November 2008 New Specialty Toys — Educational

The Red Maple is a showstopper through all four seasons and is one of the first trees to bloom, as they gracefully usher into spring. The Red Maple comes complete with everything needed, including seeds, germination mixture, a plant stake and a biodegradable coconut coir pot that the tree can be planted outside in. Five percent of the proceeds from this line will be donated to the Arbor Day Foundation. "It is 100-percent natural and easy to grow!" Alicia Borley, PR manager for DuneCraft, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2008.

Kids can construct their own mole skeleton with DuneCraft’s new Skeleton Pellets — each contains an entire skeleton. The product is 100-percent synthetic, making it completely safe and sanitary to dissect. Each Skeleton Pellet Bag of Knowledge contains a magnifying glass, a Skeleton Pellet, a bone-sorting chart and more. Launch date: October 2008.

Who will be first to get to Witch's Mountain? Two to four players take turns testing their memory and advancing toward the mountain. Kids roll the dice and find the cards that match what they rolled to win. Little Thunder Witch can be played in three variations. Game play is approximately 15 minutes. "The wooden game pieces are made in Germany using native reforested woods and nontoxic water based stains, not paint," Lisa Orman, president of KidStuff Public Relations, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2008.

Legacy Interactive’s award-winning "Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals" is also available on Nintendo DS. Kids can test their skills as an animal doctor in this fun and educational vet simulation. Using the stylus, they give check-ups, treat major and minor illnesses, and even perform surgeries. Emergencies sometimes arise and players must act fast or risk losing a life. Zoo Vet will tug on heartstrings, prompt laughter, and challenge the mind. Launch date: November 11, 2008.

The 20 multi-part miniatures included in this kit are made of hard plastic and stand 28 mm tall. They come with full-color shield transfers and are unpainted and unassembled. The pieces feature "the highest quality sculpting and innovative designs," Paul Sawyer, operations manager for Warlord Games Ltd, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2008.

This interactive cloth wall chart helps children learn about a subject that fascinates them — the human body. The hanging activity center comes with 16 soft, stuffed, self-sticking organs, and 15 embroidered labels, for hours of science fun. Children love to play with the beautifully detailed, self-checking pieces as they learn about the organs and where they are located in the body. It includes a giant cloth charge (38.5” x 19.5”) with grommets, 16 self-stick organs, 15 self-stick labels and an activity guide. Launch date: January 31, 2008.

The Fossils Collection includes nine different fossils in a handy storage tray, an informational guide, a four-color insert card of photographed fossils, and a die-cut sheet of circle labels for the fossils. Fossils included are brachiopod, bryozoa, crinoid stem, gastropod, colony coral, ammonite, shark's tooth, fossil fern and petrified wood. Launch date: January 31, 2008.

Marko the Pencil shows students how easy it can be to understand and remember science concepts. They can learn about the solar system, weather, water cycle, geology, properties of minerals, volcanoes, plate tectonics, weathering, topography, erosion, energy resources and energy conservation. The approximately 58-minute DVD is an excellent preparation tool for any earth science tests and meets National Science Education Standards. Launch date: October 2008.

With this DVD, kids can learn important facts and get ready for any physical science test. Marko the Pencil takes learners on a journey to his Super Science Station where it’s easy to grasp science concepts. This DVD covers lab safety, scientific method, atoms and their parts, molecules, states of matter, physical and chemical changes, mixtures versus pure substances, electricity, magnetism, motion, gravity, light and energy. It meets National Science Education Standards, and is designed for grades 5 and up. Approx. 55 min. Launch date: September 2008.

Players roll the dice and hit a single, double, triple or Home Run and win, just like real baseball. Each time the dice are rolled, the tokens will move according to the outcome of the total on the dice. Depending on the outcome, the tokens will make a move based on the commonly known rules of baseball. The object of the game is to score the highest number or runs possible to beat one or more competitors. It includes instructions, two dice, a baseball diamond, nine playing pieces per player, a scoreboard card, a statistical sheet per team, two dry-erase markers, an official Baseball's Board Game sticker and a Baseball's Board Game Cup. Players "will feel the passion of playing baseball in winter, summer and all the seasons," Aurelio Rodriguez, marketing director for Fun Games, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2008.

This award-winning chess teaching tool is now in a zippered cloth bag and ready to take along at a moments notice. The board has been redesigned to hold the pieces not in play at either side. This game received a Dr. Toy Top 10 Games Award in 1997 and an EDUSOURCE Top 10 Games Award in 1999, and a National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) in 2003. Launch date: October 2008.

Ms. Frizzle and her students take Young Scientists diving into slime, gel and goop with fabulous experiments. Young Scientists discover oobleck, produce glue from milk, grow jiggly marbles, make snow from super-absorbent crystals, form a bouncy ball, create slime, expand super-absorbent gel crystals, melt fake snow, learn about polymers, and much, much more. This polymeric kit includes extra super-absorbent crystals, gels and marbles to repeat the fun. "This series has won multiple awards, has been on TV shows, and has appeared in many articles. This great exposure makes this series a great addition to any specialty retail store," CEO Esther Novis of The Young Scientists Club told TDmonthly. February 2, 2009.

These blocks, designed in Italy, can be connected in four different ways (vertically, stacked, laterally, perpendicularly and obliquely). "The models that could be made with these building blocks, unlike ... others, are realistic reproductions. For example, the airplane model [looks like] a real airplane; the castle [resembles] a real castle, etc. From the educational point of view, Special Cross develops creativity and imagination in children, as well as precision and patience," Georgiy Saturchenko, president of Bim Bom Trading, Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2008.

