February 2009 New Specialty Toys — All

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.

This 18" x 24" wall art reflects a skateboarder's mantra — EAT, SLEEP, SKATE. It is ready to hang and made in the USA. Launch date: November 2008.

This 36" x 24" ready to hang picture depicts a yellow NY taxi cab fashioned from an Empire State license plate. 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. It is made in the USA. Launch date: November 2008.

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.

Name that Vanity is the addictive and contagious license plate guessing game. Players play the game to their favorite song, and once the song ends, so does one round. It's designed for fun on the road or at home. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

This ultimate action strategy game combines the contemporary action strategy game Halo Wars with the ultimate military strategy board game, RISK. Global domination has reached an electrifying new level of interactivity. "The nature of the 'Halo Wars' license and customized game board, pieces and game play make this game a standout," Anne McBride, marketing manager for Usaopoly, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 10, 2009.

LOL! (which stands for Laugh Out Loud!) is a new, fresh and exciting game of Internet lingo that involves acronyms, shorthand and Web slang used in chat rooms, email and text and instant messaging. The goal is to be the first to yell out "'LOL!'" to give the answer to the net lingo. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

This cool, 12" x 12" sign is one in a series of Cartoon Signage, including BAM!, KAPOW!, VROOM and ZAP. Ideal for tweens and teens, it comes ready to hang with wire attached. The "exclusive Art4Kids publication [is] not available in discount stores," Joy Phillips, founder and owner of Creative Images, told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 2008.

This 36" x 18" image of a bucket of baseballs is destined to be a sports classic. At the end of the baseball season, the victories and defeats are recorded on the team's bucket of baseballs with their many scraps and scars. The photography is by Kim Riseley Delph. The exclusive Art4Kids print is available in the following ready to hang presentation styles: Contemporary Mount (with beveled edge), Creative Canvas Wrap, Framed Canvas, Gallery Framed, Heritage Framed and Art Block Mounted. "Glassless presentation formats [offer] safety in a child's environment," Joy Phillips, founder and owner of Creative Images, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 3, 2008.

Kids can create a one-of-a-kind bowl for their one-of-a-kind pet. The size is perfect for dogs, cats, monkeys, parrots or opossums. The specially coated, food-safe ceramic pet dish comes with six non-toxic ceramic markers and holds three cups of dry food. The kit "provides children a creative way to express their love for a favorite pet. It is a fun, easy and functional project that your child will be proud of," Mike Greenwald, co-president of Bowwowmeow, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 2009.
— "I saw these last year and didn't give them a second thought," said Mary Sisson of Kazoodles in Vancouver, Wash., "but I'm realizing how much kids love their pets and how this fills a niche for the animal lovers among our customer base. Especially the artistic ones." The Bowwowmeow pet products were one of her favorite lines at ASTRA Marketplace 2009, she told TDmonthly.

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.

Catch My Drift?!? is an interactive game of charades with an urban twist in which players have to guess the lingo from the hip-hop and pop culture. It has been featured by radio personality Michael Baisden on the Michael Baisden (syndicated radio) Show. "This is a new, hip and fresh game [that] targets the words/phrases most commonly used in the urban genre," Leia Avery and Eric King, founders of Slanguage Gamez, told TDmonthly. Launch date: July 29, 2008.

This children's knock-down cardboard chair kit comes with six 12" x 12" decorative color sticker sheets. The chair seat and back are interchangeable and reversible. They are kraft on one side and white on the other so that kids can use crayons, paint, markers or other materials to decorate their chair. The product is made in the USA from up to 80-percent recycled fiber and is 100-percent recyclable. Launch date: December 4, 2008.

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.

