December 2009 New Specialty Toys — Preschool

The SandLock 5x5 Sandbox has a patented interlocking design, a CoverLock system and a variety of other one-of-a-kind features. "The SandLock brand is known for it's quality and now we bring all that and more at an affordable price," Chris Freres, Owner, SandLock Sandbox, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 2010.

These child-sized wooden eggs come in an authentic-looking cardboard carton.

This necklace features a colorful bunch of cat's eye beads and Swarovski crystals, plus two charms: a birthday cake and a number to indicate how many years old. It's on a sterling silver chain and comes in the following sizes: 12" (2T-4T); 14" (5T-10 years); and 16" (tween-small adult).

The Fun Facts! series of Puzzle Doubles combines a beautifully illustrated floor puzzle with twelve fun animal facts into a high-quality educational experience. Children will first enjoy assembling the large, colorful puzzle. Flip the puzzle over to learn fun facts about the pictured animals, which encourage parent-child discussion. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

The Fun Facts! series of Puzzle Doubles combines a beautifully illustrated floor puzzle with twelve fun animal facts into a high-quality educational experience. Children will first enjoy assembling the large, colorful puzzle. Flip the puzzle over to learn fun facts about the pictured animals, which encourage parent-child discussion. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

This set of three-piece puzzle pairs features familiar characters and professionals. Children will learn to recognize many different people, such as a police officer, ballerina, and wizard. The colorful puzzle sets are self-correcting — only cards that belong together will fit together. Launch date: October 2009.

Kids can feed Melody, listen to her heart, trim her nails, and give her lots of cuddles. The excitement begins when your child opens the pet carrier door and hears Melody's playful theme song. Plush puppy and all accessories store easily inside. "The Pet Care Center incorporates the Baby Genius principle of music as a core learning tool to engage and encourage children to communicate, connect, discover, and use their imaginations to express themselves," John Russel, of RUSSEL Public Relations, told TDmonthly. Awards: The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval 2009, The Toy Insider Best Toddler Toys for the 2009 Holiday Season 2009 and Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products 2009. Launch date: August 2009.

The Fun Facts! series of Puzzle Doubles combines a beautifully illustrated floor puzzle with twelve fun animal facts into a high-quality educational experience. Children will first enjoy assembling the large, colorful puzzle. Flip the puzzle over to learn fun facts about the pictured animals, which encourage parent-child discussion. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

The Fun Facts! series of Puzzle Doubles combines a beautifully illustrated floor puzzle with twelve fun animal facts into a high-quality educational experience. Children will first enjoy assembling the large, colorful puzzle. Flip the puzzle over to learn fun facts about the pictured animals, which encourage parent-child discussion. Each 50-piece puzzle measures a giant 3' x 2'. Launch date: November 16, 2009.

This fun memory game will challenge problem solving and develop memory skills of young children as they try to find a pair of matching cards. Bright, colorful illustrations teach upper and lower case letters of the alphabet. It's a great family game for all ages. Launch date: October 2009.

This wooden set of two, 15” cubes is made in the USA of sustainably grown Baltic birch plywood and uses eco-friendly paints and finishes. The front panel can be customized from a variety of colors and shapes. The cubes can be connected in various ways.
— Through Via Toy Box and its sister line, Via Wine Cubes, KD PRODUCTS combines form and function into sensible storage solutions. The Via Toy Box line features modular cubes with a variety of openings that can be used to create fully customized storage. Shelves, casters, cabinets, and more can be added to the basic cubes for more possibilities. The units can also be rearranged to meet changing display needs. The cubes can keep floppy plush and difficult to stack items neat and orderly while the array of colors and intriguing shapes can draw attention to products held within. Since children tend to climb, it’s probably a a good idea to anchor the cubes to the wall for safety. The reviewer on Daddy Types ordered the product online and was thankful it “turn[ed] out to be good after all.”

Preschoolers can practice drawing and writing by tracing the lights that make shapes and letters. This portable tool is designed to foster development of phonics and early writing skills, as well as gaining control of a pencil. It employs a retraceable surface, and parents can find more ideas for learning online at the LeapFrog Learning Path.
— As of 7.26.2010, this product had 4.5 out of 5 stars from - reviews on Amazon.com, and was listed No. 20 in the top 100 best-selling toys and games. PROS: Educational but entertaining; children seemed to enjoy learning to write with this product. CONS: Some customers felt the product did not provide enough constructive feedback.

Contagious musical fun. Delightful characters help put those germs at bay! Original, easy to learn songs that really connect with young children.

Bilingual fun for young children. Includes songs for Spanish/English Alphabet, Colors, Numbers, Opposites, Dancing, and more.

A twist to new and old holiday favorites. Holiday fun that children will want to play over and over.

Celebrate the outdoors with music, movement and imagination as children explore and experience nature’s musical symphony featuring songs with movement and delightful character interactions like Let’s Go Green, Quackadoodlemoo, the Ugly Buglies and Waddle Waddle.

Encouraging young children to explore, experience and create through music and imagination for ages 2 to 8. Includes songs to use with rhythm sticks, drums, and lots of fun creative movement activities.

This rugged playset is constructed of Sprigwood, which is a bio-composite material that blends reclaimed wood and recycled plastic, and is dyed with safe pigments. The set includes explorer and rescue boats, Captain Owen the adventure guide, an interchangeable adventure hat, a life preserver, mother and baby dolphins, and a backpack accessory.

This set of two construction vehicles is outfitted for Nuchi train tracks. There's a rubber tread on the front of the steamroller and a functional red tipper decking out the front of the bulldozer.

This product is designed so that young toddlers will delight in placing the dowel/balls in the holes, turning the base, and watching the whirling forms turn around. Older toddlers can start to build with the hardwood squares, put “red hats on the red heads," and stack colored shapes into sturdy towers. Preschoolers can build more complex and imaginative structures while exploring how motion changes the appearance and stability of forms. "Torno Torno combines a wood building toy with a wood turn-table base that is activated by the child — no batteries, just the child's gentle push and imagination," Karen Hewitt, president of Learning Materials Workshop, told TDmonthly. This product was named one of Dr. Toy's 10 Best Toys 2009. Launch date: November 2009.

The Dream Baby Hallway Security Gate is designed to fit any opening 38' to 53.5'. The gate comes with a 7' extension and a 3.5' extension. It is pressure mounted, swings closed automatically, has a door that opens in both directions and closes automatically, and functions with one-handed operation. It is created for easy installation and comes with a one-year manufacturer's warranty. This gate is available in white or black. Launch date: November 10, 2009.
— As of August 2010, this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 16 reviews on Amazon.com. PROS: Sturdy, effective and fits even wide doorways. CONS: Some parents felt the gate was too difficult to open and close.

Made from organic cotton and sustainable rubber wood, Momma and Baby Elephant are connected via Velcro at the mama's tail and can be separated. "As with every piece in this line, the classic-meets-modern design makes it suitable for nursery decor as well as play!" Michael Daner, president of I Love My Planet Toys, told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 15, 2009.

These swim goggles for kids feature polycarbonate lenses that offer 100-percent UV protection, an anti-fog system, and silicone cups for comfort. They are available in pink and blue and feature an adjustable silicone strap. Launch date: 2009.

The Nylon Pizza Cutter from Curious Chef is designed as a safe and fun kitchen utensil for cutting pizza. "The Pizza Cutter is made of nylon, which is hard enaough to cut pizza, but not skin! Also, the design is very compelling, since it features a unique guard that will keep fingers from [the] blade and soft touch button grips," Cristina Villa, account executive at JB Cumberland PR, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.