December 2010 New Specialty Toys — Creative Activities

“Dinosaur Train” continues to capture the fascination that preschoolers have with dinosaurs and trains in the new-to-DVD release, Dinosaurs in the Snow. Get on board the learning adventure as Buddy travels to the North Pole, explores nocturnal animals, becomes a detective, celebrates his birthday, and more. The set includes eight fun and educational adventures, an interactive game, coloring pages, a dinosaur reference guide, and parent information.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

My Wrap® is a made-in-the-USA all-inclusive craft kit to jump-start creativity by enabling kids to easily create their own unique wrapping paper.  Each kit contains two captivating, partially-complete, partially-colored, wrapping paper designs that
jump-start kids’ creativity, allowing them to draw, color and decorate with the kit’s eight crayons, pencil, multiple stencil shapes, gift tag labels, and plenty of colorful stickers.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Add excitement to story time with this new Interactive Story Buddy and book –cuddle up with your child and watch the fun begin as Jingle comes to life when you read his story aloud. Press the left ear on Jingle and begin reading—Jingle barks, whimpers, and even sings when certain corresponding lines are read.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Electra Doodle allows a child to create with light hundreds of designs. By using the stylus pen your child can doodle, draw, make kaleidoscope effects, animate, connect dots, play match games, and solve mazes. They can also make personalized signs and messages.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Create your own personalized building set with this new Superstructs™ Custom Kit system. Once on the custom kit website, simply drag and drop the models you would like to include in your custom kit. Choose from 8 different models that include a Motorcycle, Race Car, Jet, Dune Buggy, Forklift, Dragster, Boom Truck with Crane, and Funny Car.  Each model comes with its own illustrated, step-by-step construction guide. There are 8 models and 12 templates that can create over 4,000 possible toy designs.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products -2010; Parents’ Choice Recommended Award, Fall 2010 Toys.

Introducing the motorized Light-Up Ferris Wheel building set. Inside the wheel, multi-colored lights spin freely to create a dazzling light show. This set includes 525+ colorful K'NEX pieces, including a motor and an exclusive LED light bar with 6
pre-programmed light routines. Light-Up Ferris Wheel is appropriate for builders and thrill ride enthusiasts. Requires 2 AA and 3 AAA batteries.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Make a tropical fish mobile, make dinosaur tracks, create a storybook about where you live, play games, make greeting cards, do word-finds, make a door hanger for your bedroom, create dinosaur scenes and ocean scenes. Wikki Stix adhere to virtually all smooth surfaces with just fingertip pressure, so there is no glue, no preparation and no cleanup.  Great for home or school.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Moon Dough is hypoalergenic, soft, marshmallow-like, cleans up easily, and never dries out so you can use it again and again. Moon Dough is the latest and greatest new molding compound for kids to mold into fun creations they will love to create and play with.  Bale some hay, put it in the barn silo, and turn the crank to create fun 3D Moon Dough animals. Endless possibilities abound using your child’s imagination with this product.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Read a story to your little one even when you can’t be there. This unique storybook plays back your voice as the child turns each page. The beautiful, all-new illustrations with a classic feel and the dedication page make this book a keepsake to be treasured for years to come.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

This clever and complete shopping cart enhances pretend play with over 55 pieces that include play food, packages, and cans. The removable basket stores underneath. Shopping cart has a place for your child’s favorite doll or stuffed animal—and can be used with or without this feature. Also included is assorted play money to expand the play value. Caster wheels allow for easy turning. This cart is easy to assemble—no tools required. Will provide your young shopper with plenty of active pretend play and lots of assistance when you go grocery shopping.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Kidspiration Color Tiles™ is an excellent new software product that can be used to count, compare, and explore number properties and operations and develop computation strategies. Using the tiles, children solve area and perimeter problems and model number patterns and the four basic math operations.  With its expanded library of more than 3,000 symbols, children can use Kidspiration 3 to create graphic organizers including webs, concept maps, and diagrams to clarify thoughts, organize information, use new knowledge, and build critical-thinking skills. 
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

This excellent new product, Hexbug Nano Habitat Set, gives the Hexbug Nano owners a chance to put their industrious little micro-robotic critters to the test by creating a customizable playground for them. Since not all Hexbug Nanos are the same, the Habitat Set contains two extremely rare nano mutations, four easy connect curved pieces, three easy connect straight pieces, and three easy connect hexagon pieces, which offer users a multitude of potential configurations.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Zip-ity Princess is a soft new 14” Play & Learn doll complete with six learning activities: Zip, Button, Snap, Buckle, Tie, Fasten, and Reading. She helps to teach young ones basic dressing skills, letter and word recognition, and also helps develop fine and gross motor skills, as well as eye-hand coordination. She stimulates baby’s senses of sight, hearing, and touch, while nurturing their feeling of security.  She is dressed in assorted Princess outfits for imaginative fun. This is an excellent preschool doll to help with skill building.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

A creative project allows your child to make many reusable Fuzzoodle combinations. Choose a Fuzzoodle, then pick some parts, twist it, bend it and build it.  The Fluffy Friends Large Kit includes 6 long Fuzzoodles, 4 short Fuzzoodles, 10 Fuzzoodle parts, and 1 idea booklet. Provides for fun and dexterity activity at the same time.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Kids can grow up to 300 Orbeez at once, and 2,500 total, in this gizmo. While the Orbeez grow, children can shoot them through the hoops. Once grown, they cascade down the spiral ramp into the collection tray and can be used for play with ideas from the included activity booklet.

This portable art set features a plain brown paper exterior that allows users to personalize all sides. The set includes 18 colored pencils, 16 fine-point markers, 18 crayons, 14 pastels, eight watercolor cakes, two paintbrushes, two drawing pencils, a sharpener and an eraser. It measures 14.5" x 10.5" x 2.25" and has a rope handle and closure. "This art set allows ANYONE to personalize their own set!" Xonex Art Director Emily Meluch told TDmonthly.

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.

Kids can learn anatomy, teach posture, do illustrations or recreate Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man with this articulated stencil. The stencil measures 13.5” tall, is see-through and easy-to-clean, and pivots at 15 different points.

This simple to use, open-ended building set features five colors of 8" flexible straws that can be cut to accommodate different sizes. Users can construct cars, jets, castles and more. The set includes 400 pieces.

The innovative READ workbook series is expertly designed for beginning readers. Each READ grade level offers a Step In workbook with shorter stories and simpler sentences and a Step Up workbook with stories and sentences that are a bit longer. Both options are specifically written to support beginning readers as they read, explore, and discover early reading success. "The Step Up, Gr. K–1 workbook features an exciting combination of learn-to-read stories, engaging questions to build vocabulary and spark discussion, and dynamic story-based activities," Creative Teaching Press Marketing Specialist Lauren Tuculescu told TDmonthly.

An enjoyable craft project/activity for children and adults. Recommended for use with Sandtastik PlasterMix. 18 unique and reusable Molds per pack. Simply choose the preferred color of plaster, mix the colored plaster with water, pour the mixture into Sandtastik Plaster Molds, wait 30 minutes, and then paint and decorate. Plaster Molds can be re-used over and over again.