A very snuggly companion, this ultra-soft plush Pooh Bear was the delight of all the children and adults to whom we introduced him. Light-weight and easy to cuddle for even very young ones, this classic Pooh makes a wonderful addition to every toy collection. Warning: your child and this Classic Plush Pooh will be inseparable.

Created by two mothers, both of whom are educators, Air Play fits easily over most airplane tray tables and provides ample means to engage and entertain a young child, reducing travel time stress for everyone. Loaded with fun activities and designed in bright, eye-catching colors, Air Play immediately drew the attention of any child placed in the same room with it during testing. The abundance of activities, (quiet) sounds, buttons, pockets, zipper, and soft, velcro-detachable shapes make Air Play a veritable tactile-and-auditory wonderland that can keep your child happy and absorbed in most any situation. An added nice touch is that Air Play is reversible (putting all the goodies on the inside) with cloth carrying handles, making it a snap to bring along anywhere at a moment's notice.

The Alphabotz program is designed to reinforce beginning reading skills. Oh, and did we mention that it's also quite fun for kids and parents alike? One of the great things about the program, and there are many, is the level of easy-to-follow and highly engaging structure provided throughout. That sense of structure is embedded in each of the 46 wonderfully illustrated Character Cards. Just as importantly, a few minutes spent reading the Game & Activity Cards will equip parents to help children explore and contextualize vowels, consonants, and letter combinations in highly imaginative and entertaining ways.

Get to know the coolest creatures that ever roamed the planet with Ancient Creature Cards! They're educational, entertaining, and very hard to put down once you pick them up. Everyone knows T-Rex, but do you know what a Dimorphodon looks like? Hint: enormous head, giant beak filled with two kinds of teeth, 4-1/2 foot wingspan, and a long tail for steering during flight. Each of the 67 cards is 8-1/2" by 5-1/2", printed on heavy duty stock, and bears a large full color illustration along with a variety of fun facts about the creature shown, including its size, description, and when and where it lived. Kids of all ages will find these brain treats captivating, and, yes, amazing!

Animal Clinic offers a fertile environment for the imagination in this representation of a veterinary clinic, complete with human figures, many animals and a number of vet clinic devices used in the treatment of animals, such as an ultrasound machine, casts, and bandages. As always with Playmbobil, the astonishing level of detail is a strong factor in drawing children into a 'little universe' in which their minds can play out countless creative scenarios. Animal Clinic has small parts and is not intended for children under the age of 3 due to possible choking hazards. While assembly is required, for us, at least, putting this carefully crafted toy together was quite enjoyable and simply added to our appreciation of it when finished.

Winner of both the 2009 Sterling Fun and 2009 Brain Child Awards. Part of the beauty of this toy is the sheer sprawling fun at your fingertips as the Ark is opened up layer by layer, and the clutter-free compactness of it once it is reassembled. The speed and ease with which the entire Ark can be fully or partially taken apart and reassembled is astonishing, making for many different stages of play and infinite possibilities for the imagination. The Ark consists of 12 different stackable layers that lock together into a solid, fully inhabited ship when the ramps are up. Included are 44 detailed play figures, 40 of which fit neatly into their pre-labeled resting places below decks, while the heads and necks of two giraffes extend regally through the roof. Two human figures stand watch on the deck of a fully contained and populous playground for the imagination!

On the surface, this is a cute cuddly bear. Beneath that surface lies something with the potential to make baby, Mommy, and Daddy very happy. Back to Sleep Bear contains a sound box with digital recordings of several sleep-inducing sounds from which to choose, including sounds from the womb, lullabye, and the option to make your own recording. To conserve battery power, the recording stops playing after about five minutes and reactivates when baby cries or jostles. As any parent who has ever gone to great lengths to help their infant get to sleep knows, a tool such as Back to Sleep Bear can prove invaluable.

This cleverly designed 108-card deck comes with instructions for six excellent games. Each card contains an image of either a bead or pendant that comes in various shapes, colors and patterns. Each of the six quick, easy-to-learn games involves using your bead and/or pendant cards to create strings, by using pairs (two cards that share 2 of the 3 bead qualities), or perfect pairs (two identical cards). Our testers had a great time with all six games, but our personal favorite was Beadominoes, which had a habit of surprising players who thought they were about to win by getting rid of their last card, only to suddenly find their hand growing fat with cards again to their opponents' pleasure.

This charming hand puppet is beautifully designed and nuzzle-me soft, a perfect play and sleep companion for all ages. Children and parents alike will love making Peter come alive, creating countless unforgettable story-time experiences.

HABA is masterful at providing food for your child's imagination, and their new Biofino Fish is no exception. Beautifully designed and executed, soft, colorful and creatively detailed, this fun fabric fish is sure to wind up in the play kitchens of little chefs everywhere. The belly of the fish opens to reveal a pink dotted interior and a removable plastic fish bone (the tip of which is just visible through the fish's puckered mouth). The kids in our group loved inventing games, playing before and after by serving up the fish whole and then revealing the bones picked clean after they were done 'eating'! They also couldn't resist hiding little treasures in the resealable belly for later discovery. This tasty morsel provides a smorgasbord for the imagination!

You wouldn't know it just from looking at him, but Bubba is soooo much more than an adorable, very soft, plush bear! Release the velcro strips under his belly and Bubba opens to become a very comfy pillow. Open the zipper along his bottom and out comes a soft child-sized blanket, still attached to Bubba. When comfy time is over and it's time to play or be on the move again, he easily folds and zips back up to become Bubba the Black Bear again. Bubba just might be a child's best friend!

Cahootie is a quick, easy, very social game for 2 or more players. This modern version of the home-made folded paper fortune-telling game many of us played as children contains bright, colorful graphics, positive girl-empowering themes, and overall high quality craftsmanship. It comes with 40 reusable stickers, 8 of which can be loaded into the Cahootie for play on a given turn. Stickers contain either a fortune, trivia, or a challenge, and are geared toward sparking interesting and often playful conversation among players. This is a fun, welcome update to a classic game!

