January 2009 Notable Toys — Educational

HomeTown Mat™ presents children with images of a peaceful small town, including: residential community, various civic and commercial buildings, roads, and nature. When HomeTown Mat™ is pieced together with other PlayTown Mats™, roads wind seamlessly throughout. Like all PlayTown Mats™, HomeTown Mat™ has a rigid surface to support action figures and small toy vehicles; and, they are lightweight, readily expandable for play, and fold compactly for easy travel and storage. Other collectible themes, such as FunTown Mat™, FarmTown Mat™, CampTown Mat™ and DownTown Mat™, to follow soon. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

This educational board game jump-starts the road to reading by incorporating basic phonics and more than 300 sight words in an engaging activity. The cards comprise up to 90 percent of beginner-level reading material and more than 50 percent of all English text. The game takes new readers on an adventure through literacy land complete with common landmarks and street signs. They earn a bonus roll after correctly identifying a game card. The first player to reach the library is the winner. "Through repetitive interaction with basic phonic sounds, sight words, and their definitions, new readers enhance their reading skills while playing a fun game. Er-u-di-tion provides families and schools with a useful tool for preschool and elementary school students," Owner Denise Bossard of Acumen Associates told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 20, 2008.

The "Simply Subtraction" workbook and original music CD starring 11 genres is an upbeat and funky alternative for educating children anywhere. It combines motivational music with a standard-based workbook that is packaged ready to go in an eco-friendly portfolio. The educational products teach math skills and encourage audio, visual and small-motor skills, which is advantageous for all types of learners. The product was named on of the Top 10 Most Innovative Ideas for 2009 by CapitalGainsMedia.com. Launch date: 2009.

The "Absolutely Additon" workbook and original music CD starring 11 musical genres offer a hip and funky alternative to education. The standard-based workbook can be used with the musical CD to encourage the use of audio, visual and small-motor skills, which is beneficial for all types of learners. The all-inclusive, eco-friendly portfolio contains everything necessary for busy parents to encourage learning while on the go. This product was named one of the Top 10 Best Innovations of 2009 by CapitalGainsMedia.com. Launch date: 2009.

My Five Food Groups Reward Chart is an inspirational learn-and-play educational toy designed to help children learn more about their diet and the benefits of a balanced regime comprising all five food groups. "We offer this at a fantastic price, which means that our customers get more value for their money," Director Graham Macklin of Meadow Kids told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 5, 2009.

Children can learn and play with Colin, who is made of 12 colorful, detachable counting blocks designed to help children develop basic numeracy skills. The blocks can not only help children classify objects by color and shape; they can also help them learn about depth, width, height and length. Launch date: January 5, 2009.

The Tell Me About Today chart is a soft, plush, hand-crafted wall hanging. This "Learn and Play" interactive chart gives parents a fun way to help children learn the days of the week, the months of the year, the seasons, the weather and much more. With more than 40 hand-stitched, colorful and cute components, this chart will provide fun and education throughout the year. "Our price sets this product apart from any other. We offer fantastic value for money," Graham Macklin, director of Meadow Kids, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 5, 2009.

At home or away, little adventurers will enjoy engaging in wild pastimes with magnetic Sudoku, tangrams and other games, and venturing on safari in imaginative play scenes. There are 18 games, puzzles and play scenes, more than 100 magnets, a zipper bag for storage, and a handy flip-over magnetic back cover. Launch date: July 2008.

This product includes 20 super-cool drawing and design projects, from hieroglyphics to superheroes to Van Gogh. It comes with punch-out, reusable stencils kids can use in their designs. "Easy-to-handle wire-o binding makes each book user friendly," Rasheen Hewlett, marketing assistant for Peter Pauper Press, told TDmonthly. It was a 2006 NAPPA Honors award winner. Launch date: 2003.
— Debbie Rogers, owner of Bear and Friends in Johnson City, Tenn., told TDmonthly in a January 2012 survey that they sell a dozen or so Scratch and Sketch books each month, making them a top selling arts and crafts item.
— In an April 2015 survey, two out of 10 retailers told TDmonthly that scratch art was a best-selling travel toy.

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.

In this game of secret colors and surprise endings, someone will have four in a row before you know it. Players reach into a bag and pull out a token, which might be their color, an opponent's color or a wild card. Players can place their tokens on the board to extend their row, block another player, or fool others into thinking they have a different color then the one they really have. The ultimate goal is to get four tokens in a row. "The whole family can play this simple-to-learn strategy game," Barbara Uebelacker, PR manager for Patch Products, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 2009.
THIS PRODUCT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

X-Ball®, the newest creativity toy from the makers of the award-winning Ball of Whacks®, presents a whole new playful way to stimulate creativity. The set of 30 X-shaped magnetic design pieces click together to form a geometric orb. The uniquely angled X-shaped pieces allow imaginative users to invent their own shapes and designs. The X-Ball comes with an illustrated, 96-page creativity guidebook that offers lots of ideas for other fun shapes and creative applications. "X-Ball was created as a companion toy to the award-winning Ball of Whacks, and its unique X-shaped pieces can be combined the magnetic pyramids for creative play," Lynn Araujo, communications director for Creative Whack Company, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

Past Videos: ASTRA 2009

This classic card game features Presidents of the United States, including biographical highlights and outstanding accomplishments in office. Updated for 2009, Deck III features 15 Presidents, from Coolidge to Barack Obama. Deck I, Deck II and a three-deck set are also available, and are suitable for most card games. "This timely deck features four bonus cards of Barack Obama, featuring biographical information about the 44th President," Lynn Araujo, communications director for U.S. Games Systems, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.

