Thousands
of products are introduced to the toy industry every year, but only a
limited number are good enough, playable enough and innovative enough
to garner an award.
In addition to issuing
TDmonthly
Awards, TDmonthly
Magazine regularly asks manufacturers
to present their award winners to our readers so that retailers can quickly
identify products with great potential and manufacturers can learn and
be inspired by others' successes. Here are the most recent responses:
Body Bingo by KIMBO EDUCATIONAL
The "Body Bingo" CD, by Diane Cantwell, a specialist in education and dance, offers fun-filled manipulative activities using a bean and scarf, making it perfect for home and school activity time. The upbeat music and easy-to-follow verbal cues help teach body identification, locomotor and non-locomotor movement skills, improve coordination, balance and agility, and stimulate the imagination. It includes a guide, and Body Bingo cards are also available. "It feels like a game, but offers educational music and movement value," Elaine Murphy, director of sales and marketing for Kimbo Educational, told TDmonthly. This product received a 2003 Parents' Choice Gold Award. Launch date: 2003. 1/30/2009 (Price: $15.95; Age: 3 to 8) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
First Toddle® — The 5-in-1 Infant/Toddler Play, Entertainment and Development System by First Toddle, Inc.
Created to be fun, supportive and safe for baby's first steps and toddler play, this entertainment and developmental system provides an area where baby can crawl and later aids the child in learning to stand and walk. It was named 2009 Toy of the Year in the Toddler Educational System category by Creative Child Magazine.
This "green," paintable Schoolhouse comes with its own solar panels and recycling center printed right on the walls. It is made from sturdy, double-walled corrugated board (45-percent post-consumer recycled materials), which makes it durable and 100-percent recyclable. Easy to assemble, it comes with a starter set of eight non-toxic washable watercolors and works with other watercolors, markers or crayons, too. Assembled measurements are 16" W x 13" D x 18" H. It's made in the USA and received a 2009 Dr. Toy Best Green Product Award and a 2009 Creative Child Magazine Preferred Choice Award. Launch date: 2009. 1/23/2009 (Price: $24.95; Age: 4 and up) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Alphabet Rockers by SCHOOL TIME MUSIC
Alphabet Rockers is a cool educational music CD for pre-K to early elementary school children. It incorporates original hip-hop beats, DJ-style scratching, reggae grooves, contemporary urban sounds and rock guitar. Singer Kaitlin McGaw and former "4 Non Blondes" drummer Dawn Richardson collaborated on the high-energy beats and contagious lyrics that will keep parents and their kids dancing and moving while they learn. "Alphabet Rockers" is a 2008 Parents' Choice and 2008 National Parenting Publications award winner. "The hip, urban sounds appeal to both adults and children," Barbara Zamost, owner of Zamost Public Relations, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2007. 1/23/2009 (Price: $14.99; Age: 2 and up) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Calculated chances and strategic choices will place the odds in favor of players as they let the five dice roll them to a win with Yamslam. After each roll, a player chooses the dice that will get the best combination. Each combination is worth a different value and has only four chips, so it's important to take the best ones before they run out. Players race to get special bonuses before their friends do, keeping the suspense rolling until the end. The game has appeal for all ages and is convenient for travel, as it is "self contained in a beautiful tin box," Adeline Bertrix, sales manager for Blue Orange Games, told TDmonthly. This product was named one of Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products 2009. Launch date: February 15, 2009. — Yamslam is on the best-seller list at Golden Apple Learning Store in Pleasanton, Calif., Owner John MacDougall told TDmonthly in summer 2009.