There's something mesmerizing about CitiBlocs. These light-weight, uniformly sized, impossibly smooth wooden rectangles make the perfect building blocks for whatever your heart desires. No glue, no nails, no tape, just eager hands fueled by the imagination.The results can be as intricate or simple, as pre-planned or spontaneous as you like. The action-oriented can just jump in, start building, and watch the resulting structure take on an impressive life of its own. Or aspiring architects can muse and plot something elaborately beautiful before laying wood to wood. In either case, CitiBlocs can be used to create surprisingly intricate-looking structures with ease and speed. When finished playing, the 100 CitiBlocs are easily repacked in the surprisingly small box from whence they came. No fuss, no muss, just wildly creative fun!

As with all the CitiBlocs wooden building sets, part of the beauty of the new Green & Turquoise blocks stems from the way they kick-start a child's imagination. Kids' hands seem to start flying at the mere sight of them, and the speed with which they can be used to construct an almost limitless variety of structures is at times stunning. Made with the same precision cut, high quality wood as in the past, these new blocks come colored with a non-toxic water-based stain, expanding the creative palette by allowing for color in all the right places. The perfect add on to the other CitiBlocs sets, and, as always, no fuss, no muss - just wildly creative fun!

Picture this: You answer a knock at your door and find a delivery man with a package your children excitedly open to find . . . frogs, LIVING FROGS! How cool is that? Few things are as fun for a child as getting a new pet, and few things are as gratifying for a parent as finding a pet that requires near zero maintenance, in other words, a pet you can say yes to with all your heart. The Classic Kit Eco-Aquarium from Wild Creations does just that, providing two companion Dwarf African Frogs, a one year supply of food, and all the trappings you need to populate the self-maintaining aquarium (merely change water every 3 months). The frog couple we received (we named them Guinevere and Lancelot) are cute as the dickens. When resting, the pair often squeeze together, piggyback style, behind the decorative rock. Home, sweet home!

This game is great fun, very socially interactive, for 3 to 8 players, and requires only a minute or two to learn. Each player has a pawn on the board. Ten 'noun' cards are turned face up. An 'adjective' card is then turned face up and players vote privately, then publicly, for the noun they feel best links to the given adjective. If any noun receives a majority of the votes, the players who voted for it advance one space on the board. The fact that all possible choices are on the board for everyone to see often results in hilarious observations blurted spontaneously, particularly with respect to some of the odder pairings. The game moves briskly, always a plus, and rarely did all players vote for the same choice. This is a fun, pressure-free game. No one at our table felt un-smart for even a moment, although several were uncharacteristically comical during the course of the game.

This Movie Edition of the outstanding Consensus game is great fun and highly socially interactive. For 3 to 8 players, it requires only a minute or two to learn. Each player has a pawn on the board. Ten 'Movie' cards, each with the name of a single movie, are placed face up on the board. A 'Movie Question' card is then turned face up and players vote privately, then publicly, for the movie card they feel is best suited as the answer to the question, explaining their choices along the way. If any card receives a majority of the votes, the players who voted for it advance one space on the board. With questions like 'which one of the following movies would the President of the USA be most likely to rent?' the answers are highly subjective, making this almost the opposite of a trivia game. This is a fun, pressure-free game in which players often feel free to let their inner comic come out.

This edition of the award-winning Consensus board game is equally fabulous and is well-suited to bringing the entire family to the table time and again for laugh-filled fun. This socially interactive game requires only a few minutes to learn. Ten 'noun' cards are turned face up on the board. An 'adjective' card is then turned face up and players vote privately, then publicly, for the noun they feel best links to the given adjective. If any noun receives a majority of the votes, the players who voted for it advance one space on the board. This game inspires spontaneous comments from players throughout the game and will get everyone's funny bones into high gear in a jiffy. A great family game!

Construction Plate is a great way to make eating more fun for young children. The surface of this brightly designed, dishwasher-and-microwave safe plate is compartmentalized, creating nifty places for various foods and utensils to go. Certain of the plate's features work well with Constructive's Tillywig Award-winning Eating Utensils. Down the hatch!

Make eating fun with these utensils fashioned as construction vehicles - Forklift Fork, Frontloader Spoon, and Bulldozer Pusher, all playfully designed to get the food where it needs to go - into your child's belly. Getting young children to settle in for eating can sometimes seem a chore. Why not actively engage their imaginations in the process and turn mealtime into a playful attraction? Rugged, light, and dishwasher safe, the Constructive Eating Utensils are brightly colored and comfortable for hands of all sizes.

Dozy Dolphin On The Go is a travel-size plush toy that plays four water-based sounds to help children sleep when away from home. Our favorite was the authentic-sounding underwater dolphin call. There is a built in timer that allows you to set the sounds to turn off after 23 minutes or 45 minutes and a velcro strap for easy attachment to car seats and strollers. Made with hypoallergenic bamboo fabric. Comes with storybook, adoption certificate, and 2 AA batteries.

The very best teaching methods are those that incorporate fun into the process and keep your child coming back for more. Let your child find out how much fun math can be with Dreambox Learning's K-2 Math program. Children earn rewards and uncover clues by completing highly engaging game segments. The top-notch graphics, audio, and progressive challenges in this learning tool make it an invaluable resource in developing your child's age-appropriate math skills.

Stimulate the brain and the senses with these unique, brightly colored, highly squeezable, soft rubber foam balls. Their already substantial tactile nature is enhanced by the fact that each ball has plenty of numerals, shapes, or letters on them, raised three-dimensionally so that they can be 'seen' by the fingers as well as the eyes. Ball play does so much for hand-eye coordination development. Bounce them, roll them, dribble them, have a game of toss. And given their variety, collect them. Excellent for both indoor and outdoor play.

Spark your young artist's creativity with the Color Me Caterpillar, 15 inches of caterpillar canvas waiting to be filled with creative designs from young minds! This 3-dimensional version of Eric Carle's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' is cute and cuddly and can be colored and washed over and over again. Comes with 4 washable markers and a soft caterpillar toy.

