January 2009 New Specialty Toys — Educational

Kids can create their own ancient Egyptian pyramid, scare friends with the built-in mummy sounds, and use the built-in hieroglyphic decoder to read and write their own hieroglyphics — all while learning about ancient Eygpt. Launch date: November 2008.

Kids can learn all about mummies while creating their own from the inside out. With this project, children wrap, paint and display their mummy in the provided carved stone resting place. Launch date: November 2008.

This educational game for one to four players lets individuals create their own scale-model hurricanes. It includes a board game and activities, plus a 29-page fun fact booklet. Launch date: November 27, 2008.

The Lightning Lab simulates lightning and real storm sounds, and includes a 22-page booklet. "The fun and fact booklet not only guides you through using your Lightning Lab, but it's full of fun and interesting facts about the weather," Janice Hudy, sales and marketing assistant for POOF-Slinky, told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 2008.

This set allows one to build and display all nine planets of the solar system. It includes a 64-page fun and fact booklet that shows how to conduct more than 20 fascinating experiments with the completed models. Launch date: November 2008.

Kids can project their own scientifically accurate views of the ever-changing night sky, and will learn to locate actual stars and constellations. Launch date: November 2008.

This beautiful 3-D mobile of the solar system is easy to balance and hang, and comes with glow-in-the-dark paint for spectacular night viewing. Launch date: November 2008.

Here's a safe and fun way to learn the basics of chemistry without blowing up the house. This kit uses common household substances to make fun things such as rock candy, super bubbles, molding clay, flip-flop slime and more. Launch date: November 2008.

Cryptography, the spy science of secret messages, is everywhere. Kids can learn the secrets to keeping secrets with this product, using codes, cyphers and hidden messages to communicate. "[It] comes with a step-by-step, easy-to-read manual that will guide you through fingerprinting," Janice Hudy, sales and marketing assistant for POOF-Slinky, told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 2008.

Kids can study the basics of chemistry while creating five different types of ooey, gooey ooze: sewer slime, wiggly wonder, power putty, flip-flop slime and glooze. Launch date: November 2008.

This kit introduces the basics of electric circuitry. It can be used as a telegraph, or kids can change the circuit and use it as a bell or buzzer. The battery is not included. Launch date: November 2008.

No tools are needed to make this powerful electric motor that powers its own motorboat and teaches the basics of chemistry. The battery is not included. Launch date: November 2008.

Kids can build a working crystal radio that will pick up radio stations and allow them to experiment with radio waves while learning chemistry basics. No batteries or soldering are needed. Launch date: November 2008.

Kids can whip up and delight in two ooey, gooey slimes, while learning what polymers are and why they act the way they do. This kit contains safe, non-toxic ingredients and includes step-by-step instructions. Launch date: November 2008.

Kids can mix up and enjoy two more kinds of slime that wiggle, bounce and snap. This kit contains safe, non-toxic ingredients. It "comes with an easy-to-read, step-by-step instruction manual to guide you hrough your experiments," said Janice Hudy, sales and marketing assistant for POOF-Slinky, Inc. Launch date: November 2008.

This high-tech version of the Techno Gears Marble Mania Genius has more than 520 pieces, so kids can build a bigger and better marble run. New dual power lifters, quad-track marble channels, a spiral channel and a marble loop channel are just a few features of the Genius set. It requires one AA battery. Launch date: June 2008.

This interactive plane guides a child through learning colors and shapes while having tons of fun. It has two play modes: Learn the Color and Shape and Find It! Kids play simply by inserting the plastic shapes into their slots. The infrared remote control, which works up to 12' away, can be used to bring the plane in for a landing. The plane vibrates, moves forward and backward, and plays melodies as it moves along. It also has red lights that blink randomly. The shape pieces and remote can be stored in the handy storage compartment in the nose of the plane. Jumbo Jet also has an automatic shut off. This product received a 2008 Seal of Excellence award from Creative Child Magazine. Launch date: March 2008.

This beautifully engineered globe is suspended in midair by an electronically controlled magnetic field. It must be plugged in to work. "This globe has a chip that continuously adjusts to atmospheric changes," Melissa Rains, in Premium Incentive Sales at Cram Herff Jones, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2008.

Covering everything from Jellies and link belts to empire dresses and bolero, this educational title gives a thorough introduction to fashion through illustrations, historical tidbits and product segments that tell "What it looks like," "Who made it," "Who made it hot" and "How to rock it." Launch date: June 2008.

This 12-book series couples rhyme and repetition with predictable storylines and complementary illustrations that guide children as they increase self-confidence while learning to read. Titles include "What Goes Together?" "How Do I Feel?" and "Watch Out for Worms!" The variety pack has an MSRP of $23.88.

This book by John Matthews, advisor for the movie "King Arthur," is outfitted with a gold-embossed cloth spine and comes with a large poster with a beautiful map of key locations. Filled with adventure, conflict and romance, the book covers King Arthur's boyhood, his court, the history of Camelot, and his last departure to Avalon. It is illustrated by Pavel Tatarnikov. Launch date: September 2008.

Kids will discover the digital world with this unique introduction to electronics. They follow the story of Robert M-3, a young robot in the year 2069, who is beginning his education in electronics with an apprenticeship to Sirius Armstrong, the chief electrical engineer on an enormous space station orbiting Earth. As they read about Robert’s lessons in electronics, they will conduct experiments alongside him using the Electronics Workshop console.  They start by assembling simple circuits with blinking LEDs and resistors, as Robert travels from Earth to the space station. Once there, he goes from department to department, fixing electrical systems and devices, while the child works alongside him. Electronics Workshop 1 is a captivating combination of reading and science, with fanciful stories that enliven the experiments, making for a fun learning experience. Full-color, 68-page experiment manual takes kids through 148 experiments in electronics. Launch date: August 2008.

Adorable rag doll Zachary (he presents the letter Z) is dressed in a yellow t-shirt and blue jeans with white socks and sneakers. (Fabric prints may vary) These dolls are handmade in the USA. Their clothes are interchangeable from one doll to another. The dolls and their clothes are all washable. Additional clothing outfits and accessories may be purchased separately. The soft-doll stuffing is made from non-allergenic 100% polyester. The dolls are approximately 18" tall and weigh less than 2 pounds. Each doll also comes with an internet key-code to join our online eSchool where kids will learn as they play. Launch date: June 2007.

From the #1 most respected name in language learning, Berlitz Interactive provides three easy ways to learn a new language: on your PC, in your car, or on the go.  Inside, the best-selling Berlitz Guaranteed all-audio course provide the foundations of conversation and everyday language.  Add to that the acclaimed Berlitz Word Traveler™ game, currently available only as in-flight entertainment on major international airlines, including Lufthansa, China Airlines, and Singapore Airlines.  For the first time ever this language learning game will be available as a consumer CD-ROM inside this Berlitz Interactive program.