Couplicoles are designed to entertain children while also serving as a learning tool. They help develop children’s imagination and three-dimensional thinking. While learning to follow simple instructions, children can simultaneously develop their dexterity and creativity. This product received a Dr. Toy 2008 Best Vacation Product Award, and won a grand prize in Quebec's 2006 Grafika contest. "Couplicoles ... are classified according to their degree of difficulty. Beginners start by relying on the help of an adult and progressively learn to be more independent. Couplicoles therefore encourage both cooperation and individual initiative, which makes them particularly suitable for art classes and kindergartens. Moreover, they require only basic tools such as a ruler, scissors and glue. Black and white models can be customized using crayons or highlighters," Maria Valkova, in operations at Hartiatoys, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2004.

PREMIER is a powerful and versatile version of Piano Wizard. Designed to help anyone learn to play the piano, and also includes a keyboard allowing for learning and playing anywhere. PREMIER includes Easy Mode and Jam Mode, as well as many other features and challenges.  PREMIER comes with 200 songs, and gives players unlimited access to thousands of additional songs, allowing players to learn songs they want to play. This package contains the PREMIER software (compatible with Mac and PC) and color-coded, removable, and washable stickers to mark the keys on the keyboard for faster learning.

PREMIER is a powerful and versatile version of Piano Wizard. Designed to help anyone learn to play the piano, and also includes a keyboard allowing for learning and playing anywhere. PREMIER includes Easy Mode and Jam Mode, as well as many other features and challenges.  PREMIER comes with 200 songs, and gives players unlimited access to thousands of additional songs, allowing players to learn songs they want to play. This bundle contains the PREMIER software (compatible with Mac and PC), keyboard, a USB cable to connect the keyboard to the computer, and color-coded, removable, and washable stickers to mark the keys on the keyboard for faster learning.

PREMIER is a powerful and versatile version of Piano Wizard. Designed to help anyone learn to play the piano, and also includes a keyboard allowing for learning and playing anywhere. PREMIER includes Easy Mode and Jam Mode, as well as many other features and challenges.  PREMIER comes with 200 songs, and gives players unlimited access to thousands of additional songs, allowing players to learn songs they want to play. This package contains the PREMIER software (compatible with Mac and PC), Suzuki keyboard, a USB cable to connect the keyboard to the computer, and color-coded, removable, and washable stickers to mark the keys on the keyboard for faster learning.

PREMIER is a powerful and versatile version of Piano Wizard. Designed to help anyone learn to play the piano, and also includes a keyboard allowing for learning and playing anywhere. PREMIER includes Easy Mode and Jam Mode, as well as many other features and challenges.  PREMIER comes with 200 songs, and gives players unlimited access to thousands of additional songs, allowing players to learn songs they want to play. This bundle contains the PREMIER software (compatible with Mac and PC), keyboard, a USB cable to connect the keyboard to the computer, and color-coded, removable, and washable stickers to mark the keys on the keyboard for faster learning.

Inspired by the unique combination of literacy and science in Jeffrey Bennett's series of Science Adventures with Max the Dog, the Summit School District (Colorado) created a district-wide "Make Your Own Max Science Adventure" contest for their first annual "Summit Writes Celebration." More than 100 third and fourth graders submitted entries. Series creator Jeffrey Bennett was so impressed with Logan Weinman's winning entry that he decided to help Logan publish it as Max's Ice Age Adventure. Logan both wrote and illustrated Max's Ice Age Adventure, a story in which Max and Tori travel back in time to the last ice age, where they encounter a saber-tooth tiger and other adventures. Jeffrey Bennett then added science Q&A boxes to address common questions that children might ask as they read the story.

Max Goes to The Moon tells the story of how Max the dog and a young girl named Tori undertake a quest to make the first trip to the Moon since the Apollo era. Their trip proves so inspiring to people back on Earth that the nations of the world join together to build a great Moon colony, complete with a university and an astronomical observatory. The colony, with its beautiful views of Earth hanging in the lunar sky, helps inspire everyone with a message of unlimited human potential and the importance of respecting our home planet.

Max Goes to Mars begins where Max Goes to the Moon left off, with Max getting ready to go on the first human mission to Mars. This time, the trip is too long for his human friend Tori to go along, but she helps him prepare. On Mars, Max makes one of the most important discoveries of all time. After returning home, Max and Tori reflect on the beauty and fragility of our own planet Earth.

"Bitty Fish" is an easy-to-read book that combines phonics and rhyme in a lively, entertaining story for young readers. It is one of 15 books in the "Let's Read Together" series. Each book includes an artful blend of familiar vocabulary and easy-to-sound-out words, along with amusing characters. The storylines stress positive character traits such as sharing, friendship and responsibility. An audio component — CD or audiocassette — is available for each book in the series. "Bitty Fish offers a complete story with endearing characters and a humorous plot line," Margo Gunsser, marketing director for Kane Press, told TDmonthly. "Many books written for this age group offer rhyming words in unrealistic, uninteresting context. Bitty and her friends in the 'Let's Read Together' series offer stories that kids can 'sink their teeth into.'" Launch date: September 29, 2008.

Ultimate Spinner consists of 12 games, some of which help children learn alphabets and letter recognition, numbers, math, and how to tell time. Others promote active play, such as running or dancing.
— TDmonthly's Roundtable appreciated the fun, quality and educational appeal of this game. "It was fun to see them folding paper into shapes, drawing, acting things out, and interacting with each other," reviewer Sue Christensen said of her 7- and 11-year-old sons.

Past Videos: Toy Fair 2009

These two-sided placemats teach correct placement of utensils in a place setting and offer a distinctive way for kids to learn what goes where. They can be colored over and over with washable markers. Separate placemats are available for elementary and preschool children. The perimeter text of the elementary version also teaches the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of table manners.