November 2008 Notable Toys — Educational

The only complete toilet training system in the world! The Ultimate Kits cover everything from teaching children about the Potty to using an insert on an adult toilet. Its packed full of rewards and is perfect for first time parents or parents experiencing difficulties with toilet training. The kit includes Tinkle Potty, Tinkle toilet seat insert, Tinkle Reward board and magical heat sensitive potty sticker, Tinkle coloring set (includes badges, stickers, post cards and pencils and Toilet Training Certificate)and two Tinkle toilet paper rolls.

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.

Each component of the kit is tailored to address needs from the practical to psychological. Focusing on positive reinforcement and a (small steps to big rewards) approach, the kit allows children to maintain an interest and develop the skills needed use their potty or toilet. (Includes Toot Reward Board, one magic Toot Sticker and one marker pen)

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

From the Simple Machines Series, this natural wood cherry-picker mimics the principles used to work the real thing, but uses water in place of hydraulic fluid. It teaches kids about levels and parallel linkages and is easy to construct (glue included).

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.

Play 20+ games from the double-deck combinations of color and rhythm cards. These card games are designed for families, classrooms, and large or small groups. The color cards use the Chroma-Notes™ colors that match the C Major Diatonic Scale Set of Boomwhackers Tubes. Package contains 48 color cards, 48 rhythm cards, 2 wild cards, 2 music word cards, and instruction booklet.

Designed to allow kids to express their feelings through art, this activity book explores a different feeling for every letter of the alphabet and encourages use of the imagination.

In this challenging game for two or more players, each participant is given five words on a card and must form a story using them in just a minute and a half. The first player to get to 300 points wins. Launch date: 2008.

Four are more players can play this game in which four clues are given to help each team guess a famous name. Points earned decrease depending on how many clues are given before the answer is guessed. The first team to earn 300 points wins. Launch date: 2008.

Eat fewer calories, be more active, make wise food choices. The Dietary Guidelines focus on health promotion and form the basis of federal food and nutrition programs including the MyPyramid. This poster summarizes the guidelines and brightens - and enlightens - classrooms, lunchrooms, meeting rooms and hospitals. Size: 26" x 34".

These 2" x 3.5" magnets have motivational messages to remind you and others on sticking to a healthy diet and healthy eating. Magnets include Veggies Rule!, Fruit Rocks!, and Dance Like Nobody's Watching, Eat Like Somebody Is! Sold in packs of 6 magnets for $5.00.

Little girls can press Baby Alive's bracelet to wake her and then mix her food and feed her with the included bowl and spoon. She "chews" food and "drinks" from her bottle, and when put on her own potty will "pee" and "poop." Kids need to hurry and get her there, though, or she might have an accident and her diaper will need changing. The doll comes with four AA batteries and is also available in Caucasian and African American varieties.

On this 30-minute personalized DVD, blue-haired Billy speaks directly to the child who owns the DVD, educating him or her as he interacts with wild animals and encourages use of the imagination. A non-personalized version is also available. "We have over 400 unique names in stock, so product ships within 48 hours," Kris Olson, president of Kayo Media LLC, told TDmonthly.  This product received an iParenting Media Award. Launch date: October 14, 2008.

Will this fish get his wish?  Join Theo on an amazing underwater adventure. Bonus features: Read-A-Long CD, read by the author, over 20 mouth-watering illustrations, a matching game, 15 ways to get your kids to eat more fruit, and green smoothie recipes using fruits and veggies. Hardbound. 36 pgs.

The Fruit Flies' Picnic are now available as cuddly beanies. Each Fruit Fly stands 6.5" tall and holds a piece of fruit in one hand. The Fruit Flies include Gracie, Zak, Ben, Nicholas and Jake.

The award-winning Fruit Flies Picnic Book is now a fun interactive learning tool including 100 pop-up windows with fun fruit facts and history. Learn about 48 fruits, 16 fruit-veggies, and 25 vegetables. Bonus features: audio narration, animated characters, clickable graphics, printable nutrition facts and supplemental documents with over 130 discussion questions. Can be used individually or as a whole class activity. Windows and Mac compatible. Winner of the 2008 Dr Toys 100 Best children’s Products Award and 2007 Best New Product of the Year Finalist- Stevie’ Awards for Women in Business.

After reading this book, kids will want to have their own fruit flies’ picnic. Join these bug buddies as they gather a feast of fruit. Kids will learn the importance of eating fruit in all sizes and shapes. Bonus features: Read-A-Long CD, read by the author, filled with music, sound effects and 30 mouth-watering illustrations. Reviewed in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. Hardbound, 32 pgs. This product has received the following awards: 2007 Best New Product of the Year Finalist- Stevie’ Awards for Women in Business, 2007 Best Book Award Finalist - USA Book Awards, 2005 iParenting Media Award, and the 2005 Dr. Toy's Best Vacation Children's Product

Designed to fuel kids' passion for produce, players learn to group 95 fruits and veggies by color, identify the health benefits linked to the colors and how fruits and veggies keep your body growing strong and healthy. Bonus features: How to make green smoothies using green veggies and fruits, user-friendly charts and resources, information sheets and a coloring activity. For 2-30 players.

This nutrition game is SmartPicks' top selling game for over 12 years. This updated version makes learning about basic food groups and healthy alternatives a treat for players of all ages and appetites. Based on the new MyPyramid, this game provides a variety of food choices that will improve the quality of an average American diet. Winner of the Learning® Magazine 2008 Teachers' Choice Award. For 2-30 players.

Hyperspace, the final frontier. Think of this as a mental spaceship that will help you project your consciousness straight into the fourth dimension.  The first Hyperdo ever built took over two years to construct. Measuring 14" (35cm) in diameter, this 120-cell model will take a lot less time, but you still won't want to take it apart.