Order up! It’s a busy day at the diner, so don’t dilly-dally. Help your customers get just what they ordered by racing the other servers to the grill, relay style, and piling up pancakes in precisely the right order in this stack ‘em high, serve ‘em up, relay race game!
The Hot Dots pen works with dozens of Hot Dots card sets, providing instantaneous visual and audio feedback. Simply press the pen to choose an answer on any Hot Dots or Hot Dots Jr. card for an immediate response—cool, kid-friendly phrases for correct answers and gentle redirection for incorrect responses.
A rich vocabulary is critical for successful test-taking, particularly in reading comprehension. Hot Dots Laugh It Up! Vocabulary Card sets are a fun and interactive way to grow kids’ vocabularies. Includes 6 Interactive vocabulary card sets in all, including synonyms (2730), antonyms (2731), multiple-meaning words (shown here), prefixes and suffixes (2735), context clues (2733), and homophones (2732). 50 double-sided, illustrated cards per set (100 questions), featuring jokes, riddles, cartoons, and kid-friendly questions. — In a Fall 2012 survey, two out of 12 retailers told TDmonthly that Hot Dots were their best selling educational toy.
Three oversized puppets on sticks inspire dramatic play with silly faces, movable mouths and endless possibilities. Awards: 2012 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Toy Award Seal; 2012 Oppenheim SNAP (Special Needs Adaptable Products) Award.
Grab your spatula and dig into this silly, burger-slidin’ game. Race to fill your paper plates with burgers with each different topping or scoop up all the burgers with matching toppings—either way, the sliding burgers won’t make it easy.
Kids will share thoughtful, personal responses, and really listen to each other in this family-friendly game that includes game board, 7 character pieces, 7 token holders, 7 sets of tokens, 12 Wild Ernie tokens, and 1 pair of “Ear-Resistible” Jumper Rabbit ears. For 3–7 players. Launch date: April 2012.
Kids can view more than 180 amazing, up-close images with the Talking Electron Microscope. They can view various zoomed versions of 60 images and hear 5 fun facts about each image in Learning Mode – then switch to Quiz Mode and test their knowledge. Images include the human body, viruses and bacteria, plants, animals, and other “stuff.” Awards: National Parenting Center Seal of Approval
This game is set up as a reading race through the southwest. Players pick their cards, gallop around the board to round up all their words, and must giddy up home before the other players to win. Game features the top 25 building block words. Includes game board (16.5"W x 16.5"H), 50 word cards, and 4 game pieces. For 2-4 players.
AVRG: $19.99 Age Range: 3 and up Target Age Range: 3 to 5 Specialty: Yes (as of 2011) Made in: China SKU or Item #: EI-3405 Launch Date: January 2011 Gender: Boys And Girls
Kids spin the spinner, squeeze the matching colored acorn with their Squirrel Squeezers, and place it in their log. The first to fill their log with delicious acorns wins. But players need to look out - they could spin "steal an acorn" or "lose an acorn."
This chart provides hands-on environmental education by introducing six key recyclable material categories and teaching how to sort 48 “recyclable” cards into the right bins. The cards are made of 65-percent recycled card stock and the chart is made from 80-percent recycled plastic. Awards: Dr. Toy Best Green Toy Award 2010
Kids can fire up this "power drill," grab some bolts and create a mosaic masterpiece. Designed to build coordination, the kit includes a power drill, screwdriver, wrench, three interchangeable drill bits, 20 bolts, an 11.5" pegboard and 20 idea cards.
Stix & Stones is a prehistoric picture-making race designed to build fine motor, creative and social skills. Kids can create like a caveman using only sticks and stones; no drawing skills are required. Players make a picture with as few pieces as possible, then challenge each other to guess what it is. Along with 40 plastic sticks, 15 plastic stones, an arrow and a timer, Stix & Stones features 75 game cards providing 450 words of varying difficulty, ensuring a different game every time. Instructions and a storage bag are included.
The Hydroponics Lab gives a 360 degree view of growing plants, revealing the hidden magic of plant roots with no soil required. This set of three growing tubes is a mess-free way to explore hydroponics. Transparent seed baskets provide a few seedlings growing both up and down.
With 48 game cards and six transparent puzzle pieces, this spatial reasoning game challenges kids to cover up arctic animals, making sure they don't overlap with people in the scenes. The single-player game has four levels of difficulty and built-in storage for all the pieces. — "By the end of the month, I'll be selling 200 to 300 [of this game]," Lori Hershman, owner of Evan's Toy Shoppe in Camden, Conn., told TDmonthly in early December 2009. "It's very easy to explain and every age is attracted to it. Maybe it's because we (the staff) love it so much." — Two of 44 specialty retailers named it as an overall best seller in late fall 2009.
