January 2009 New Specialty Toys — Educational

Power a clock with the Cola Clock Kit. Learn how batteries work when you use cola to make a chemical reaction that powers a clock.

America’s No. 1 horse breed is one of 33 new animals available. It is extremely realistic and hand painted for a natural finish. "Schleich is the world’s leading designer of high-quality, realistic animal and historical figurines and fantasy play worlds for children and collectors of all ages," Martin Gour, marketing director for Schleich North America, Inc., told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 2009.
— Schleich animals were listed as top sellers in spring 2009 at At Once All Agog in Limerick, Maine, by Storeowner Candace Gooch. “This June, my store will take part in a merchandising program with Schleich,” she told TDmonthly. “I will be putting in two, 4’ backlit Schleich displays for farm and wild animals.”

This plush, one of several new items in the GIANTmicrobes line, represents West Nile virus. It measures 5" to 7".

This 14-track educational album helps kids remember facts and history by setting them to music. Songs include "Revolution, Revolution," "Grew to the West," "Pledge of Allegiance" and "Branches of Government.

KooKeys offers a line of plush animals with online, interactive digital counterparts known as the Virtual Koo. Each plush KooKey comes with a special key that unlocks the online world for children to explore, interact, play, and learn. Launch date: 2007.

This clean-energy set created for use at home or school uses fuel cells and allows kids to learn about wind energy as well as create hydrogen using wind and water; thus kids make their own scientific demonstrations. The set includes a water/gas storage module, a reversible fuel cell, a miniature wind turbine, an electric motor, a propeller blade and a manual. Launch date: Fall 2008.

Two to four players must travel through the remote jungles of the Amazon River, identifying greater-than and less-than fractions while avoiding obstacles. Two levels of play allow students to gain understanding of fractions with denominators of halves through twenty-fourths.

A bundle of playful exercise to set kids on the path to health and happiness! Kit includes the Fun Exercise Book, which is a colorful, imaginative, and richly detailed book that entertains kids with animals, games, jokes, and illustrations. Also included is the Little Yogis DVD volumes 1 and 2, where Wai Lana makes yoga a treat with two fun-filled workouts, which include all kinds of fun exercises for strong bodies and sound minds, colorful cartoons, catchy songs, cute animals, and fun learning games.

A colorful, comfortable, high-performance yoga mat that is also eco and health friendly. Perfect for children!
 

LiveCubes are to cube puzzles as genes are to living organisms. . Just as genes are combined to form unique individuals, LiveCube cubes can be used to make all manner of puzzles by simply  snapping the cubes together. The puzzles  come apart after assembly and, thus, are  reusable. A LiveCube package includes play manuals and a total of 120 cubes (1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm) comprising 24 white two-stud cubes; and six red, six blue, six green, six yellow and 72 white four-stud cubes.

It is a new concept of construction toy that can have endless possibilities. It is a teaching tool that will teach kids about colored shape matching, structure, and spatial skills. With livecube manual it is an intelligent toy that can guide kids to use their analytical, logical and motor skills through playing. It comes with four different packages – Lion, Rhino, Goat and Elephant version. Each package includes: 6 red, 6 blue, 6 green, 6 yellow and 24 blocks; a total of 48 blocks (2x2x2 cm) and play manuals.

In livecube classic, we offer our puzzle lover a unique puzzle set. Each set of the livecube has a different color combination so your set of livecube is personalized and has a unique ID number to only your set. In addition, we introduce the cube 3X4X5 play cards, this shape can form about 4000 different combinations itself and with our play card system, it’s a never-ending puzzle game. Includes 1 unique puzzle color puzzle (12 pieces), 90 classic play cards, and carrying bag.

Livecube for Kids & Parents is a proud winner of the Parents’ Choice Award, The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval and The Best Toy Winner from Dr. Toy. This is an exciting 3D adventure for the entire family developing visual, logical and problem solving skills. The package includes: 1 sets of 2 color mix puzzle(12 pieces); 30 Kids & Parents play cards (from 2D to 3D); 5 advance play cards; one carrying bag.

This train, which can be used as a walker or a ride-on toy, comes with 26 letter blocks, a 12-page book, five number buttons, a motion sensor, a movable elephant and more. It requires three AA batteries.

Consensus is not a trivia game or a strategy game. It is a game about opinions that allows its participants to express themselves as individuals or as part of a group. Ideal for parties or family settings, the game has a subtle, yet strong, educational component. Consensus consists of 300 Noun Cards, 100 Adjective Cards and 80 Voting cards. An average game lasts about 30 minutes. Although Consensus can be played with as few as three players, the greatest benefit can be derived when there are five or more players participating. The more players, the more opinions, and hence, the more debating and bonding that takes place. Launch date: August 2008.
— "This fun and fast-paced social game takes about a minute to learn and requires no prior knowledge of anything whatsoever," Marshall Chrein, CEO of Mindlogic, told TDmonthly. "It is a game where you can learn how your friends and family view all sorts of things."

