April 2011 Notable Toys — All

This mansion doubles as storage. When fully opened, it is a girly, two story house for Barbie and her friends. When shut, kids can store anything from Barbie to makeup to notes passed in class.

This battle case doubles as both a storage case for the Ninjago masters to be stored in as well as the supreme battle arena. When it’s time to fight, chose between fire and ice for your showdown.  Featuring colorful artwork, the case can be used to store Ninjago figures, spinners, weapons and cards all away neatly. Portable; LEGO Bricks not included.

This double sided playmat and animal figurine set allows children to creatively experience the safari environment. Real Relics Safari-Land includes 4 museum quality animals and a large wipe clean 2-sided playmat.

This dinosaur playset allows children to explore realistic, prehistoric figurines and there environement. Real Relics Dino-Land includes 4 museum quality animals and a large wipe clean 2-sided playmat.

Keep your child neat with ZipBin Fire House PlayPack.  ZipBin Fire House PlayPack is a backpack that looks like a Fire House. Pull the velcro firetruck flap open to see inside the firehouse. It acts as a playset, but is also useful for storing die-cast trucks and other toys. When play is done, the firehouse zips up, capturing the toys inside for easy clean up!  This play set includes 1 - 3" die cast firetruck with ladder. 

Players form words with the letters in their hand. They add a letter, build a new word, and capture their opponent's word, all in one turn. Players score points and earn 'royalties' for words of all one color. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. "Gameplay allows players to capture cards to build bigger, better words," Lynn Araujo, communications director for U.S. Games Systems, told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2008.
Awards: A Games 100 Selection (2008, 2009, 2010)

Developed by award-winning artist David Kisor, the songs on this CD help children develop focused attention on experiences in the present moment and focused intention on positive self-talk and self-image. Developing mindfulness helps a child control their reactions to stress, develop self-awareness, and be ready to respond optimally to learning opportunities. "The Here Now Know-How songs promote mindfulness in several ways. First they guide children’s self-talk to positive affirmations about themselves, others and the world. Secondly, they give children the experience of control over their sensations, thoughts and feelings. And thirdly, they help children deal with negative feelings and experiences," Emily Sandul, director of sales & marketing for Growing Sound, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.

Imagination Generation sings fun songs that build imagination and creativity in children. Developed by award-winning composer and performer David Kisor, the songs from this album are designed to help young children realize that the mind is both a toy and a tool. "The music from this album is based on the latest research from the field of Positive Psychology. In these songs, we strive to achieve three creative thinking skills. First, we want to increase the fluency of children’s associations. That is, we want to increase the sheer number of associations they can generate to any given situation or stimulus. Secondly, we want to increase the originality of these associations. We want children to generate associations that typically children would not think of. And finally, we want to increase the adaptability of these associations. We want these associations to lead directly to creative solutions to both every day problems, what we call ingenuity; as well as visions of true artistic masterpieces. Music is a natural vehicle for promoting imagination and creativity in young children. The combination of lyrics and music in self-talk, experiential and story songs provide unique strategies for building the creative mind," Emily Sandul, director of sales & marketing for Growing Sound, told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2010.

This classic character is a plush animal that turns into a pillow and blanket. Perfect to cuddle up with while reading Norman Bridwell's classic books to your little one. Launch date: June 2011.

Moona Luna is the new musical project brought to you by the Latin-Alternative group Pistolera. Inspired by the birth of her first child—during the making of the last album—Pistolera's lead singer and songwriter Sandra Velasquez now brings us family-friendly songs in Spanish and English that continue the band's tradition of positive messages and toe-tapping beats. Moona Luna's debut album, Piñata Party, features eleven original songs as well as a cover of the Latin American folk song De Colores. Brooklyn based family music hero and Moona Luna fan, Dan Zanes, makes a guest vocal appearance on Brinca, Jump. "This is bilingual party music for the whole family," Beth Blenz-Clucas, PR, told TDmonthly. Launch Date: March 2011.

Among the sand and glitter in the I Spy Wonder Tubes are I Spy pictures. Find the floating pictures in the tube to answer the I Spy riddle/rhymes. There are three different sets of riddles and five different colors to collect. "The I Spy Wonder Tubes are unique because they feature the I Spy images AND I Spy riddles," Carol Comes, senior product manager at Briarpatch Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2011.

12 full-color double sided activity work cards provide individual and group practice at 4 levels of difficulty. The Work Cards help students transition their understanding of halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, eighths, and ninths into Real World Applications. Comes in a folder that opens to a series of Fraction Number Lines. Self-checking for use at a center. "The focus is on Real World Application and helps students transition from concept to daily life," Bruce Brown, president of World Class Learning Materials, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.

In this simulation of a real paleontology fossil dig, children dig for a fossilized shark tooth, brachiopod shell, gastropod shell, and “squid” shell. These real, millions of years old fossils are enclosed in a “brick” and are revealed by using the supplied scraping and brush tools (similar to what real paleontologists use). Young paleontologists then take a closer look at these fossils with the enclosed magnifying glass and learn about each fossil using the provided fun fact cards. "This is a unique fossil dig in that there are 4 real fossils embedded in each brick," Esther Novis, president of The Young Scientists Club, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.

