October Staff Picks

Piggy Paint is a natural, eco-friendly nail polish designed for fancy girls. Its non-toxic, hypoallergenic formula makes it safe to use. Piggy Paint dries to a hard, durable finish that can easily be removed with our eco-friendly, low odor Piggy Paint nail polish remover. Tip of the Iceberg is a brilliant white designed to supplement the perfect French manicure.
Awards:  2009 Safbaby Excellence Award.

The Remote-Control Machines kit uses a unique six-button infrared unit, complete with touch sensors that simultaneously control three different motors. In addition to forming the 10 suggested models — including a car, crane, plow and robotic arm — the motors can be combined to make complex machines in numerous creative configurations. The kit contains three motors, remote control unit, battery holder, 182 building pieces and a 48-page, full-color manual.
— Barston’s Child’s Play in Baltimore, Md., ordered Thames & Kosmos science kits at ASTRA 2010, Owner Barbara Fineblum told TDmonthly in June 2010.

The "Gotta Love Me" plush characters from Fiesta include the Everyday Critters: Puddles the frog, Sunshine the bear, Rascal the puppy, and Whiskers the cat. This plush line also features Jungle animals including Leo the lion, Mimi the monkey, and Peanuts the elephant. Each has an embroidered heart and endearing “Gotta Love Me” message.

Girls can become chocolatiers with the My Chocolate Boutique Chocolate Workshop. This kit has over 200 pieces for young ladies to design, mold and make their own chocolates for themselves and to share with friends and family. The workshop includes a battery operated melting machine that doesn’t overheat, so there’s no risk for kids to burn themselves or the chocolate. Girls can also use the foil wrappers, boxes and stickers to create customized packaging for their hand made treats. This kit does not include any chocolate or candy, so parents can control what ingredients their kids use. The kit includes a chocolate melting machine, a metal melting bowl, a mixing spoon, a decorating tool and brush, over 50 molds, 25 foil wrappers, 50 candy cups, 25 clear candy wrappers, two gift boxes, over 100 decorative labels, six decorative doilies, and an instruction and design guide.

These 5" bean-filled plush toys feature orange or dark purple color themes, and make sounds when squeezed.

AMT661 Round 2 AMT Cadet Series - Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C. This 1:2500 scale Star Trek snap-together plastic model kit includes aztec decals. Snap assembly without glue. This Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-C is 8.5" long. Box size: 9.25"L x 3.5"W x 6.5"H. Manufactured by Round 2.

The original YBIKE features design, quality and attention to safety designed to make it an ideal first bicycle for toddlers. Its unique design enables toddlers to meet the challenge of independently riding a bike. Features include an extended front fork angle to allow for safe turning, and two closely aligned rear wheels to help with balance but still allow a child to lean from side to side while turning. It also offers high ground clearance to ensure safety regardless of terrain and large wheels for safe riding on uneven surfaces. YBIKE is made of high quality, smooth, durable injection molded plastic and comes in four vibrant colors.
Awards: 2010 Oppenheim Gold Seal Toy of the Year Award; 2010 Creative Child Magazine Toy of the Year Award; 2010 Creative Child Magazine Toy of the Year in Bikes and Ride-on Category
— Glisyn Lewis Jarrells, manager of Imaginations Toy & Furniture in Blacksburg, Va., told TDmonthly in a March 2013 survey that they sell around 10 Ybikes during the warm-weather months.

With huggable soft plush bodies, luggable detachable straps, lovable personalities and stuffable zip open mouths, these multi-play toys are designed to be an adventure buddy, soft toy or pajama keeper. Marvin Mudcrab is a barber who loves tofu burgers and pedicures, and hates sad endings and skinny jeans.

These cookie cutters are designed for kids and feature Halloween-themed shapes including a cat, leaf, pumpkin and ghost. They offer a soft grip and are oversized for easy use. Curious Chef cookie cutters are made from BPA-free food safe plastic and are dishwasher safe.

This eight-book collection reveals how exciting it is to be able to read. These books are designed for pre-K beginning readers, or struggling early readers. In these adventures children will discover the joy of sharing, the uniqueness of each person, how to make a mud pie and more. By purchasing the Kids Club Combo buyers will receive a 10-percent savings over purchasing the two sets included individually, plus a colorful tracking chart and corresponding stickers. The compact storage box encourages children to store and access their own Learn to Read Kids Club materials.
Awards: Creative Child Magazine Media of the Year Award (Educational Books)

This line of DVDs is designed to teach early sign language skills to preschool-age children. Featuring beautiful video productions of some of the most recognizable children’s books of all time, this series offers a unique approach to learning sign language and helping kids of all hearing abilities to gain literacy and pre-reading skills. "A Pocket For Corduroy...and More Stories About Friendship" is adapted from the beloved book by Don Freeman.

Young readers are introduced to the alphabet and corresponding animals at the same time. Wild Animals literally jump, slither, and fly off the page in this illustrated pop-up featuring 26 creatures hidden within the pages of the book. Antelope bursts through the letter A; Leopard lurches from behind L; Giraffe reaches its long neck over G; Koala peeks from behind K; and Penguin waddles out from behind P. The book also includes accompanying playful first-person text designed for reading aloud with a young child and photographs of each animal.

Each of these tiny versions of past and present Build-A-Bear characters comes packaged in a french fry box with "nutritional friendship information" on the back. Characters include Sassy Kitty, Read Teddy, Marble Monkey, Endless Hugs Teddy, Shaggy Pup, Peace Bear, Fabulous Frog and Cinnamon Swirl Bunny. Fashions and accessories for Build-A-Bear Smallyfrys are also available.

Catan® is a modern classic. An international favorite, it has redefined social board games. Now you can create Catan out of wood and enjoy settling and building using specially tooled wooden pieces. Embark on a quest to settle the fair isle of Catan! Guide your brave settlers to victory by using clever trading and development. Use resources (grain, wool, ore, brick, and lumber) to build roads, settlements, and cities, and buy development cards. Acquire your resources through trades or the role of the dice. But beware! You never know when someone might cut off your road or if the robber will appear and steal your precious gains. Are you the best trader, builder, or settler? Will you master Catan? The strong, compartmentalized box contains: 52 thick, beautifully illustrated map hexagons, 144 specially designed playing pieces, 6 hexagonal building costs summaries and 2 special victory point markers, 1 vile robber, 2 dice, and 28 random number chits-all made from sturdy wood. The 154 cards, like the hexes, bear fine artwork from Michael Menzel. This special limited 15th Anniversary Wood Edition of The Settlers of Catan® is designed for 3-6 players.

This six-piece dinosaur nesting doll is made of toy-safe ABS plastic and packaged in a colorful retail display box showing all six pieces. 18 designs are available. The dino matryoshka features "Great updated graphics compared to traditional nesting dolls!" Matryoshka Madness! President Andrew C. Palmer told TDmonthly. Awards: 2010 Creative Child Magazine Seal of Excellence

The Adventures of Onionhead in Space takes children on a journey to the possible. Each night, Onionhead visits a different planet and learns how their inhabitants want to help beautiful Earth. Through his adventures, he grows, transforms and learns techniques to heal the world. The book measures 7.75” x 7.75” and is printed in the USA on 100-percent recycled paper.

George the three-headed monster has a soft, yellow plush body, bright white teeth and red accents on each of his heads and tummy. This puppet is designed to make children smile, chasing away fears of "scary" monsters.