Presto change-o! This transforming plush toy allows kids to see evolution in action. Just unzip the pouch on Dimetrodon's belly, and out comes Cynognathus, the creature Dimetrodon evolved into over the course of 35 million years or so. The two animals are attached at the stomach, and each can be tucked and zipped into the other's belly. This is a very neat concept that not only results in two toys in one, but more importantly, offers insight into the changes wrought by evolution at two distinct points in time. This plush toy comes with a card bearing interesting facts about each of the two ancient animals.

Playmobil consistently creates products with a meticulous level of detail, and Expedition Ship is no exception. The ship comes with a variety of accessories, including binoculars, detailed human figures, and a treasure chest, Once assembled, the ship floats on water. As with other Playmobil products, for us, at least, putting it together was half the fun and added greatly to our enjoyment of it when finished.

Each Eye Can Art kit provides a kid-tested project to delight your child's imagination, and includes enough materials to experiment. Make dramatic-looking collograph printed images, multiple-layered drawings on melted wax, Japanese-style brush paintings and accordian-style books-in-a-box.

Engaging family members in stimulating, meaningful, or entertaining conversation can seem a challenge if for know other reason than that we think we already know everything about those closest to us. That's where Family Talk 2 comes in. The game-play is simplicity itself. Pick a card, ask a question. When we played, our biggest problem was that we couldn't get people to stop talking, which of course is not a problem at all. Everyone around the table was eager to throw in his or her two cents, often elaborating on one another's answers. The questions are surprisingly varied and open-ended, and of the sort to which there is no such thing as a wrong answer, factors that contributed mightily to the game's success in getting the conversation flowing. There are 100 question cards, durably made and bound by a metal ring, making for a highly portable conversation-starter that can be played anytime, anywhere.

It's time to get dressed for the royal ball - did we mention that you're the guest of honor? Fortunately, there's no shortage of finery at your disposal with Pretty Princess, one of a series of felt storyboards from Babalu Inc. that act as a springboard for your child's imagination. The felt board itself contains a colorful background, the canvas on which children build their stories, arranging and overlapping deliciously soft, colorfully detailed felt pieces in endless variations. Pretty Princess comes with more than 20 such pieces, allowing for a high level of detail as the story builds, and an easy storage pouch for the pieces when playtime is over for the moment.

Imagine shrinking yourself down to Lilliputian size and being given the opportunity to attend the most modern, well-designed, best-equipped school around. Having Playmobil's new Finished School Building in your home is kind of like that. The set includes a school building with functioning bell, a furnished classroom, science room, and art and music room. Nine human figures (one of which is a skeleton for the Science Room) and numerous accessories add just the right touches with which to nurture and unleash your child's imagination, providing countless hours of stimulating entertainment.

Kristina is one of the newest additions to the Friends Forever Girls Dolls. The thought and care that went into her evolution and design will be evident to anyone the moment they lay eyes on her. This 18 inch, high quality vinyl doll comes stylishly dressed right out of the box and is of Asian American heritage, in keeping with the manufacturer's focus on diversity and inclusiveness. Each of the Friends Forever Girls Dolls comes from a different background, and the positive values inherent in the line (there's even a Friends Forever Girls Pledge, rooted in kindness, fairness, courage, and respect), are especially appealing. Like the other dolls, Kristina comes with her own background story and personality traits, and each of the Friends Forever Girls Dolls comes with a hard cover book - The First Day of Forever.

Fruit & Veggie Color Bingo is not just fun - it also teaches players to name 95 fruits and veggies by color! A chart at the bottom of each playing card helps players become familiar with the health benefits associated with eating each of the various colors of fruits and vegetables. Includes a highly educational nutrition Information Sheet, charts, and a coloring activity sheet, all geared towards expanding the players' awareness and knowledge of fruits, vegetables, and nutrition!

Funny Business is Fun with a capital 'F!' Presented with a randomly selected pair of business cards, players score points by creating and/or voting for the best name for a merger between the two businesses. For example, a Laundromat and a Sushi Bar, or a Golf Course and a Butcher Shop might merge. Players have 45 seconds to create and write a name for the merged business on their personal write-erase board. After the names are read aloud, players vote for their favorite. The player whose name won the most votes earns points, as do players who voted for that name. To help keep the creative juices flowing, each business card lists 20 words associated with that business that players are free to use in the naming process. A great party and family game!

This quick, fun game is perfect for families on the go. While intended for play while waiting in restaurants or on the road during travel, the 132 easy games included here are well-suited to any family occasion. Each of the 11 circular game cards contains 12 games apiece. Game cards fall into one of three categories: While You Wait, While You Eat, and Travel Games. Select the card you want to play and place it on top inside the Gather 'Round Game Unit. At the push of a button, flashing lights circle round before randomly selecting a game instruction to be read aloud and instantly played. Good, clean, fast, easy fun! Batteries included.

Bed-time has a new best friend! Gentle Giraffe is a huggably soft plush toy that plays soothing jungle-based sounds, as well as a mother's heartbeat, to help children sleep better. Select the sound of your choice, close your eyes, and it's Zzz-time. Gentle Giraffe comes with a built-in timer that can be used to automatically turn off the sound after either 23 minutes or 45 minutes. Comes with storybook, adoption certificate, and 2 AA batteries.

Gentle Giraffe On The Go is a travel-size plush toy that plays jungle-based soothing sounds to help children sleep when away from home. There is a built in timer that allows you to set the sounds to turn off after 23 minutes or 45 minutes and a velcro strap for easy attachment to car seats and strollers. Made with hypoallergenic bamboo fabric. Comes with storybook, adoption certificate, and 2 AA batteries.

Kids will love walking, hopping, and playing their way along the Giant Timeline, a highly durable walk-on play mat that unfolds to a whopping 18 feet long. Taking us from 600 million years ago to the present, the timeline advances in 20-million-year increments and is richly illustrated with a host of bizarre and amazing creatures from our evolutionary past. There is a wealth of information accompanying the illustrations, much of it in the form of call-out balloons in which the creatures earnestly, and often comically, share facts with you about themselves. The play mat includes instructions for 18 different games that incorporate the mat's content in clever and entertaining ways. Also includes a glossary and numerous FAQS for kids, adults, and educators.

