January 2011 Notable Toys — Creative Activities

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.

These interactive kits offer introductory creative craft to children. They encourage step by step design, crafting skills and a creative sense of achievement.

The Rattlesnake is very distinctive in its native environment, and now as a puppet. Designed with the signature diamond back in browns of the desert, this rattler stretches out to 36 inches, has a movable mouth and a rattle in its tail.

Holland Lop Rabbit is a 17-inch bundle of cuddly joy. Made with fabrics that are more than just soft, they are snuggable.

Folkmanis’ Cottontail Rabbit is 15 inches and super soft. It sits alert with ears perked; front paws and mouth are movable on this life-like rabbit.

Folkmanis’ Lion has been redesigned and is ready to roar. Always king of the jungle, this 16-inch beast has a soft-and-fluffy mane and stoic pose.

Eastern Chipmunk has cute chubby cheeks, a movable mouth and arms, and sits 7-inches high. Its recognizable racing stripe and long, fluffy tail add to its adorable character.

The Gray Wolf is 22-inches long and has feathery plush fabric in gray, brown and white. Big ears and pointy snout give the Wolf its character and charm while the movable mouth will give a voice – or howl – to it.

Including a unique light table that illuminates every outfit, this kit helps kids create a full fashion line using acetate wardrobe pieces. Just add color, patterns, and texture. Comes complete with the fashion-forward light table, over 30 acetate wardrobe pieces, ten artist grade color pencils, and ten sheets of drawing paper.

This new edition of Face Painting was completely refreshed, revised, and revitalized for a new generation. Klutz added more detailed directions for simple sponge and brush techniques and created tear-out cheat sheets to make painting birthday parties easier than ever. But the biggest change is the Wolfe Brothers face paints. They go on smoothly, dry quickly, last longer, and wash off easily, with bold, bright colors. The book comes with a six-color palette of face paints, a brush, a sponge, and 12 tear-out take-along design cards.
— Her Halloween 2010 crowd liked the Klutz face painting book, reported Gwen Bowden, manager of Doodlehopper for Kids in Springfield, Va.
— In a December 2011 survey about best selling Halloween products, 3 retailers said face painting kits were among their best sellers.
— Syd Clarke, owner of Ali-Cat in Carrboro, N.C., told TDmonthly in a December 2014 interview that Face Paint from Klutz is one of their best-selling Halloween toys.

Box Creations cardboard play huts are durable recycled cardboard pieces, made in the USA, designed to be easy assemble clubhouse styles that are big enough to accommodate three small children, and come with detailed line artwork guidance and four colored non-toxic washable markers for a Do-It-Yourself personalized style.

Your budding artist can paint anytime with our Ultimate Art Smock. Long sleeves give complete coverage with a soft, comfortable interior. For home or school, this versatile smock closes with velcro in the back, for easy on and off. Fits most sized 3 - 7. "Our art smock is made from a soft cotton laminate that can be machine washed and dried," Jill Chuckas, Owner and Designer of Crafty Baby, told TDmonthly.

BuildaDream Playhouses give children the gift of creativity. The unique products are lightweight, sturdy and easy-to-assemble with no adhesive or fasteners required. The cardboard is printed with black graphics on white corrugated cardboard made from 80-percent recycled materials, to allow children to decorate with creative accents, making it their own.

A new series of Superstructs, plastic rod-and-connector-style construction toys, called Arc-A-Teks from WABA Fun will have kids as young as 3-years-old creating, building and imagining. Each of the three Arc-A-Teks sets comes with 40-42 pieces, enough to build two Arc-A-Tek characters simultaneously. Children can also build a third character from each set, and instructions can be found online using a special code included in each Arc-A-Teks set. It’s a thoroughly non-violent, character-building construction set made with bigger parts for littler hands.

A classic scene of enjoying Coca-Cola during the holiday season. Completed puzzle measures 28.75" x 36". © The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola, Coke and the Contour Bottle Design, the Dynamic Ribbon device, the Red Disk Icon and the Coca-Cola Santa are trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company and in Canada, Coca-Cola, Ltd.  All rights reserved.  Allied Products Corporation is an official licensee of The Coca-Cola Company.

Put together this 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle to reveal a collage of women's shoes. © Hallmark Licensing

It's a race to the finish with this graphic and colorful image. Finished puzzle measures 28.75" x 36". © James Tandkiev Photography.
— In a Summer 2012 survey, two out of 12 retailers told TDmonthly that Sprinbok was a best selling brand of puzzles.

Cross over into a winter wonderland all from the comfort of home. This scene was captured in Seattle, Washington. Finished puzzle measures 28.75" x 36".

One for the avid Coke collector — a collage of Coca-Cola vintage signs. © The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola, Coke and the Contour Bottle Design, the Dynamic Ribbon device, the Red Disk Icon and the Coca-Cola Santa are trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company and in Canada, Coca-Cola, Ltd.  All rights reserved.  Allied Products Corporation is an official licensee of The Coca-Cola Company.

Come sail away with this colorful photo of sails in the midst of a race that's too close to call.

Puzzle Doubles Create A Scene Dollhouse combines a puzzle with additional activities to create a fun and interactive learning experience for your child. After assembling the puzzle, children can create their own scenes and stories by placing the reuseable static stickers on the surface of completed puzzle. Then turn the puzzle over for a big coloring activity! The bright illustrations encourage parent-child conversation. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'.

This kit includes 12 27" square washable nylon scarves in white, pink, red, orange, yellow, lime, kelly, medium blue, royal blue, lavender, purple and black. Also included is the IDEAS Primary Music CD, an instructional insert and velcro to hang the scarves. These bright colorful scarves stimulate the senses, encourage movement, teach and reinforce color recognition. Dance to the music, use for dress-up, learn to juggle. These scarves can be used for infinite possibilites limited only by the child's imagination. "Our kit is the only kit on the market that includes 12 bright, colorful, nylon scarves along with an accompanying music CD made exclusively for arts education IDEAS," Cynthia Cavone, Marketing Associate, arts education IDEAS, told TDmonthly.

Available in 20 colors, create colorful paitings, sand mosaics, and sand projects. Can also serve to add extra decorative dimension to paper mache, jewelry, baskets, plaques, or other arts and crafts projects.