The Pig is available in two sizes that can be stacked. The low one is for the child who has just learned to sit. The big one is for the older child, and once you stack them, they fit teenagers and grown-ups. It is nice to have an example of each animal, because the child grows along with them, and as a result they can be used over a long period of time. The six-layer Pig has a size that enables the child to sit on it while in movement, which enhances not only a child's balance but also the joint senses. Children can lie across them and have the backside of their bodies strengthenend, and children can exercise their arms through the pressure from their own body weight. Fine motor control can be stimulated by putting things into the pig's snout and picking them up again. Launch date: September 2008.

The Crocodile's most obvious function is as a staircase, which enhances a child's strength and balance. When turned upside down, there's an angled surface. The see-saw function appears when the crocodile is placed on its back and the child can walk/lie on its entire straight surface. The furniture will grow with the child given that the small child can muscle in on the low step and the higher steps are for the toddler. The crocodile has three seating levels for the small child and is splendid for the social dimension that two to three children can sit together on the same piece of furniture. There is also the option to stack them as a bench, which allows two heights. "bObles is a playful interior environment for children, with a design their parents would love to place within their homes," Director Mette Dyhrberg of bObles told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2008.

Teach My Toddler is the first all-in-one learning kit for toddlers. The kit contains 17 coordinated teaching tools to help toddlers master the basics: alphabet, numbers, colors and shapes. It has been awarded Best Bet for Toy Report 2009 by the Canadian Toy Testing Council and voted "latest and greatest" product for 2009 by Canada's Neighbourhood Toy Association. USA Launch date: February 2009.

The “So Skip Counting” musical CD and companion workbook set features hip, musically relevant and mobile products that combine teaching with music. The math CD features original songs in 10 popular music genres: punk, folk, blues, funk, country, reggae, new wave, early '60s surf rock, classical ballad and electro pop. The introductory skip counting set, created after consultation with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the State of Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE) also includes a workbook to practice and test acquired skills, a laminated 100 chart, a pencil and a portfolio. Launch date: September 2008.

My Smart Budget is a fun, parent-child interactive financial literacy program that trains kids as young as 8 to become Money Wise for Life™. Kids CREATE their budget; DECIDE to spend, save, share or invest; MANAGE their activity; and TRACK their results. Parents CREATE the budget; FUND the budget monthly; DELEGATE management and STAND BY to help. Professionally designed by Day Timer, the kits includes everything needed to get started. "Just like an adult, kids get to manage a real budget on expenses that are all about them while still under the tutelage of the parent. Well beyond an allowance program, the expenses the parent incurs for the child are delegated to the child to manage. No more kids asking for money everytime they want something. No more worried parents when they send their child off as a young adult," Creator Danielle Aguiar told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2008.

Kimochis are small pillows with a feeling (happy, sad, silly, brave) printed on one side and a corresponding facial expression on the other. Each Kimochis plush character comes with a set of three feelings and a How-To Kimochis Feel Guide. The characters have a special pocket where kids can store their "Kimochis" — of feelings. Using the characters and their Kimochis, kids can get in touch with their emotions through puppetry and play. "Getting back to the basics by playing and communicating with Kimochis is a simple, yet powerful way to teach children how to: be aware of feelings, choose how to communicate in emotional moments, and redo mistakes. Children will be drawn to the fun, adorable, accessible characters. Parents will be drawn to the high-quality craftsmanship and the valuable educational content," Associate Susan Schroeder of Plushy Feely Corp. told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2008.
— Amy of Coffee with the Mrs. reported that her son “loves his Kimochi Cloud doll and is already starting to use more words about feelings since he got the doll.” He has even improved his reading by identifying the words printed on the emotions.
—    Take It From Me’s Kristin used the emotions of her daughter’s Kimochi to help her deal with the complex emotions she was feeling about a recent move. The Kimochis were so successful, Kristin said, that: “Now every time my daughter starts to get upset, I refer to the Kimochis and looking for what she feels helps her to calm down and relax.”
Awards:   Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

A set of fifteen colorful 4" x  7-1/4" cards designed to keep babies interested and engaged. Early language will develop as children look, play, and are spoken to. Included is a parent card, which suggests talking points and learning games to play with baby. Launch date: January 2009.

Each 80+ page book is packed full of age-appropriate games, activities, account tracking and more to enhance the learning of the KidsWealth Program. Trackers include Game Tracker, Activity Tracker, and Money Tracker. Each tracker is suited for a different age range, the higher age range tracker being more advanced than the previous and each tracker teaches about the five KidsWealth accounts and contains activities asking for decision-making, goal setting, and plan execution.

In the footsteps of the first discoverers of Lascaux, this unique and unusual visit goes into the original cave, closed to the public for over 40 years — an immersion into one of the most ancient periods of history, corresponding with the emergence in Europe, a little over 35,000 years ago, of a new human species, Homo sapiens sapiens, modern man. "Lascaux, A New Look" offers an interpretation that is original, rigorous and scientific, an interpretation that encourages further discovery and lets the imagination run wild. This spectacular film recreates the experience afforded to the few visitors who were allowed to go room by room and panel by panel into the original cave. Running time is 53 minutes. "As far as we know, there are no other DVDs in the marketplace with such comprehensive detail on this particular subject," President Amy Woodworth of Crystal Productions told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 17, 2008.