The Gift Box Puppy comes attached to its own 5-by-5-inch box, packaged in a festive bubbly blue fabric "wrapping." He pops up and has a movable mouth and arms. This puppet won an iPARENTING MEDIA Best Product Award, THE NATIONAL PARENTING CENTER Seal of Approval and CREATIVE CHILD AWARDS Seal of Excellence Award for 2008. Launch date: 2008. 1/2/2009 (Price: $21.99; Age: 3 and up) ENTER FOLKMANIS INC. TOYSHOW[Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Folkmanis has combined the excitement and anticipation of a gift with an adorable pet — puppet that is. The Gift Box Kitty comes attached to its own 5" by 5" box in elegant gold tones. The kitty pops up out of the box and has movable arms and mouth. This toy has won a 2008 iPARENTING MEDIA Best Product Award and a 2008 CREATIVE CHILD AWARDS Seal of Excellence Award. Launch date: 2008. 1/2/2009 (Price: $21.99; Age: 3 and up) ENTER FOLKMANIS INC. TOYSHOW[Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
TRIVIATHON... fast-paced trivia for smart AND stupid people! Triviathon will have players singing, dancing, arm wrestling, cheering, cheating, and more as they compete in a game that puts each player's cognitive, physical, and social skills to the test, while they try to win a race moving at speeds of 0, 1, 2, or 3 spaces based on trivia questions they don’t even have to know the answers to. Made in the USA, this game is designed for 2 to 12 players. Triviathon has received the following awards: Creative Child Magazine’s 2009 Game of the Year; PTPA Media 2009; iParenting Media Award 2009; The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval 2009, NAPPA Honors 2009; and Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products 2009. 12/19/2008 (Price: $29.99; Age: 8 and up) ENTER JEEZLE PETE'S! LLC TOYSHOW[Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Morph-O-Scopes Kit - Sports of All Sorts by OOZ & OZ
The Sports of All Sorts Kit optical illusion eye-hand challenges provide hours of independent, brain-powered, sit-down sports fun. Kids find and crayon morphed shapes on distorted coloring pages to make color appear in the right place in the sports cartoon reflections. They complete the morphed picture, create their own morphed drawing, navigate a morphed maze, connect the dots, predict a reflection, and more. The activities help develop logic and perception skills, flex problem-solving mental muscles, exercise fine motor control, test spatial intelligence, and spark imagination and creativity. The kit contains 32 coloring page activities (“Soccer” is shown), two mirror-perfect Morph-O-Scopes (easy assembly), 16 non-toxic crayons, a Sports Kit Enrichment Guide to maximize learning, and instructions in English, Spanish and French — all in a portable “desk” convenient for travel. The activities engage boys and girls, kids, tweens, teens and adults, as they have universal, cross-cultural appeal. The Sports of All Sorts Kit is made in the USA and meets or exceeds all U.S. safety standards. It's the second Morph-O-Scopes Kit offered by OOZ & OZ, whose Circus Kit earned 19 national educational toy awards. The Sports of All Sorts Kit has received the following awards and honors: 2009 Dr. Toy Best Vacation Children's Products, a “Recommended” endorsement from the National Association for Gifted Children, 2009 The Toy Man Editors Choice Award, 2009 The Toy Man Award of Excellence, and 2009 The Toy Man Seal of Approval. “No other products on the market use OOZ & OZ's exclusive technology or have earned as many toy honors," Myrna Hoffman, managing director and chief morphologist of OOZ & OZ, told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 13, 2008. 12/19/2008 (Price: $19.99; Age: 5 and up) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
Endango™ is an environmental board game that teaches kids how to go green. With a unique game strategy, it links children's behaviors to their indirect environmental consequence – the fate of endangered animals. When playing the game, each player is responsible for three endangered animals in an environment. The points players earn as they navigate the human track affect the fate of the endangered animals in their environment. Positive points for “green behavior and knowledge” help save the animals; negative points for “less environmentally friendly behaviors” move the animals toward extinction. This product received a 2009 Parents' Choice Recommended Award. 12/12/2008 (Price: $19.99; Age: 6 and up) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]
The "Body Bingo" CD, by Diane Cantwell, a specialist in education and dance, offers fun-filled manipulative activities using a bean and scarf, making it perfect for home and school activity time. The upbeat music and easy-to-follow verbal cues help teach body identification, locomotor and non-locomotor movement skills, improve coordination, balance and agility, and stimulate the imagination. It includes a guide, and Body Bingo cards are also available. "It feels like a game, but offers educational music and movement value," Elaine Murphy, director of sales and marketing for Kimbo Educational, told TDmonthly. This product received a 2003 Parents' Choice Gold Award. Launch date: 2003. 1/30/2009 (Price: $15.95; Age: 3 to 8) 
Alphabet Rockers is a cool educational music CD for pre-K to early elementary school children. It incorporates original hip-hop beats, DJ-style scratching, reggae grooves, contemporary urban sounds and rock guitar. Singer Kaitlin McGaw and former "4 Non Blondes" drummer Dawn Richardson collaborated on the high-energy beats and contagious lyrics that will keep parents and their kids dancing and moving while they learn. "Alphabet Rockers" is a 2008 Parents' Choice and 2008 National Parenting Publications award winner. "The hip, urban sounds appeal to both adults and children," Barbara Zamost, owner of Zamost Public Relations, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2007. 1/23/2009 (Price: $14.99; Age: 2 and up) 