Let's face it. Knowing stuff feels good. It doesn't much matter what that stuff is. With Guilty Pleasures, a fast, fun entry from Kheper Games, that stuff happens to be the amazing amount of seemingly useless information you've accumulated through years of watching movies and television, reading tabloids, and gossiping around the water cooler. How awesome is it for that knowledge to finally make you proud? Roll the die, move your playing piece, draw a card, answer a question. If you get it wrong, you'll find the correct answer fascinating and mindlessly educational. If you get it right, puff out your chest and move again. If you get it right while on a special Token Space, excellent - collect a token and you're on your way to winning. Pure social fun, an excellent party game for 2 or more players.

The stacking quartet is composed of a little house and three fabric figures stimulating babies to clutch and put together. Each of the four elements emits a different sound. Includes kaleidoscope and magnetic flap.

This silliness-inducing board game, for 2 or more players, is designed to get teens and adults talking up a storm, revealing secrets, and behaving in ways they might not normally behave - all in the name of fun! The game play is simple and quick-moving - roll the die, move your playing piece, follow the instructions on the space where you land. For example, Talk like a baby, Sing a rap song, Imitate your best friend. Every third or fourth space tells you to draw and read aloud an I've Never card, which might say something like, 'I've never received a love letter,' or, 'I've never had a crush on a teacher.' You then have to admit whether the statement is true or false, for which there are further potentially exciting or embarrassing consequences, depending on your answer!

Smart-e-bear is soft and cuddly, entertaining, and loaded with soft-ware that enables the bear to sing songs, tell stories, and play countless educational games interactively with your child. Squeezing Smart-e-bear's hands or feet lets you to start and stop programs, respond to questions, and otherwise interact with this very intelligent bear. While Smart-e-bear comes bearing a fair amount of fun and games right out of the box, you can tailor and add considerably to that content through a multitude of additional fun available for purchase on the smart-e-bear website and downloadable using a USB connection.

There's nothing quite like a fun activity that produces great end results! This easy-to-use tie dye kit is great for ages 5 and up (with adult supervision). The kit comes with pre-measured dye in red, blue, and yellow, and the entire process consists of 3 easy steps: 1) Wet the fabric and tie with rubber bands or string. 2) Soak in soda ash (provided) for at least 20 minutes while mixing the dyes with tap water. 3) Apply the dye, wait 24 hours, then rinse, wash, dry, and enjoy! The kit contains everything you need to create up to 5 adult t-shirts, but can also be used on heavier items such as jeans. The instructions provide methods for several different patterns (bunching, spiral, vertical stripe, geometric design) and encourages creative experimentation. This is a gift that keeps on giving.

For ages 4 and up (with adult supervision), this kit contains everything you need for hours of creative fun and artistic expression. It comes with 3 stretched silk hoops, 3 primary color Dye-Na-Flow paints (which you can mix to create a broad spectrum of colors), and supplies and instructions for four splendid techniques. The Watercolor technique allows colors to blend freely on the silk, creating a look similar to a watercolor painting. The Resist technique involves applying a water-based substance (provided) to the silk to act as a boundary between colors, allowing for a fair amount of intricacy in your artwork. The Salt technique uses Silk Salt (provided) to create starbursts of color, and the Sunprinting technique enables the use of small objects and sunlight to create interesting impressions on your artwork. These four techniques can be easily combined to inspire and create truly dazzling art!

Jishaku is a unique and fascinating game that has players place magnetic stones, one at a time, into indentations in an egg crate-like structure. Your objective depends on which of the three included games you are playing. Regardless, as the first few stones are placed, things typically remain where you put them. But as available space fills up, the chances that two or more stones will jump together suddenly as you attempt to place yours, increases to the point of inevitability. The fun here lies in choosing your placement wisely, based on a combination of experience, knowledge, and gut instinct!

The fact that these cuddly playmates from Peru are organic and eco-friendly is icing on the cake. It would be hard to imagine a more cheerful and distinctive group of play toys. Their mere presence visibly brightens a room, and they're so soft and squeezable it can be difficult to put them down. There are nine Joobles in all, and no two look alike. Meet Bella the Bunny, Buzzy Bug, Calley the Cat, Fair Bear, Icy the Penguin, Jiffy the Giraffe, Mel the Monkey, Mooey Cow, and Pip the Dog!

This is a fun, creativity-inspiring toy. These 16 velvety-soft, brightly colored foam triangles provide a tactile and visual playground for eager hands and eyes. Put them together to form new shapes and designs, invent games, or simply play catch. See who can build the tallest tower of triangles (fear not - if they tumble, there will be no damage and nary a sound, so soft are they). Their shape and foam rubber design means they also have a pretty good bounce, and a resilience such that, when squeezed, is sufficient to promote hand strength.

Kids (and you) will love these precision construction blocks that can be used to easily create an astonishing array of designs - towers, bridges, buildings, sculptures - simply by stacking. Smooth, lightweight, perfectly cut, their identical construction allows them to be quickly stacked with a very high level of stability. Kids start stacking and building the minute they're out of the box, and the level of intricacy and variety achievable is almost limitless, making this a creative toy suited for all age and skill levels from toddlers on up. The blocks also are a genuine artistic medium, nurturing your child's creativity and self-expression. The guidebook that comes with this set is fantastic, offering basic stacking techniques, construction challenges, group activities, games, and more, making this an astonishingly versatile product with exceptional longevity and play value.

This is a finely made and well thought-out toy. There are several Kimochi characters in addition to Kimochi Cat - the toy we tested - each one quite distinct from the others, but no less adorable. Kimochi Cat is a 13-inch tall plush animal with a pouch who comes with three small pillows (called Kimochis, each with a feeling printed on one side and a corresponding facial expression on the other) that can be placed in that pouch. Children learn to identify and express their feelings in a fun and comfortable way using the Kimochi character and its feelings. The feeling pillows look like sweet little creatures, and it's easy to see how the act of choosing one and tucking it into the pouch creates a positive context for expressing any type of feeling. Also includes a well-written 48-page Feel Guide and 5 cloth bandages adorned with hearts for soothing hurt feelings.