Each single-color mini pack is designed to introduce kids to the texture and possibilities of PlayFoam. The collection includes six colors, which may be used as party gifts or stocking stuffers. — PlayFoam small bricks have been consistent best sellers for the last two years at The Parent-Teacher Store & Toys Too in Louisville, Ky., Owner Kimberly Kopatz told TDmonthly in fall 2009.
Made entirely out of recycled newspaper, Smencils are gourmet-scented pencils designed to retain their scents for two years. The tightly rolled newspaper is hardened around a core of No. 2 graphite, so it sharpens like a standard wood pencil. The Smencils are then soaked to infuse their fragrance, finished with an eraser and identifying sticker, and packaged in a biodegradable, corn-based plastic Freshness Tube. There are 10 scents available: Bubble Gum, Cinnamon, Tropical Blast, Grape, Cotton Candy, Very Berry, Black Cherry, Orange, Watermelon and Rootbeer. They are available assorted in packs of 10 (one of each scent) or buckets of 50 (five of each scent). — “One kid has it, then everyone has to have it. I've been selling buckets of those things,” Sherry Phipps, owner of School Crossing in Williamsburg, Va., told TDmonthly in July 2009 about why Smencils are a top seller in her store. — Smencils are also strong sellers at Golden Apple Learning Store in Pleasanton, Calif., Owner John MacDougall told TDmonthly in summer 2009.
Think fast! What word means “a partially dried grape”? Be the first to say “raisin,” and you’re on your way to winning this riotous game of rapid word recall. Players take turns reading clues aloud, competing to blurt out the correct answer first and move ahead on the board. The first person or team to circle the board wins. Sounds simple, right? But as the race for the right word heats up, and the blurting gets boisterous, it’s easy to get tongue-tied! Blurt is a great vocabulary builder for kids, a hilarious addition to adult parties, and a must for family game night. Includes junior version for ages 7 to 9. For 3 to 12 players.
Hear it crackle and feel it crinkle while you make animals, decorate frames and pencil cups, or roll it into a real bouncing ball. This special sculpting mix dries by itself, turning your idea into a fun work of art or keepsake. Foamfetti™ sticks to itself, to unfinished wood, and to paper. It’s easy to make all sorts of cool stuff with Foamfetti!
Includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, white, and black.
Hear it crackle and feel it crinkle while you make animals, decorate frames and pencil cups, or roll it into a real bouncing ball. This special sculpting mix dries by itself, turning your idea into a fun work of art or keepsake. Foamfetti™ sticks to itself, to unfinished wood, and to paper. It’s easy to make all sorts of cool stuff with Foamfetti!
Kids' imaginations will run wild with this 2-piece set which include a tiger "head" and matching tiger "shirt!"
Great for:
Dress-up centers
Dramatic play
Storytelling
School plays
Costume parties
Comfortable, high quality, washable fabric. Easy-to-use Velcro® fasteners make dressing up simple. Made from flame-retardant material. One size fits all!
Kids' imaginations will run wild with this 2-piece set which include a monkey "head" and matching monkey "shirt!"
Great for:
Dress-up centers
Dramatic play
Storytelling
School plays
Costume parties
Comfortable, high quality, washable fabric. Easy-to-use Velcro® fasteners make dressing up simple. Made from flame-retardant material. One size fits all!
Complete with a cow head and matching cow shirt, this two-piece set may be used for storytelling, dramatic play, school plays, costume parties and dress-up centers. The washable fabric is made from flame-retardant material and features easy-to-use Velcro® fasteners to make dressing up simple. It is designed as a one-size-fits-all costume.
Kids' imaginations will run wild with this 2-piece set which include a dog "head" and matching dog "shirt!"
Great for:
Dress-up centers
Dramatic play
Storytelling
School plays
Costume parties
Comfortable, high quality, washable fabric. Easy-to-use Velcro® fasteners make dressing up simple. Made from flame-retardant material. One size fits all!
Tactile, colorful PlayFoam never dries out, can be molded and sculpted, leaves no residue, and sticks best to itself rather than the many surfaces of a home. Whether constructed into elaborate art projects or simply enjoyed for its unique texture, this double pack of PlayFoam in 12 colors contains enough to share. — “PlayFoam is still strong,” said Janet Gregory, owner of Over the Rainbow Toys in Anchorage, Alaska. — Of 44 retailers surveyed in late fall 2008, seven percent said PlayFoam is one of their top-selling items.
This brain-building strategy game plays off the original Blokus but plays with entirely new configurations in four construction plans: steps, pyramid, tower and corner (shown). The player who ends up with the most squares showing from above wins the game. Launch date: 2008.
