November 21, 2009 7:47:48 PM

TOYDIRECTORY® | TDmonthly® Magazine | Join our 27,800 subscribers | PlayZak®

TDmonthly Magazine

TDmonthly's 2009 Holiday Gift Guide

Inquiry Basket Icon

Inquiry Basket [?]

Sign Up | Your Account | Login

June 2006 | Vol. V - No. 6

Advanced Search

Advertisement:

Article Tools:

Supplier of the Month:Innov-X Systems

Suppliers in the category of "General Toys"

Shop for Toy Products in the category of "General Toys"

Homeschoolers Rate Toys

Girls Build Bridges and Boys Wield Swords

By Alison Marek
June 2006

Five homeschooling families evaluated three new toys, rating them on a scale of 1 to 10, with “10” being the highest score and “1” being the lowest. Kids and parents of all ages and genders loved the K’NEX and Uberstix building kits, but the little boys were the biggest fans of TriKing Games’ historical battle card game, Anachronisms.

To view the full article, please click here.

Products:

Real Bridge Building and Building Bridges Set by K’NEX
Uberdragon by UBERSTIX (ToyDirectory)
Anachronisms by TriKing GAMES (ToyDirectory)

Mom’s Homeschooling Roundtable Questions	Products
Mom’s Homeschooling Roundtable Questions	1	2	3
How appealing is the packaging?	NA	8	9.2
How likely would you be to buy this product in a store, based on packaging alone?	NA	7.5	8.4
Once the product is open, how appealing are its contents?	9.5	8.5	8.75
How easy are the instructions to understand … for Mom?	9	7.75	6.25
How easy are the instructions to understand … for kids?	8.5	6.75	5.75
How satisfied were you with the amount of time it took to set up or prepare the toy?	9.25	8	7
How excited were the kids about the prospect of using this toy?	10	8.75	8.25
How involved were the kids when getting ready to play with the toy?	10	9	9
How interested in the toy were the children once play began?	10	9	7.75
How much fun did the kids think it was to play?	10	7.75	7
How much did the kids think they learned while playing with the toy?	8.25	6.75	6.25
How much did you think the kids learned while playing with the toy?	9.5	8	7.25
How appropriate an addition to a homeschool curriculum is this toy?	10	7	6
How appropriate a learning tool outside of the classroom is this toy?	10	8.25	6.75
Knowing what you now know about the toy, how likely would you be to buy it for your children or recommend it to other parents?	10	7.25	6.25
Knowing what they now know about the toy, how likely would your children be to buy it, request it or recommend it to other children?	10	7.25	6.5
TOTAL SCORE	9.6	7.9	7.3

© ToyDirectory and TDmonthly Magazine

Catalog Request Form

Read what more than 400 retailers have told TDmonthly about toys since 2005 in Toy-Store Owners Talk to TDmonthly.

Alison Marek

Writer's Bio: ALISON MAREK is a writer/artist/filmmaker whose work has been published by Fairchild Publications and DC Comics (Piranha Press), among others. Her short films have played in festivals around the world and have been broadcast on Showtime and other cable networks. She recently completed a short comedy sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, titled "The Three-Body Solution." For the past four years, Alison has been documenting the specialty toy industry with a series of articles and videos for TDmonthly Magazine. Read more articles by this author

Reader's Comments

If you encounter any problems with this feature, please email us questions or comments.
Powered by Web Wiz CAPTCHA v 2.01 Copyright ©2005-2006 www.webwizcaptcha.com

Popular Stories

Request Information

•Ten Years of ToyDirectory: The Inside Scoop

•This Issue’s Highlights

•Novelty Toys Stuff Stockings

•Excitement Builds for Construction Toys

•Reaching a New Generation of Educators

•Wooden Toys Need to Stay Fresh

•Quality Kid Films on Shoe-String Budgets

•Is Silly Necessary to CD Success?

•Do Judge a Book by Its Cover

•Art For Crafts’ Sake

•New and Exceptional Toys

•I Know That Doll …

•Licensed To Sell

•Picking Popular Licenses Proves a Guessing Game

•Foreign Is Fresh for Kids' Licenses

•Toy Vehicles Entice Young Mechanics

•Building Toys on a Small Scale

•Fort Materials Take on New Life

•Children Don Clothes of the Future

•Kids Get Cooking With Toy Food

•Lions and Tigers and Arks — Oh My!

•June Toys in the Hand: TDmonthly’s Expert Mom

•Homeschooling Roundtable: Tween Girls Build Bridges

•Homeschoolers Rate Toys

•Lend a Toy, Gain a Sale

•Ariel’s Child Turns 20

•i-RIDE, You Ride, We All Rock Out (Safely)

•Norooz Productions Celebrates Culture

•Little Tikes Promotes Active Play

•Full Time Mom Takes Time Out for DVD

•Toys on Tape: Video Demos

•TDmonthly’s Top 10 Most Wanted Boy Toys for Ages 4 to 8

•TDmonthly’s Top 10 Most Wanted Boy Toys Ages 9 to 12

•Top-10 Most Wanted Toys for Little Girls

•TDmonthly’s Top 10 Most Wanted Tween Girl Toys

•Coming in July: Holiday Preview Part II

•Sugar High in the Toy Store Aisle

•Toy Knights Kick Jedi Butt

Back to TDmonthly's front page

Advertisement:

Advertise on TDmonthly

Recent Products

Power Rangers RPM Racing Performance Cycle & Figure
By BANDAI AMERICA INC.
» More Information

Ben 10 Alien Creation Challenge
By BANDAI AMERICA INC.
» More Information

Omni Tech Figures™ Ryan Sheckler Action Figure
By ACTION SPORTS TOYS
» More Information

Related Articles
· Notable and New Toys by Category — Specialty Only
(11/1/2009)
· Notable and New Toys by Category — All
(11/1/2009)
· Sharks Show Up on Holiday Videos
(11/1/2009)
· Homeschoolers Are Fashionable
(7/1/2006)
· August Toys in Hand: TDmonthly's Expert Mom
(8/1/2006)
· Homeschoolers Blast Off on Toys
(4/1/2006)

Advertisement:

Magazine Home Toy Fair Highlights Contact TDmonthly Toy Gallery Advertise Here
Editorial Calendar Events & Trade Shows Media Kit Request Product Information PlayZak®

Look up Manufacturers at ToyDirectory.com®

Search

Subscribe - TDmonthly e-Newsletter

Disclaimer Privacy Policy Career Opportunities Feedback
Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use.
Copyright © 2009 TDmonthly®, a division of TOYDIRECTORY.com®, Inc.