Ms. Frizzle and her students take Young Scientists on a wild ride with the Magic School Bus as they explore the world around them with a microscope. Young Scientists learn about the history of the microscope, explore the different parts of a microscope, and discover how to use a microscope. Young Scientists make slides of water droplets, plant parts, textile fibers, all kinds of paper, crystals, and more. This investigative bus-shaped kit comes with a microscope, blank slides, cover slips, tweezers, collecting vial, 20 colorful experiment cards, prepared slides of fungi and algae, and a data notebook to record observations. "The Magic School Bus is a very popular brand that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. This microscope kit uses the characters from the popular books to get the kids excited about the microscopic world around them," Esther Novis, president of The Young Scientists Club, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 2011.

Ms. Frizzle and her students take Young Scientists on a wild ride with the Magic School Bus as they explore the field of chemistry. Young Scientists make sticky ice, use litmus paper, measure pH, perform chromatography, make bubble sculptures, wake-up fungus, create slime, form a bouncy ball, learn about density, produce a milk rainbow, plate copper, explode a volcano, and more. This bus-shaped kit comes packed with science components, 51 colorful experiment cards and a data notebook to record observations. "The Magic School Bus is a very popular brand and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. This bus-shaped kit is unique in that it is a lab in a bus! It comes with 51 instructions cards which provides hours of science fun," Esther Novis, president of The Young Scientists Club, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 2011.

Ms. Frizzle and her students take Young Scientists on a wild ride while blasting off with erupting volcanoes. Young Scientists learn about the layers of the Earth, study tectonic plate movement, explore different volcanic shapes and eruptions, make real pumice float, create the ultimate “lava” mixture, paint and explode a volcano, and more. This kit includes a colorful poster with volcanic facts, pictures, and stickers. "The Magic School Bus is a very popular brand that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Our Magic School Bus kits takes Young Scientists on a great journey that includes a poster, stickers, volcano mold, test tubes, and lots more. The manual in the kit is colorful and designed in a similar fashion as the books that are so popular," Esther Novis, president of The Young Scientists Club, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.

Ms. Frizzle and her students take Young Scientists on a wild ride by jumping into electricity. Young Scientists generate lightning bolts, use anti-static sheets, make cereal dance, bend a water stream, create static hair, construct an electric circuit, build a light switch, experiment with insulators and conductors, design electric games, and more. This kit comes with a colorful circuit board holder. "The Magic School Bus brand is a very popular brand and is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Our Magic School Bus line has great manuals that engage Young Scientists into the exciting science experiments that are explored in each kit," Esther Novis, president of The Young Scientists Club, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2011.

Creative Whack’s newest product is both a challenging puzzle and a creativity toy. Star-Balls's 32 magnetic pieces can be rearranged in countless different ways. Polarity dots help you reassemble the star shape by combining the 5-legged stars with the 3-legged "tri" pieces. Star-Ball pieces can also be combined with the award-winning Ball of Whacks for even more creative possibilities. "The geometry of Star-Ball embodies the golden ratio found in mathematics, art, and nature," Lynn Araujo, communications director of the Creative Whack Company, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2011.

Let's get ready to read with I Spy! Players read the riddle on their gameboard, find the objects the riddle refers to, and punch them out. The game can be played in reverse by reading the riddles, naming the objects, and placing them back into your board. The game develops necessary pre-reading, verbal, and visual skills. "I Spy Ready To Read uses unique I Spy imagery and riddles to encourage kids into learning to read," Carol Comes, senior product manager at Briarpatch Inc., told TDmonthly.

With the help of WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face, kids twist the rings to learn how to use consonants and vowels to build new words. Line up a letter on the left, and twist the next ring to find letters that make words from two to six letters long. Rings can be removed and rearranged. In addition, letters have numerical values, so kids can work on their math skills as they find words with bigger scores.

This matching game features a 3-level spinner as well as a riddle challenge at the end of each round. I Spy Spectacular includes 36 double-sided cards featuring different levels of play for younger and older players. "Our 3-level spinner is truly a unique aspect in the world of matching games," Carol Comes, senior product manager at Briarpatch Inc., told TDmonthly.

With the help of Clifford and his Friends, kids can twist the rings and match everyday items with their proper category. For example, line up the word "winter," and twist the rings to line up earmuffs, warm hat, scarf, gloves and snow boots. Helps develop logical thinking as well as motor skills.

These colorful mix and match activity sets stimulate creativity, and imagination. This durable play set comes in a sturdy gift/hold all box, with four 'Look at my Creation' display boards. "With this product offering 4 different display boards to go with the different pieces this product offers a very large variety of options to children, allowing them to be more imaginative with their creations," Jack Wiggins, sales executive at Meadow Kids, told TDmonthly.

These interactive kits offer introductory creative craft to children. They encourage step by step design, crafting skills and a creative sense of achievement. "Once assembled, the 3 different hand puppets can be used to create stories and play many other imaginative games, giving the product a much longer lifespan and room for creative play," Jack Wiggins, sales executive at Meadow Kids, told TDmonthly.