February 2012 New Specialty Toys — Educational

These Start to Finish Mazes Sets are teacher-created books that combine age-appropriate mazes with challenging activities such as counting practice, letter recognition and more. Lightweight paperback volumes are great for taking along on road trips or filling time at restaurants. 100 puzzles in all.
— When asked about her best selling educational products in November 2011, Mary Porter Green, owner of The Curiosity Zone in Ashburn, Va., told TDmonthly that "Just about everything in our store is educational, so this is a tough question to answer," but that "Workbooks from Mindware do well," in particular.

This original series of electronic Discover the-Sound Books allow kids to explore  backyard, farm, rain forest and pond scenes to discover the animals who live there. Each book has a sound module that plays an animal sound. Available in English and Bilingual versions (English/ French, English/ Spanish). Launch date: January 2012.

Parents can have fun with their child as they practice early learning skills with Water Magic™, an exciting new educational format by Beaver Books Publishing. This series of educational discovery books includes four colorful discovery scenes that are magically revealed with the Water Magic™ brush. The engaging activities presented above each scene reinforce the basics of each subject while keeping children entertained. Titles include Alphabet Zoo, Candy Counting, Bug Play: Matching, Circus Colors and more. Launch date: 2011.

Destina Inc. has released its first expansion to the Wise Money board game: the Spanish Card Set. The Spanish Card Set is a direct translation of all the card decks in the original WiseMoney board game, from Banking and Investing to Identity Protection including directions in Spanish. The Spanish Card Set is an extension of the board game that uses all of the same basic game elements (board, spinner, dice, etc.) of the original English version. "Our product addresses the financial literacy needs in the Hispanic community," Jan Noah, director of R&D at Destina, Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2011.