while. Telestrations 12-Player Party Pack is one of those games. Exciting, funny, easy to learn and play, it'll blow the lid off any party. Every player gets a multi-page sketch book and a card with words on it. Each player, working with a different word, has 60 seconds to sketch it. Books are passed, and the next player writes a guess based on that sketch before again passing the book to the left, where the next player now sketches based on that guess. The round continues in this fashion until your own book comes back to you and the scoring begins. The hilarity really ramps up when players see just how far off the final guess is from the original source word and how it got there, sketch by sketch. Everyone's in on the action from start to finish, and the game comes with Timer, Die, and enough Word Cards, Sketch Books, Dry Erase Markers, and Clean-up Cloths for up to 12 players and thousands of games!

Here is a wildly fun game in which no one is ever left out of the action. Every time a new card is flipped from the top of the Scramble deck, players are alert, keen-eyed, and ready to pounce. Each Scramble card flipped has a playful geography-related challenge on it, and the winner of each challenge collects a state card. For example, 'find a state whose nickname starts with H, K, or L.' Or 'find a state whose border touches 2 or more states directly below it.' Players then race to find such a card among their own 5 face-up state cards. Other Scramble cards require players to determine which of their own state cards is closest to a given state. Once they have, the player whose card was closest of all collects 2 state cards. The Scrambled States of America is fast-moving, plays exceedingly well across a broad range of ages, and has not one dull moment among the many moments you will hungrily spend playing it!

Zip Zap erupts in flurries of action. Players must be alert at all times, using quick hands to execute fast choices that will help or hinder them mere seconds in the future. Sound intense? It is, in a fun, exhilarating way. Game play occurs in rounds. Players, without taking turns, rapidly rid their hands of cards by playing them in numeric order onto the card just played. The color suit must also be matched, or wild cards used. The goal is to end each round with as few cards as possible. Those remaining in your hand count against you. Players often possess more than one playable card at a given moment, leading to choices good and bad. There are also powerful Zip Zap cards that can keep you rolling. Everyone's in on the action from start to finish and until the final card is played, it's anybody's game. If you like fun, fast-moving card games with a great balance of luck and skill, welcome to heaven! For 2 to 6 players.

Part of what makes listening to this CD so much fun is that you can feel the enjoyment and exuberance of the performers coming through clear as a bell. More importantly, there's a great deal of talent at work, lending authenticity to the often silliness-laced variety of tunes presented here in grand style. From Gospel to Funk, Caribbean to Rock'n Roll (and even some good old down-home New Orleans style), there are plenty of sounds on parade, and lots to do while you're listening. Just pop open the accompanying booklet, and mixed in with the lyrics you'll find dances, moves, sing-a-longs, and other lively activities that map to the songs and take the fun into the stratosphere. The often silly lyrics and matching kooky voice-work will get you laughing but won't overshadow the fact that you're listening to talented musicians with a love for music and performing!

This is a CD children will love and parents will enjoy listening to with or without their children. Susan Reed is a top-notch singer and multi-instrumentalist, and the selections on this CD consist of beautifully crafted songs and a few spoken-word stories that kids will find mesmerizing. The variety of stringed instruments and lack of percussion gives this highly melodic music a distinctive folk flavor. The lyrics, too, are exeptional, running the gamut from playful to genuinely inspiring. Susan's lovely vocals are sometimes backed by and interwoven with those of a very talented five-person chorus, lending the tunes a particularly rich quality. Listen to the chorus, for example, on the playful call and response of 'Echo.' Some of the tunes are achingly beautiful (the soaring vocals and instrumental harmonies on the lilting triple-meter 'I Am The Song,' for one). The minor key instrumental, 'Strawberry Moon,' is equally compelling. This is a CD that gets better with every listen!

Klutz has long published a fantastic array of clever, laugh-filled activity books and other fun stuff. The Klutz Guide to the Galaxy is chock full of great things to do that will expand your knowledge of our galaxy through hands-on activities (well, as hands-on as you can get with things that are millions of miles away)! Want to know how old you are on other planets? How to spot the moon any day of the year? How to estimate a star's altitude? It's all in there! So are four star maps, components and instructions for making both a sundial and a telescope, a Galactic Passport that contains a Sneaky Solar Noon-o-Graph, and oodles of other fun, cool stuff that will smarten you up without making your head explode! So get ready to laugh and learn - with the Klutz Guide to the Galaxy, you'll actively explore the workings of our galaxy, come rain or come shine!

