February 2010 New Specialty Toys — All

The PODEE Kwik’N-EZ Medicator™ is a baby-friendly medicine dropper designed to conveniently allow for clean and easy administration of liquid medicine to an infant or toddler. All parts are made of high-quality materials and are BPA FREE. "This product makes giving medicine hassle-free because the baby takes the medicine straight from the silicone nipple just has the baby would milk. And it's another product from Podee that offers parents a real helping hand," Brooke Cortese, Marketing and Sales Director, Podee International, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 10, 2010.

Building Thinking Skills Beginning is designed to provide fun, highly effective and engaging reasoning activities to improve the vocabulary, pre-reading, pre-writing, math, logic, spatial, and auditory processing skills of preschoolers. It teaches children to use organized analysis instead of guesswork to solve problems as it develops critical thinking skills necessary for success in reading, math, writing, and science. The book uses colorful, easy-to-understand activities, sequenced in small steps, many gamelike, and solvable in a short period. "Our thinking approach makes learning fun, motivating and effective. Empowering the mind through critical thinking is one of the best ways to prepare for life's journey," Nile Duppstadt, VP, The Critical Thinking Co., told TDmonthly. Awards: 2009 Teacher's Choice Award for the Family, Learning® Magazine, 2010 Best Products iParenting Media Award, Book category. Launch date: February 5, 2009.

Some of the fun and frivolous uses found for this game are determining the starting player, or deciding who is going to pay for snacks, or dinner. It can be played with a large group of people to spark a bedlam of humor. Le Boomb!™ is available from any of Mayfair's distributors or directly from Mayfair. Each Le Boomb! ™ is presented in a small clamshell that may be placed on a shelf, or peg hooked, depending upon your needs. The rules are tiny and fit on the back of the information header card inside each clamshell. As a side note, the bomb opens like an Easter Egg and the die can be stored within. Le Boomb! ™ is packed in a display box of 12 pieces featuring seven colors. Each display contains six black Le Boomb! and one each of six other colors: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, White and Purple. Launch date: December 2009.

Animal and shape bracelets are made to be worn, traded and collected. These shaped bands are made of 100-percent silicone, and they bounce right back to their cool shape after each and every wear. The 24-band Stretchy Shapes packs are exclusive designs in custom colors, sized to fit comfortably on the wrist. The line includes tie-dyed, glow-in-the-dark and scented bands. "An all-kid test group even helped develop our product. Product sales success is proven — a retail store in Birmingham, Alabama, sold over 10,000 of the three original Stretchy Shapes packs shown above in less than one month," April Mraz, CEO, OCG Products, LLC, told TDmonthly. Launch date: December 2009.

The YBIKE balance bike is designed with a lightweight aluminum frame, rubber wheels and a narrow back wheel base. It's available in two colors and was designed by Chrome Cherry Design Studio in South Africa. Launch date: May 15, 2010.

These 5" animal characters are full of personality and can be clipped onto a backpack or purse as a fun accent. When squeezed, each felt creature utters the sound of the animal it represents. The collection features a tiger, lion, zebra, monkey, elephant, dolphin, turtle, penguin, seahorse, lobster, orca and shark. Launch date: 2010.

This environmentally friendly plush doll is part of Hosung's My Natural brand and is made from certified non-toxic cotton and shaded via a chemical-free PureWaterWash process. It's in partnership with the Lorax Project, an environmental initiative for the Dr. Seuss brand. Launch date: Spring 2010.

The object of Cattura is to "capture" as many cards as you can. The player with the most cards wins. Cattura comes with imported Italian cards and instructions on how to play.

The largest Lab In A Bag ever is available with 30 activities. It contains popular experiments touching on everything from chemistry and physics to biology and geology.

Spot It is a party game for two to eight players. It's played by laying a random assortment of cards on the table and all players racing to find one image that matches between two cards. This fast-paced game is designed to never be the same twice, and though it has very few rules to remember it requires a sharp eye to master. The set of 55 round cards transports in its own carry tin. Watch Spot It: Top-5 Video, Toy Fair 2010
— Spot It has been been a top seller for retailers surveyed by TDmonthly since early Spring 2010.
— In a March 2012 survey, 3 out of 12 retailers told TDmonthly that Spot It was their overall best selling product, and had been for more than a year.
— Dean Smith, Co-owner of JaZams in Princeton, N.J., told TDmonthly in a Summer 2011 survey that he sells 50-60 copies of Spot It each month.
Awards: 2010 TDmonthly Top Seller, Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Where to buy:
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This simple project from The Little Experience includes everything kids need to create this cute, clever key chain character. Pre-cut felt pieces are hand-stitched together using two colors of embroidery floss from the kit, and then stuffed and attached to the included metal keyring. 

