November 2008 New Specialty Toys — Kits

This ceramic boot planter comes with herb or flower seed packets and is available in red, yellow, blue and green.

This research-based kit for busy parents includes materials to help baby grow healthily from birth. It includes a "Life With Baby" information guide and 23-minute DVD that go over children's development and encourage healthy communication with baby. The kit also includes a plush dog, the book "Goodnight, Moon," some small toys and a bib. It received a 2008 Seal of Approval from The National Parenting Center.

Suede lace is a popular lace in the craft industries. It has many decorative uses from American Heritage crafts to key chains, jewelry and more. Available in spools as well as 6yd cards, all in various colors.

This kit includes high-quality ceramic magnets and 26 activities designed to develop a solid foundation for more advanced topics in electricity and magnetism, teaching children the fundamental principles of magnetism while they play. It includes how to build an electromagnet, how to flip the poles of an electromagnet, and how an electric motor works, and allows kids to go iron detecting, visualize the lines of force, craft a compass, and levitate and bounce ring magnets. "ScienceWiz Magnetism is the only product of its kind that teaches the concepts of magnetism through hands-on learning and play. Magnets are more fun when you know how they work!" Rachael Norman, sales manager for Norman & Globus Inc., told TDmonthly. This product has received a Creative Child Magazine Award. Launch date: July 1, 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.

Offer some extra color to projects with these waxed braided cords. In addition to stitching the 25 yard spools can be used for braiding friendship bracelets, jewelry, and various other crafts. Available in 17 different colors.

Tandy Leather Factory offers a full range of children’s leather craft kits designed for all ages. The kits can teach kids pride and accomplishment by letting them create their own leather items. Kits include basic leathercrafting such as stamping and painting kits.

Become acquainted with the structure of space by building hundreds of models from simple to profound. Zometool bridges nature, math, science, art and architecture; this kit can be a great introduction to the Zometool universe.

Build the molecule that's responsible for building you. Learn more about the structure that makes life possible. DNA contains all the information needed to create and sustain life. Find out what makes DNA like a computer program that runs your body, learn how DNA clones itself and be astonished by the elegance and simplicity of the key to life.

Build 28 important molecules using atoms as your building blocks.  Life is composed chiefly of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen, use the enclosed molecule cards as your guide to build water, carbon dioxide and a lot more.

The Adventurer kit now comes in a tough, part-sorting case. You can even customize it for special parts like Colored Balls, Greens, Half Blues, or Super-Short Reds. 236 Parts: 50 white nodes, 30 each of 3 lengths blue struts, 20 each of 3 lengths yellow struts, and 12 each of 3 lengths red struts. Concise color instruction booklet, with models, bubble recipe, and more.

This structure is the form of a virus, but it's been flattened by the extreme gravity of another world. Don't worry, it's harmless to humans. FYI: The shape's official geometrical name is "Squashed Fractal Icosahedron". 123 parts: 33 white nodes, 30 blue struts, 30 yellow struts, 30 red struts each in 3 different sizes.

A great way to introduce young minds to Zome, already used successfully in thousands of schools worldwide! Includes 388 Zome components, Zome Learning Adventures Volume 1, an interactive DVD (or Video cassette) full of “funstructional” activities, and the Bubble Adventures activity book (3 volumes in one).

This kit allows kids of all ages to design their own works of art that can then be displayed in a fun-to-see light. Children can simply design and/or color their picture with any markers and then place it into the night light. Each kit comes with four blank coloring sheets plus a promotional, preprinted butterfly design coloring sheet. Replacement insert pages for the GLOWTASTIC! U-Draw Light Kit are also available.

The Robot Inventor's Workshop Kit was originally marketed in a 4-Color Box that has been replaced with a kid-friendly Heavy-Duty PVC Zipper Bag for easy storage of the ROBOTIX Motor, Controller and Parts.  The Handbook is professionally printed with a 4-Color Cover and Black & White Pages full of diagrams and robotic instructional programs.  The 23-Parts include a Low-Speed Motor, a Black 1-Switch Controller with Easy-Opening Clip, ROBOTIX Arms in both 50mm and 100mm length in 2-different colors and ROBOTIX Connectors in Black.