This 2007 Parents' Choice Approved Award winner offers a creative variety of music for children of all ages. The family-friendly audio CD features songs that promote tolerance and caring for the earth and its creatures, while spotlighting fun kids' favorites and soothing lullabies. "Love Makes a Family" is an original song about adoption. And "What Should I Dream About?" gives listeners a chance to identify the word painting provided. "Parents love this CD as much as children do!" Denise Mitkus, a member of the Peanut Butter Jellyfish band, told TDmonthly. "It's entertaining for the whole family and [is] a refreshing change from silly songs." Launch date: December 1, 2007.

With this project kit, teens and adults can build a pathway of light. They'll be amazed at the way the glass stars in the kit glow. It includes letter stamps for stamping a perfect personalized greeting. The kit offers a "fun and creative way to set your memories in stone and create a fully functional decoration for your lawn or garden," Jeff Clark, sales and marketing associate for Milestones Products, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.

Everyone loves rapping along and learning multiplication with D.J. Doc—the Hip Hop Hamster. Positive lyrics, super-cool rap music, and high-energy action make these multiplication rap songs irresistible. Multiplication facts through 12 are easy to learn and remember with these fun rap songs — a different one for each set of rap facts. The DVD run approximately 50 minutes and now includes Skip Counting songs. Choose from DVD video or audio CD & book programs. Launch date: November 2008.

Calculated chances and strategic choices will place the odds in favor of players as they let the five dice roll them to a win with Yamslam. After each roll, a player chooses the dice that will get the best combination. Each combination is worth a different value and has only four chips, so it's important to take the best ones before they run out. Players race to get special bonuses before their friends do, keeping the suspense rolling until the end. The game has appeal for all ages and is convenient for travel, as it is "self contained in a beautiful tin box," Adeline Bertrix, sales manager for Blue Orange Games, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 15, 2009.
Awards: Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products 2009; 2012 TDmonthly Top Toy Award. Why it won: This dice-rolling game from Blue Orange is fun for both kids and adults. With each roll of the dice players must strategize how they can win the chip with the highest point value. Without even realizing it, kids are learning basic math skills like addition and probability. The game is self-contained in a red tin, making it easy to play on the road or tote along to a party.  
— Yamslam is on the best-seller list at Golden Apple Learning Store in Pleasanton, Calif., Owner John MacDougall told TDmonthly in summer 2009.     
— "Right now, a game called Yamslam is our best-selling game," said Sue Banducci of Games Unlimited in Danville, Calif., in late 2009. She was anticipating sales of about 250 units during December.    
— Three of 38 retailers cited Yamslam as a best-selling game in Feb. 2010.

Gobblet Gobblers utilizes the awesome strategy of Gobblet and adds personality and character to the game. Players pick their Gobblers family and line up three in a row to win the game. The Gobblers have a strong appetite and can gobble up smaller Gobblers. These cute little characters will test strategy and stimulate memory. The all-wooden game has a bright, distinctive design and is earth friendly. "We plant two trees for every tree used in creating our games," Adeline Bertrix, sales manager for Blue Orange Games, told TDmonthly. Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy 2009. Launch date: February 15, 2009.

Where to Buy: Poopsie's

Even the early bird needs a little help now and then. These charming alarm clocks play the sound of a songbird when the alarm sounds. To snooze or illuminate the clock face, simply press down the perch at the front of the house. "This is the only birdhouse-shaped alarm clock that plays a birdsong when it sounds. [It's] perfect for birdlovers and those who want to bring in a bit of the great outdoors," Daniel Koval, general manager of HeadsUp Design Company, told TDmonthly. Launch date: April 25, 2009.

Peggy Flores explains and demonstrates relief printing by using flat cardboard, small pieces of corrugated cardboard, styrofoam and string, which are glued onto cardboard, painted, and inked. She also carves images on vinyl blocks to create images which she then prints. The film also demonstrates a variety of simple tools such as brayers, carving tools and bench hooks. Many student examples are shown. Running time is 26 minutes. "An art teacher actually demonstrates how these particular prints can be made simply with basic techniques and shows actual student work," President Amy Woodworth of Crystal Productions told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 17, 2008.