This imagination-inspiring toy will bring hours and hours of fun right out of the box. One byproduct of LEGO's easy modular design is that the Fire Ship is as much fun to build as it is to play with. Things snap into place, one after another, until you've created a miniature world with a remarkable level of detail, durable enough to withstand the exciting playtime this toy will inspire. A sense of accomplishment gives way to a sense of wonder at this formidable firefighting vessel and the many accessories with which it comes: six water cannons, a 360-degree rotating fire-fighting boom, 4 firefighter mini-figures with life jackets, a floating dinghy, and more! The boat itself measures over 16 inches long and over 11 inches tall.

This puzzle and game is very cleverly designed, and promotes spatial awareness and problem solving skills in all ages. The instructions booklets, after a brief introduction, consist of 303 distinct game setups for players to solve, ranging in difficulty from easy to very advanced. The progressive difficulty of the problems allows for an apt starting place for every level of skill. The 2-dimensional problems involve first filling in areas of a grid in an exact imitation of the problem set-up shown in the booklet, then filling the remaining empty areas of the rectangle with the balance of the multi-colored, multi-shaped game pieces. The 3-dimensional pyramid problems are very challenging, and thankfully, the instructions make clear exactly what level of 2-D problem solving experience a player should have before attempting them.

Magnetic Match Rings is the fun way to learn about magnetism, help develop visual matching skills, and improve eye-hand coordination. Players select one of 50 pattern matching challenges and attempts to stack the magnetic rings in the exact same color order as shown on the card. If a card shows rings that are floating (magnetic opposites) your rings must also be floating.

The Make a Plate kit comes with everything you need to have your child create a work of art and have it transferred to a usable, break-resistant plate, creating a keepsake that can last a lifetime. Once the artwork has been created, simply submit it via the pre-addressed envelope, and a plate with your artwork on it will be delivered right to your door. One parent suggested how nice it would be to have his daughter create an artwork on the special Make a Plate paper without telling her it's purpose, then surprise her with the plate on a special occasion! Kit includes one certificate for transferring artwork to plate.

Mind Fizzle has many merits, not the least of which is the way it requires you to hold in mind a group of symbols while assessing which of them is missing from a card on the table and scanning cards in your hand for any of the missing symbols. If you spot one, you'd best be fast in getting the right card from hand to table because everyone else is doing the same and it's the first one down who wins the round. Whew! It all happens in a heartbeat, and if this doesn't keep your hands fast and your mind sharp, we're not sure what will. For 1 to 7 Players, ages 7 to adult.

This extraordinary gift set includes an interactive plush doll named Moonman Lovey who plays music and whose head glows like the moon when hugged. Moonman is one of the title characters of the accompanying hard-cover book and CD, which includes a recording of the spoken story as well as a sing-along song. The book is the second in a series, a warm, reassuring tale of friendship in which Moonman helps a little girl named Nana Star return a lost baby star to its home. The story as told on the CD is beautifully spoken, and the sing-along song adds a nice dimension to an already generously well-rounded and entertaining experience for young ones.

This kit combines several elements - touch, sight, sound, movement, and storytelling - to actively engage children in the processes of exploring colors, enhancing motor control abilities, and actively using their imaginations. The kit includes Dr. Seuss' My Many Colored Days board book, 10 different colored sheer nylon scarves, a CD with many beautiful well-known music selections chosen for the moods they convey, and a velcro strip for hanging the scarves. These elements can be combined and explored by parents and children in an almost endless variety of ways. The soft, flowing, 27-inch square scarves, when moved through the air to the accompanying music, create a mesmerizing attraction for the eyes and the spirit.

Playmobil's penchant for detail and fine craftsmanship has produced another great play product for children, one that is also wonderfully portable. The farm building, with easy to carry handle, comes with a variety of human and animal figures and a multitude of accessories sufficient for even the most elaborate imagination. The two level farm house opens to reveal four rooms which look out onto a fenced-in animal enclosure populated by a host of farm animals, tools, vegetation, and more. Play to your heart's content, then scoop everything into the farmhouse, fold it shut, and you're off to a playmate's house to share the wonders of My Take Along Farm with a friend.

This gift set includes a book, CD, and plush doll that tell the tale of a lost little girl who becomes Nana Star when she happens upon a lost baby star and promises to help it return home. As she goes about fulfilling that promise, loving interactions occur between the characters, and a strong appreciation for the beauty and wonders of nature are on display on almost every page. Like the character in the story, the beautiful plush Nana Star doll carries a baby star and branch, and the accompanying audio CD includes a sing-along song in addition to a spoken-word version of the story. This well-rounded and entertaining experience conveys kindness, generosity, and a very warm human touch. Each component of the gift set makes for a very entertaining experience in and of itself. Together, they create an exciting multi-media and tactile experience.

elope, Inc. is known for making creative, high quality, playful headwear, and the Nemo Hat is a cut above. This goofy, laugh-inducing hat is so much fun that we found kids of every age, and more than a few adults, gravitating to it on sight. Bright orange and beautifully made of plush, durable velvet, the Nemo Hat looks as good resting on a dresser or table (or pinned to a wall) as it does snuggled on top of someone's head. And good news: it has a built-in Velcro size-adjuster so that it can fit every head in the house. Nemo-lovers, unite!

Even the pizza-box style packaging on this wonderful family game makes players laugh. Pizza Night comes with 150 pizza-slice shaped game cards separated according to six different colors that match the colored die players roll to determine which card to play next. Each card has super-simple instructions to a lightning quick game (e. g., Everyone take a big sip of their drink and see who has the biggest drink mustache). Take a turn, play a game, pass the die - there are no losers, only winners, laughter, and happy Pizza Night Family Dinner Game players.

The time required for assembly of this fantastic children's product is well worth it. The high level of detail in this elaborate miniature circus set will stimulate the imagination and provide tremendous entertainment value.