Kids can create and illustrate their own story in an accordion book, then mount it in a box with a cover that they design. The kit includes enough materials to create three box books, plus one special house-shaped book. "Eye Can Art kits provide an open-ended art experience with high-quality materials and clear instuctions. All kits are multi-use, meaning the projects can be done with a friend, sibling, family member, or multiple times by the same child," Shannon Ninburg, co-owner of Eye Can Art, told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 2008.
Awards: 2009 Creative Child Top Toy of the Year Award

This album is Abby's third rockin' release and winner of an iParenting Media Award. Featuring a wide array of genres and instrumentation, including pop, rock, funk, country, rockabilly and calypso, it offers 45 minutes of fun, danceable tunes that will have the whole family on their feet. Interactive songs spotlighting four-part harmonies engage kids and get them moving. As a bonus, the CD is made from eco-friendly packaging with recycled cardboard, veggie inks and recycled water bottles. The CD features "educational and encouraging themes written into catchy tunes that are great fun for kids and parents alike," Michele Senitzer, owner and creator of Pipsqueak Productions, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 11, 2009.

Timmy Tock is an interactive learn-and-play clock doll that helps children learn the basic elements of daily time. The soft, plush clock comes with more than 40 accessories, plus a reverse section to apply all the different "Tell the Time" components. This product is both a cuddly toy and a practical teaching aid, and is suitable for one-on-one "Learn and Play" as well as larger group teaching activities. Launch date: January 5, 2009.

This CD by RONNO will encourage children to grow as individuals, learners and responsible citizens. The song lyrics focus on timely and important topics, such as bullying, respect, responsibility, compassion, conflict resolution, self-esteem and more. Positive songs support solid character building, and the music is lively and fun. An extensive guide is included. Launch date: March 2009.

This mobile island organizes three popular sizes of construction paper, five reams of 9” x 12”, nine reams of 12” x 18” and one ream of 18” x 24” paper. It secures paint behind a lockable door and features an E-Z to clean, white laminate worktop. Keys and four clear cubbie trays are included. The unite measures 39.5” W x 29” D x 29.5” H and boasts KYDZSafe® edges, KYDZTuff® finish and KYDZStrong® construction. It is mobile and caster mounted with a lifetime warranty. The island "provides a mobile place for art, including a work surface, plenty of storage and a lockable/secure area," Nick Schwarz, VP of marketing for Jonti-Craft, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.

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.

Both decorative and informative, this 36" x 24" ready to hang picture depicts the continental United States through state license plates. The image is available in several presentation styles: Contemporary Mount (with beveled edge), Creative Canvas Wrap, Framed Canvas, Gallery Framed, Heritage Framed and Art Block Mounted. "Art4Kids is not sold in discount stores. Our artwork has no glass to break in a child's environment," Joy Phillips, founder and owner of Creative Images, told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 2008.

Children can make their own Inter Galactic Worlds and Biome Systems, as well as ant space food. They will see ant gardens, ant pools and ant baby hospitals. "All the ECO System range of kits are also designed to be interconnected. So Ants and Worms can go and explore the ECO Dome and Future Farms," Agatha Pan, international sales manager for Tree Toys Corp., told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2009.

This hydroponic farm features 'magic' capillary wick feeding of special liquid nutrients to big biodome gardens where kids can grow their own sandwich fillings — without soil. It offers "leading-edge science for feeding populations where soil is poisoned or non-existent. We supply lab equipment and chemicals for kids to make their own liquid nutrients [and] purify and balance pH. Twin tanks and twin drainage reservoirs means two separate farms can compare different nutrients at same time," Agatha Pan, international sales manager for Tree Toys Corp., told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2009.

Kids can make their own eco science lab and be a planet-saving sleuth. The kit covers hygometers, humidity, air and CO2, pH monitoring, water pollutants and more through step-by-step beginner activities and later challenges that build knowledge and exercise problem-solving skills. It includes a workbench young scientists can use to organize their methods and equipment. The Eco Forensic Lab was "designed by a world-leading children's science and technology edutainer and learning specialist with many global awards and over 30 years in the field," Agatha Pan, international sales manager for Tree Toys Corp., told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.

Winner of 19 educational toy awards, the Circus Kit offers hours of unique optical illusion eye-hand coordination fun and independent play in reasoning and art. Kids find and crayon morphed shapes on distorted coloring pages to make color appear in the right place in the circus cartoon reflections. Challenges include completing the morphed drawing, sketching your own morph, navigating a morphed maze, completing a morphed connect the dots, predicting 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 Circus Kit contains 32 morphed circus coloring pages activities, two mirror-perfect Morph-O-Scopes (easy assembly), 16 non-toxic crayons, a Circus Kit Enrichment Guide for extra learning value, 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 Circus Kit is made in the USA and meets or exceeds all U.S. safety standards. Launch date: November 24, 2008.