Quincy Moves to the Desert is the gorgeously illustrated, lovingly told story of a horse named Quincy who lives in a tan and white barn in New York State. Quincy loves his owner, Cam, and his best friend Beau, an older horse who also lives in the barn. One day Quincy learns from Beau that the two of them will be going on a big trip to the desert where they will reunite with Cam. Along the way, Quincy learns a great deal from Beau, about states, about types of horses - Standardbreds, Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and more - and how different types of horses perform different tasks. He even learns that he and Beau are both American Quarterhorses. As reluctant as Quincy had initially been about going on a big trip, it opens his eyes to the world at large and the world of possibilities that exists for all of us. This is a wonderful connecting tale that demonstrates growth, maturation, friendship, and mentorship. It also includes a map of the U.S. that shows their cross country progress.

This outstanding educational app for the iPad makes full use of its multi-sensory nature, providing stunning visuals and tactile interactions throughout grand adventures, puzzles, and games. Ansel, an adorable inter-galactic travel photographer from the planet Virtoos, and his robot companion, Clair, take you to explore three African locales - the Nile Valley, Sahara Desert, and the Serengeti Plains. But you're not just along for the ride. In each locale, you'll take photographs of things you've learned about - animals, plants, places, landmarks - collecting and arranging them in a travel log. The app's visuals are gorgeous, and the interactions, such as cracking an egg on the hood of a car to demonstrate heat, or wiping away rain or sand with your fingers, are delightful. Ansel's questions and observations, and Clair's encyclopedic knowledge interweave perfectly, while games and puzzles reinforce learning concepts that span geography, history, science, and more!

K5 Learning is an outstanding educational program designed to build reading, math, and study skills for kids from kindergarten through grade 5. Part of what makes K5 Learning special is that it's format is so engaging (lessons are animated, interactive, and simple to navigate) while at the same time delivering material in a concise, effective manner. It's fun, interesting, compelling, and entertaining, yet its function never wavers from kids' progress. Lessons consist of a quick introduction, a couple of examples, and off you go, learning and doing. And kids won't want to stop, because both the process AND their progress are enjoyable, doable, and gratifying. An online assessment helps ensure kids work at levels appropriate to their skills, after which they work independently through over 3,000 lessons and activities at their own pace. A parent dashboard (including tracking and reporting) is a boon. Kids yearn to learn - it's in their hard-wiring. Give them access to K5 Learning, and they'll have all the tools they need to last a lifetime. $25.00/Month or 199.00/year.

Kids love rhymes. The spark they feel when they hear one, the satisfaction and pride they show when they make one, and the sheer enjoyment they experience when swept up in a classic nursery rhyme, are all part of what makes rhymes so engaging and fun. Rhymes also activate an exploration of language and provide a wondrous gateway to sounds, structure and reading. And rhymes are something Mother Goose Club does very, very well. This DVD contains a sparkling cast of live action characters straight out of Nursery-rhyme land - Teddy Bear, Jack B. Nimble, Little Bo Peep, and more - who take viewers on a veritable rhyme-a-thon of games, songs, and classics like Hickory, Dickory, Dock and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. There are five highly entertaining, well-produced episodes in all, more than 40 minutes that alternates between live action and animation, spoken word and song. And the common thread throughout? Wholesome, enriching entertainment that helps grow young minds!

This fantastically creative, highly entertaining musical program represents a quantum leap forward in musical education. Viewers are provided with an in-depth understanding of music fundamentals via 30 episodes on 15 DVDs. The DVDs feature an energetic Englishman named Quaver, proprietor of a magical music store in which he humorously deconstructs music while statues of famous composers yak and teenage musicians perform. Each DVD comes with a matching Teacher Guide that provides parents or educators with an overview of the disc along with tips and guidelines for teaching and reinforcing the material. Each extraordinarily well-produced episode has a different focus. From tempo and rhythm to harmony and songwriting, from the Baroque Period to Reggae and Country music, Quaver will grow your child's love and knowledge of music almost effortlessly. Includes one-year full access to Online Quaver Classrooms that contain special learning resources.

Curiosity is such an innate human quality, and every parent can recall the barrage of questions with which we were greeted almost daily by our growing children's growing minds. But our minds never stop growing, or at least they don't need to, now that Wonderopolis.org, a website and online community, is here. Part of what makes Wonderopolis.org such a fabulous experience for child and adult users alike, and such a potent resource for parents and educators, is the highly appealing and very digestible manner in which topics and information are organized. Each day a new 'Wonder of the Day' is presented (recent Wonders include 'How Hot is the Sun?,' and 'Why do you Sneeze?'). Both text and video are provided, each of which is, in itself, plenty informative and engaging. One of our favorite things to do is to print out the text portion and use it, during meals, as a launch pad for stimulating, enjoyable conversation. We can't speak highly enough about Wonderopolis.org - and yes, it's free!