Polar Cuddle Cub is a beautiful plush polar bear with a built in unit that produces soft, soothing rhythmic vibrations designed to promote relaxation and sleep. Polar Cuddle Cub can be set to vibrate or produce a surprisingly realistic rhythmic heart-beat when hugged, or can be set using a timer. Made with an eco-friendly anti-bacterial Soy-based fabric, Polar Cuddle Cub comes with a story book, adoption certificate, and two AA batteries.

Polar Derby is beautifully made, with 25 wooden Polar Bear playing pieces on skates (in 5 different colors) and a pair of high quality special dice. Each Polar Bear is marked with a point value, and players pull them off the board on their turn based on rolls of the dice. The skill is rooted in quick decision-making, as many rolls of the dice result in choices to be made by the roller, not the least of which is whether to end the turn and take the winnings or keep rolling but risk losing everything won thus far on the turn. The player with the most points once all Polar Bears are off the board is the winner!

This toy racer has the timeless feel of a classic. Built of basic wooden shapes, threaded nuts, and pegs, it can be disassembled in a matter of seconds. The individual shapes can then be used as the imagination's building blocks for all variety of things. The cool, smooth sensation of the quality hardwood pieces invites the hands-on experience so vital to learning - everything from shapes, stacking, sorting, and free-form building, to reassembling the Racer to its original form. When the wheels are on, the Racer makes a nice pull-along toy to be proudly paraded from room to room, before launching into another inspired session of deconstruction and creation!

Some games just seem to have it all, and this is one of those games. For starters, the components are of the highest quality, in terms of both design and execution. Take the beautifully detailed 6 and 1/2 foot long board (three panels that quickly and easily interconnect like giant puzzle pieces), which in and of itself provides ample entertainment value. Throw in the marvelous playing pieces, the Goldbug cards, the magnifying glass tokens, the timer, the spinner, the food tiles, the ferry boat, the gloriously straightforward instructions and game play. Add in the teamwork, (players either all win or all lose together), the observation skills, (the game is a visual scavenger hunt), the quick pace and group participation. Mix it all together and you've got hours and hours of fun!

Fast, frolicking fun from Gamewright! Setup takes mere seconds, after which players begin launching colored lifesavers in the direction of the elevated game board. The goal is to have your lifesavers land so that they encircle the 3-dimensional Flamingo figures on the board, sparing them from the imminent threat of leering alligators while scoring points for you. Each player's lifeboat acts as their life-saver launch-pad, and the product design is such that it is quite easy to get lift and distance with your shots. Aim, however, is the skill here, and with just a bit of practice, you should be saving flamingoes left and right!

This set contains 9 squishy, velvety-soft blocks, each of which is brightly colored, durable, and very fun to touch. The blocks come with equally squishy cylindrical connecters that fit snugly into openings in each of the blocks' sides. This design allows a variety of sturdy formations to be quickly created, disassembled, and repeatedly varied. Both the blocks and connectors are soft and bouncy enough that they make for a pretty good game of toss, and bounce in fun and unpredictable ways. This is a great set for building creative and critical thinking skills, color sense, and just all out fabulous tactile stimulation.

There was plenty of frivolous, funny interaction during the playing of this game. It's easy to learn, moves briskly, and most anyone will find it very easy to participate. All players simultaneously write down an answer to questions such as 'What would be the weirdest job?' or 'What word is the most fun to say?' The player who read the question secretly picks his favorite answer from among those given. The other players bet on which answer was picked and earn points if they are correct. The game plays well in part because there is no pressure to be a genius, and no one during our playtime experienced any performance anxiety whatsoever, just pure fun!

This is an Action product, with a capital A. The Shred Sled combines elements of skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing. Inexperienced boarders may initially need time to get the hang of balancing, like riding a bike for the first time. But once you do, boy can that thing sing! It's fast and sleek, made with high quality components, and the flexible connector linking the fore and rear plates allows them to rotate both vertically and horizontally, enabling some sizzling tricks. The 4 wheels allow for a surprisingly smooth ride on even rough surfaces, and the Shred Sled gets the entire body activated - muscles, tendons, and flexors, working together like there's no tomorrow. As with any other skating or boarding activity, don all your safety gear before jumping on board and soaring off into the sunset.

You will definitely not wait for Halloween to sport this shiny space man helmet! It's soft, bright, shiny, and surprisingly stylish! With bright red collar, dual side antennae, and curly-cue cone on top, you will be more than ready to transmit and receive fun! With fabric lining and secret pocket.

Sphere XYZ is brain teaser puzzle with a new twist! This sphere contains different colored rotating hemispheres as well as colored squares that slide along two different tracks surrounding the sphere. The object is to have each hemisphere contain only squares of a single color, the exception being the two white squares, each of which must wind up at the north and south poles in order for the puzzle to be considered solved. Our testers, ranging in age from 8 to 50, became quite absorbed in manipulating the sphere, to such an extent that each wanted to take it home when the evening was over. Wonderfully tactile brain stimulation to get those synapses firing!

TableTalk Conversation Decks get conversation flowing in interesting, and sometimes odd, directions by revealing a fascinating fact followed by a related, intriguing question. And here's the thing - the facts really are fascinating and the questions, genuinely intriguing. During our sit down sessions, kids became very engaged, whether it be in discussing the environmental benefits of choosing toys and games that use less packaging or arguing the merits of dogs vs. cats as pets. Each deck has a specific theme (GreenTalk, PetTalk, etc.), and while the manufacturer indicated age range is 4 - 10 yrs. we found them to be a very good fit for older kids and adults as well.

Another great game from Gamewright! Fine motor skills, as well as shape and color recognition, figure prominently in the game play. Fill the sprinkle shaker with the colored wooden shapes (stars, cubes, triangles, etc.), place the cupcake cards on the table, and you're ready to go. On your turn, roll the die and shake the sprinkle shaker the number of times shown on the die. Any shapes that pour out can be placed on the face-up cupcake cards if they match both a shape and color found there. Cover all the shapes on a given card and you get to collect it and the shapes on it. Once the sprinkle shaker contains no more shapes, the player with the most cards wins. Take the Cake is simple, delicious, fun!

