March 2009 Notable Toys — Arts & Crafts

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.

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.

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.

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.

In 1958 Chr. Flensted designed a mobile with one red and three black disks. The mobile was named "Flying Saucers" and was very popular for years, but it was discontinued after two decades. The new version consists of six discs that are not only flat but also three-dimensionally shaped, and the mobile is delivered with extra discs in white, red, black and light grey, so that kids can build their own color scheme. The mobile can be watched from below and from the sides and top. The design is by Ole Flensted. Launch date: January 25, 2009.

This exclusive bonding adhesive will work great on most materials. Tanner's Bond Water-Based Contact Cements are non-flammable, non-toxic and low VOC. Available in a 4-oz. size, quarts and gallons, all are safe for retail consumer sales. "Due to regulation by the CPSC, TLF has developed a water-based cement line [that] is compliant in all 50 states, Canada and Europe, and ha[s] a low enough level of VOCs to be sold in CA. Our line is made exclusively for TLF and co-branded with Barge Cement," Tony Hernandez, national sales manager for Tandy Leather Factory, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2009.

Complete and fully equipped starter kit for the little stamper/crafter in the family. Using the clear stamps and clear blocks makes stamping easy and fun because you can see how to line them up perfectly. The Clear Rubber Stamp Starter Kit comes in 3 different themes for creative stamping and artwork: “Circus Act”, “Farm Friends” and “Fun with Fish”. The Clear Rubber Stamp Starter Kit includes (1) Plastic storage case (1) Clear stamp set (1) Childsafe/washable dye ink pad (4) Clear acrylic blocks.

Available in dozens of fun clear stamp collections with fish, farm and circus themes as additions to the Clear Rubber Stamp Starter Kit.

Childsafe Inkpads come in 6 colors in a durable, long-lasting ink stamp pad.  Non-Toxic and easily washes out of most fabrics. Colors: Red, Blue, Purple, Black, Pink, Green. 

Create your own drawings and illustrations with this Crayola® Make-A-Plate® Kit. The kit comes with Crayola markers, paper templates, order form, instructions, mailing envelope, and rush label. Make-A-Plate® has been a family fun memory maker since 1969. Preserve a memory by capturing the imagination of the artist in a usable product that is dishwasher safe and break resistant.
THIS PRODUCT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

A container of dough for each color in the rainbow-red (cherry), yellow (lemon), orange (orange), green (green apple), blue (blueberry) and purple (grape). You have an entire world of possibilities in one box. Zoos, aquariums, gardens, jewelry, even cities are waiting to be created. You and your child will have hours of fun molding, building and learning with our Rainbow Colors Set. Because one color just isn't enough! Available in Scented and Unscented Sets of dough. 10 per case.

Available in Scented or Unscented dough in red, green, orange, yellow, blue, purple, brown, black, white, or pink. 60 per case.

Available in Scented and Unscented dough in a rainbow of colors; 6 tubs per case.

Available in Scented and Unscented dough in a rainbow of colors; 6 tubs per case.

This bright and colorful chart helps children of all ages recognize and share their feelings. Through a colorful and vividly illustrated flower garden scene, children and their parents can identify a wide range of feelings. These 11" x 17" charts are double sided with one side in black and white for coloring over and over again with washable crayons. "The Flower Garden Feeling Chart is a terrific way to help children identify feelings, develop emotional intelligence, and open up to engaging discussions. It's a fun and straightforward way to lead productive discussion of feelings at home, school, or while traveling," Lisa-Marie Arneson, owner and creator of Bright Spots, told TDmonthly. The chart was named a 2008 Dr. Toy Best Vacation Children's Products Winner. Launch date: 2008.

This fun and engaging coloring book will help children recognize, identify, and talk about their feelings. "The whimsical verse is combined with a creative representation of feelings," Lisa-Marie Arneson, owner and creator of Bright Spots, told TDmonthly. The book was a 2008 Dr. Toy Best Vacation Children's Products Winner. Launch date: 2005.

Naturally scented softdough is scented with essential oils, giving the dough a pleasant scent.  The small 4 oz tubs comes in lemon, rose, peppermint, orange, lavender, vanilla and lime scent.

Large 18oz tubs single color tubs come in red, blue, yellow, green, purple, pink and orange.  Great for group of kids, schools, daycares or pre-schools.     

Small 4 oz tub of glow-in-the-dark for fun in the dark.

This blank puzzle gives kids freedom to draw their own picture, and then assemble and reassemble their very own design. It is available in 5" x 7" and 8" x 10" sizes with mailing envelopes.

Each Softdough Play Set includes the following: four, 4-oz. tubs of Softdough (in colors red, blue, green and yellow), a hardwood rolling pin and 11 cookie cutters (turtle, frog, squirrel, dragonfly, moon, star, sun, leaf, butterfly, heart and cloud).