One of six collectible characters in The Little Experience's line of Stitch-It Keyrings, this puppy is a simple project that children do from start to finish. The pre-cut felt pieces of the puppy are embellished with other felt shapes in the kit, hand-stitched together, and stuffed with batting. The kit includes everything necessary to finish the craft.

A funky character in bright colored felt, the Stitch-It Chick Keyring is designed to be easy to make from start to finish. The felt shape of the chick is pre-cut, and patterned appliqués are included for his feet, hair, face, and clothing. The kit has everything needed to do the project, including the keyring, metal needle, stuffing, and two colors of embroidery floss. Watch Stitch-It Chick: Top-5 Video, Toy Fair 2010

In this mini kit from The Little Experience, a young lady will find everything she needs to create her own cute stuffed key chain. The felt is pre-cut for the bear, and patterned fabric is included so kids can create their own appliqués to add to the other embellishments in the kit.  All the materials are included, including colored floss, a metal needle, stuffing and the keyring.

From start to finish, kids can have fun creating this stuffed key chain animal. Beginning with pieces of pre-cut felt to eliminate struggling with tricky patterns, it's designed to be easy to stitch together the bright-colored squirrel character using a needle and embroidery floss in two colors.  Everything required to complete this min kit from The Little Experience is included in the box.

Simple enough for kids to complete, this stuffed felt bunny character is created by the crafter from start to finish. The shape of the bunny is pre-cut, with other material and embellishments provided for girls to make the project their own. The kit includes all materials needed to complete the project, including two colors of embroidery floss, stuffing, a needle and the metal keyring.

A larger version of Hi-Tec Art's Sketch Art kit, Masterpiece Art is a high-tech creative tool with a simple premise. Users easily stick LED lights into the self-healing rubber surface and watch them light up, bringing a child's design to glowing life. Masterpiece Art includes 1,600 LEDs in eight colors, nine pieces of luminescent Artwire in varying lengths, six printed background images, power adapters, and the tools a child needs to build their creations again and again. Two smaller versions of the kit are available from Hi-Tec Art.

Using a distinctive, self-healing rubber surface and brilliantly glowing LED lights, kids can create luminescent works of art over and over with Hi-Tec Art's Sketch Art kit.  With no tools or plugs to worry about, they just stick the LEDs into the rubber and they light. The pad is powered by batteries, USB or an AC adapter, making it versatile for home or travel use. Children can create designs using only their imagination, or embellish the included background designs. The kit includes 800 LEDs in eight colors, a 2' length of glowing Artwire, power adapters, and the necessary tools. A smaller and larger version are available from Hi-Tec Art. 

The Vamplets collection of baby vampires includes six plush dolls at 6" to 7" tall: Cadaverson Nightshade, Lilyrose Shadowlyn, Count Vlad Von Gloom, Evilyn Nocturna, Burton Creepson, Jr., and Midnight Mori. Each cuddly Vamplet is characterized by its own distinctive personality. Launch date: February 14, 2010. Watch Vamplets: Top-5 Video, Toy Fair 2010

Past videos: Toy Fair 2010

Dbox is a patent-pending puzzle game consisting of cubical units that can be attached or detached to several others to create three-dimensional segments in a variety of shapes. Users connect segments to solve an endless number of challenges. DBOX offers pre-existing puzzle selections and also allows players to create and solve puzzle challenges themselves, in addition to sharing them with other puzzlers arround the world on the DBOX website. "Dbox has endless challenges and shapes in one game. It appeals to all minds at all levels. It is a social game where players can invent, create, share and compete," Oded Light, co-founder, Pushkapor LLC, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 14, 2010.

Used as a toy, create playhouses, soccer goals, spaceships and so much more with this high quality building toy.  Just connect, twist and create with our patented locking mechanism.

TOOBEEZ is a teambuilding prop, an educational tool, and can serve as a health / therpeutic aid for teens and adults. With 7 activity books and over 300 fun group games, "these activities were designed with Brain Based Research, Multiple Intelligence Theories, Differentiated Instructions, Problem Solving, and are Character Education Focused. It's all about connecting with others," Joe Donahue of TOOBEEZ, LLC, told TDmonthly.

Shapes in this set of 24 include sports items such as a hockey stick, baseball bat, basketball jersey, tennis racket, football, and megaphone.

Set of 24 rubber band shapes including Oscar the owl, Emmet the boar, Leonard the lion, Franklin the buck, Rusty the racoon, and Willie May the wolf.