The Shuttle Imagination playhouse is the ideal environment for children to express themselves in (and on) while playing to their hearts' content. Made in the USA using 100% recycled cardboard material, it measures 72 inches tall X 39 inches long x 34 inches wide. The space shuttle design unleashes their imagination to go on countless adventures, and provides a sturdy canvas on which to draw and express their inner artist. Perfect for individual and group play, parties, rainy days, sleepovers and anytime all-around fun!

Too Many Monkeys is a great game for kids or kids and parents to play together. It's quick moving, easy-to-learn, and includes some very playful graphics and quirky 'special' cards in addition to the numbered monkey cards. The game-play teaches number sequencing and order placement, but more importantly, it's just plain fun!

This worldly game even comes with its own functional passport stamp, a feature indicative of the level of thought and detail that went into its devising. Players travel the globe, collecting passport stamps and visas by landing on key spaces and correctly answering multiple-choice questions. The first player or team to collect one passport stamp and one visa from each of the five continent groups wins the game. Expand your horizons while exposing yourself to fascinating aspects of various cultures - the languages, government, economy, geography. Whether showing off what you know or learning what you previously didn't, you'll find Travel Mania provides a world of information and entertainment, all in one meaty box of fun!

For 2 to 4 players, Treasure Pools is a game that not only creates enjoyable family time, but also provides interesting and fun facts regarding the tidal pool animals on the cards players must collect in order to win the game. For example, we learned that Sea Urchins eat red algae, sea lettuce, and the occasional dead fish. Players' pieces move around the outside path of the board seeking opportunities to enter the tidal pool paths, where opportunities to collect the animal cards can be found. A player must collect either all 6 animal cards or 5 animal cards and a Treasure Pool card in order to win.

You've got to love instructions that are written both clearly and with a sense of humor. The box cover claim that Triviathon is a game for smart AND stupid people is true in that you can pretty much lack any trivia sense at all and still do a pretty good job of pretending you know what you're doing. After all, the only questions you'll be asked are 'How many spaces do you want to move?' and 'To what colored space do you want to move?' You then are given four options, for example, 'The number of toes on an ostrich.' Your job is to try to pick the option whose number (or color), when revealed, gets you furthest along on the board. Very simple, clever, social fun, and the facts you learn along the way (Papa Smurf wore red pants and hat!) you'll surely carry to your grave. Each player also receives a 'character card' that can be used at will (usually only once) to throw humorous curve balls and reversals into the action. For 2 to 12 players.

Here is a mini-playground for the hands and mind, the sort of experience vital to learning - shapes, stacking, sorting, free-form building, and everything in between. The all-wood Wagon of Blocks breaks down into 40 different building blocks and pieces, perfect for the imagination. Many of the wooden shapes rest atop the vehicle (which is a pretty sweet pull-toy in and of itself) on pegs, slipping on and off with ease. A quick turn of threaded nuts allows the wheels to slide right off, and pegs unscrew from the front and rear axles, allowing for maximum breakdown. Kids find the cool, smooth sensation of the quality hardwood pieces irresistible, and the sheer variety of ways the pieces can be assembled endlessly stimulating.

For 2 or more players - If we gave an award for clarity of instructions and the speed with which one can zip through them and let the fun begin, Wise Alec would win it! Add to that the fact that this game of facts is highly playful, fast-moving, and enjoyable, and you've got a winning combination. The three main categories of play - History, Science, Spelling - determined by the space on which you land, give you the choice on your turn of going for a hard question (7 points) or easy (3 points). There are also spaces which allow you to choose your own category, as well as Wise Alec cards that throw funny and creative curve balls throughout the game.

X-Ball is a mind-pleasing, brain-teasing, creative-juice-inducing blast! Consisting of a set of 30 X-shaped magnetic pieces that click together to form a somewhat futuristic-looking geometric orb called the X-Ball, the unique design of the pieces allows the user to easily form any number of mesmerizing and beautiful shapes, such as the Starry Decagon, and the Hexagon Flower. The set comes with a 96 Page Creativity Guidebook with plenty of designs for the user to emulate, a creativity workshop to get the mind going in new directions, and more. Brilliant!

This game quickly got the creative juices and silly streaks kicked into high gear for the players who tested it on our watch. Given a made-up word, a silly category, and a doodle sheet, players race against time to write and/or draw their own definition of the word. For example, one might be given the word 'quib,' the category 'something slimy,' and a doodle sheet containing a starter doodle of 3 slightly curved lines. The category and starter doodle help kick-start the imagination and take it in surprising directions, and there were strange and wonderful things coming out of players' minds and mouths in no time. The player chosen by the judge as having the best definition collects the word card, and three word cards wins you the game. A spinner gizmo called the Spindoodler throws wild curve balls during play, making this an unpredictable play-fest of epic proportions.

The abominable snowman lives! With two fierce black eyes and a row of large foam teeth down to your eyebrows, this adjustable abominable snowman hat manages to transform the wearer without covering his or her face. If you've ever wondered how to look silly, cool, and cute at the same time, Yeti is the ticket! With fabric lining and secret pocket.

You've Been Sentenced generates exceptionally wacky sentences, a natural byproduct of scrambling to create a grammatically correct sentence from a given pool of words. Reading those sentences aloud and then defending them when challenged makes for some robust hilarity. The mental gymnastics involved in juggling and rearranging words lining the edges of the 10 pentagonal cards you receive each round, all under time pressure, can be exhilarating. Each word used in forming your sentence has a point value (except for Wild Cards). Using all 10 cards or being first to form a legitimate sentence earns you a bonus. First player to reach a given point goal wins. For 3 to 10 players. Skill and laughter makes a winning combination in this clever game!

The Zipfy Mini Luge Snow Sled's solid, lightweight, compact design makes it easy to store and port around. It's speed, and the uniqueness of its look, will have you turning heads on the slope as you zip down the hill. The rider sits feet first, steering with a center lever by leaning into the turn. The Zipfy gives a the rider great control, and, despite it's speed, never feels risky - you're quite low to the ground, so it's easy to roll off in a pinch. The Zipfy comes in several bright colors and has a 250 lb. weight capacity. Fast, furious, fun!

It would be hard to find a schoolage kid who has not read or heard a Prelutsky poem and who does not want to hear another. He plays with the language and encourages readers to revel in the game. Puns, jokes, wordplay and shape play, wit, silliness, slapstick, and joy abound. Some of the poems are about people, some are about animals. And some are about things that never were (and that one hopes never will be). Be warned: Read a poem once and you will love it. Read it several times and it will be part of you forever.

This toe-tappin', partner-swingin', selection of fun sing-a-long songs is perfect as either an introduction to country music or as an addition to your existing country collection. Young'uns will love it. Even those of us who aren't big country fans found ourselves singing and moving along with these upbeat tunes. The CD comes with a 24-page booklet containing lyrics, actions and dance music!

Jack and Annie of Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, know they have to search for one of the four secrets of happiness to help Merlin the magician find joy in his life again. And so they head off in the magic tree house for Florence, Italy, in the early 1500s to spend the day with one of the greatest artists and inventors of all time?Leonardo da Vinci! Mary Pope Osborne takes young listeners back to the time of the Renaissance, an amazing period when great art and new ideas flourished in Europe and helped change the world.

Most parents would agree that few things are as important as helping children to understand their own feelings and learn to express them in healthy ways. This musical CD, based on a book by author Karen Cuthrell, is a playful, pleasant, and effective way to do just that. Children can sing along with songs such as 'I am Angry Because,' and 'Happy as Happy Can Be,' and learn to put words to what they are feeling in the moment. Among our favorite musical selections were Griswald the Grumpy Grizzly, Shy Butterfly, and Slumpy Blues. A Meet the Feeling Friends companion book is available for the same price as the CD. While the book and CD are available for purchase separately, the visual and written elements of the book combine well with the music and expressive character voices on the recording to reinforce one another for an even stronger learning experience.

Have you ever encountered an underwater marching band, a pig in a bathing suit, a pet orangutan, or a witch in a hardware store? You will have, once you've read this exuberant collaboration from Jack Prelutsky and his partner in crime James Stevenson. The reigning czars of silliness have once again teamed up to bring readers an irresistible collection of poems that will have tongues twisting, imaginations soaring, and sides aching with laughter. The result is genius, indeed.

Thomas Ward is the apprentice for the local Spook, who captures witches and drives away ghosts. As the weather gets colder and the nights draw in, the Spook receives an unexpected visitor. Tom doesn't know who the stranger is or what he wants, but the Spook suddenly decides it's time to travel to his winter house, Anglezarke. Tom has heard it will be a bleak, forbidding place, and that menacing creatures are starting to stir somewhere on the moors nearby. Can anything prepare Tom for what he finds there?

Dodsworth wanted adventure. He wanted to see the world. He especially wanted to visit New York City. What he didn't want was to be joined by a duck. A crazy duck. A duck that misbehaves. Young readers will laugh out loud at the duck's silly antics as Dodsworth has the unexpected adventure of his life in the Big Apple . . . and beyond.

She longed for adventure. So she left her home and ventured out into the wide world. The pleasures and perils she met proved plentiful: marauding pirates on the majestic seas, a ferocious lion under the bright lights of the big top, a mysterious stranger in an exotic and bustling bazaar. Yet in the face of such daunting danger, our heroine . . . She was brave. She was fearless. She was feathered. She was a chicken. A not-so-chicken chicken. Her name?

In a rainy town in the north of England, there are strange goings-on. Dad is building a pair of wings, eating flies, and feathering his nest. Auntie Doreen is getting cross and making dumplings. Contest barker Mr. Poop is parading the streets shouting louder and louder, and even Mr. Mint, the headmaster, is not quite himself. And watching it all is Lizzie, missing her mam and looking after Dad by letting him follow his newfound whimsy. From an inspired creative pairing comes a story of the Great Human Bird Competition -- a poignant, exuberant tale of the healing power of flights of fancy, and a very special father-and-daughter bond.

These highly engaging writings and illustrations, . . . interwoven with key historical events, are a vital resource for family sharing and classroom use and a stirring reminder that the story of the White House is the story of every American.

This portrayal of friendship in the face of hardship, set during the Great Depression, focuses on 10-year-old Allie, who is uprooted along with her family when her father finds a new job. Author Mary Ann Hoberman's writing style is aptly simple and effective, artfully communicating themes that transcend childhood or time period.

Written by award-winning author and registered dietician Kathleen Stefancin M. S., R. D., this beautifully illustrated tale tells the story of Theo, a fruit-hungry fish whose dreams comes true. This hard cover book does a wonderful job of creating a sense of excitement, fun, and anticipation around a multitude of colorfully gorgeous, tasty-looking fruits. The book includes a very nice CD audio version of the story. And, on the book's final pages, after the tale ends, you'll find some fruit and vegetable facts, games, and some Green Smoothie recipes.

The inspiring story of African American inventor Garrett Morgan. Narrated by award-winning actress and vocalist Queen Latifah, Garrett's Gift teaches us that we are all born with a gift, something that's ours alone, but what is most important is that we give that gift back to the world. Garrett's Gift is illustrated by Coretta Scott King award-winner R. Gregory Christie, with original music by Coati Mundi of Kid Creole and the Coconuts.

In the kingdom of Kippernium, girls are typically raised to be ladies-in-waiting . . . but Jane isn?t exactly a typical 12-year-old girl. When Jane rescues Prince Cuthbert from a dragon who turns out to be not so ferocious after all she is granted special permission by the king to begin training as a knight?s apprentice..

This outstanding children's story features Knuffle Bunny taking an exciting trip to the laundromat. The adventure takes a surprising turn when Trixie realizes that something is missing!

Based on the popular children's books created by Michael and Betty Paraskevas, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast highlights the relationship between our five-year-old heroine Maggie and her best friends. Maggie loves her favorite stuffed toys Beast and Hamilton so much that she has created a whole world Nowhere Land for them to explore!